"Foolproof" with Sander van der Linden (BS 208)

Sander van der linden (click to listen, r click to download) This month's episode is an interview with Cambridge Psychology professor Sander van der Linden, author of Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity. We discuss the important topic of how techniques like appealing to emotion contribute to the spread of misinformation. Dr. Campbell reflects on why this topic is important.Our discussion began with the problem of the “Illusory truth” effect, which is the observation that the more often something is repeated the more likely people are to believe it is true, even when its not. This can defeat attempts to debunk misinformation. Van der Linden explained how the “truth sandwich” provides the safest method of debunking based on our current understanding of how memory works.Then we talked about the key features of Conspiracy theories, which form a rather extreme version of misinformation that seem to be immune to evidence. Van der Linden described how conspiracy theories seem to be driven by three psychological motives: the need for knowledge that makes sense of the world, social connections with other believers, and the existential need to make sense of uncertainty. The seven signs of conspiracy thinking are easy to remember using the mnemonic CONSPIRE: Contradictory thinking, Overriding suspicion, Nefarious intent, Something must be wrong, Persecuted victim, Immunity to Evidence, Re-interpreting ...
Source: the Brain Science Podcast and Blog with Dr. Ginger Campbell - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Books Cognitive Science For Newbies Interviews Neuroscience Podcast Show Notes Psychology Source Type: podcasts