AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Correcting Facts Can Strengthen False Beliefs
- Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler found corrective facts sometimes made people more certain of false beliefs after being challenged.
- They named this paradoxical response the "backfire effect" and observed people doubling down when corrected.
Vaccine Study With Parents
- Nyhan and Reifler ran an experiment with parents about the MMR vaccine using CDC-style corrective materials and disease-risk messages.
- The correction reduced belief in the autism myth but lowered some parents' intent to vaccinate.
Facts Change Beliefs But Not Behavior
- Corrections can change factual belief while simultaneously reducing pro-health behavior.
- The most vaccine-hesitant parents sometimes became less likely to vaccinate after seeing corrective information.