The âillusory truth effectâ refers the tendency to believe any information to be correct/accurate after repeated exposure. Itâs the result of a flaw in human cognitive processing that goes like thisâŚÂ
When weâre repeatedly exposed to the same information (even if itâs meaningless, false or weâre unaware that weâve seen it before), it gradually becomes easier for our brains to process. Repeated exposure to a stimulus increases our âprocessing fluency,â meaning our brain can process the stimulus more efficiently. This is referred to âfamiliarityâ & the human brain LOVES familiarity. The less effort we have to consciously expend to process something, the more positively we will feel about that thing. Weâre even more likely to accept simple, easy to understand concepts as âmore trueâ than complex, nuanced concepts.Â
The âmere exposure effectâ describes the human tendency to feel more positively about things weâve encountered before (even if only briefly or unconsciously). Again: we prefer what is already familiar to us! This effect tends to be strongest concerning statements about subjects in which we fancy ourselves knowledgable. The irony is that studies show participants with the lowest scores & worst performances, in any subject matter, tend to be the most egregious over estimators of their own abilities/comprehension. Not having a skill or understanding means youâre unable to recognize said lack.Â
So (follow me here) those of us who know THE LEAST about a subject will think we know THE MOST, because we donât even know enough to recognize the scope of our ignorance & therefore, because they mistake ourselves as experts on said subject, weâre most vulnerable to both the mere exposure & illusory truth effect, because weâll swallow repeated statements about said subject (even if weâre falsehoods) as correct/accurate⌠all because it feels cozy, familiar & self-affirming. Let that soak in for a moment.Â
