Effects of Misinformation Valence on Continued Influence Effect: The Mediating Role of Misinformation Belief

doi:10.12139/j.1672-0628.2024.05.015

Abstract

Abstract: The continued influence effect (CIE) of misinformation has been extensively documented, but the impact of misinformation valence on CIE remains unclear. This study explored how misinformation valence modulates CIE through two behavioral experiments. Experiment 1 found that the CIE of negative misinformation was significantly greater than that of positive misinformation. Experiment 2 verified the results of Experiment 1 and further revealed that belief in negative misinformation was significantly greater than belief in positive misinformation. Additionally, belief in misinformation mediated the effect of misinformation valence on CIE. However, the study observed no significant difference in recognition accuracy between negative and positive misinformation conditions. The findings support the mental model updating theory, indicating that individuals are more inclined to trust negative misinformation compared to positive misinformation. This tendency complicates the integration of corrected information into their mental representation of an event, resulting in a larger CIE. The challenges associated with updating mental models provide a more comprehensive cognitive framework for understanding how the valence of misinformation affects CIE.

Key words: continued influence effect, valence of information, mental model, retrieval failure

摘要： 错误信息的持续影响效应(CIE)已被大量研究证实，但错误信息效价对CIE的影响还不清楚。本研究通过两个行为实验探讨了信息效价对CIE的影响。实验1发现，消极错误信息的CIE显著大于积极错误信息。实验2验证了实验1的结果，并进一步发现，消极错误信息信念显著高于积极错误信息信念，并且错误信息信念在效价对CIE的影响中起到中介作用；但消极错误信息的再认正确率和积极错误信息无显著差异。结果支持心理模型更新理论。结果提示，与积极错误信息相比，人们可能更容易信任消极错误信息，致使其更正信息更难以整合到事件的心理模型中，从而产生了更大的CIE，心理模型更新失败假设可以在认知上更好地解释效价对错误信息持续影响效应的影响。

关键词: 持续影响效应, 信息效价, 心理模型, 提取失败

CLC Number:

B849

JIN Hua, WANG Chao, YIN Xiaojuan, JIA Lina, WANG Xuying. Effects of Misinformation Valence on Continued Influence Effect: The Mediating Role of Misinformation Belief[J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2024, 22(5): 690-696.

金花, 王超, 阴晓娟, 贾丽娜, 王旭英. 信息效价对错误信息持续影响效应的影响：错误信息信念的中介作用[J]. 心理与行为研究, 2024, 22(5): 690-696.

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