Illusory Truth Effect

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 “The illusory truth effect, also known as the illusion of truth, describes how, when we hear the same false information repeated again and again, we often come to believe it is true. Troublingly, this even happens when people should know better—that is, when people initially know that the misinformation is false” (https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/illusory-truth-effect ).

This is implicated in everyday life. The illusory truth effect has a firm grasp around the world.  “When we’re repeatedly exposed to the same information - even if it’s meaningless or if we aren’t consciously aware that we’ve seen it before it gradually becomes easier for us to process”(https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/illusory-truth-effect). We as people have been conditioned to act this way, and participate in this effect.

I do not see that much good in the illusory  truth effect. The widespread lies and miss-information can only be harmful. It might protect a person's feelings in the moment and allow them to go with the flow then rather discover and think of the truth on its own, but in the long run it is harmful. “ In contrast, a second manifestation of the illusory truth effect occurs when participants are told during study about which information is to be believed and nevertheless tend to miss judge cute false information to be true”(https://web-p-ebscohost-com.libproxy.highpoint.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=54cf13f7-17a0-457d-9e0c-90c181ed8cab%40redis). 

Considering normally the truth is frequently correlated with the real world and people talking with one another, the illusory truth effect is made more prominent, “people learn to use processing fluidity…”(https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-021-00301-5 ). as a way to determine if something is true or not. It is easier to do this than to go find the information yourself or believe a new truth someone is trying to tell you. This is an extremely scary thing to think of, because many people are out there in the world spreading false information and believing it. It is so much harder to change people's minds once they are already made up which is why the cyst still continues even afterwards and in fact.

As a result of the illusory truth effect being so common this does affect almost every class and every culture and every age group. Parents tell these lies to their children, husbands tell them to their wives. It is because we consider us part of our basic knowledge and at the beginning already assume it is true. “This preference for easy processing (also known as processing fluency) is more deeply rooted than many of us realize” (https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/illusory-truth-effect).


The illusory truth effect has a large impact on our daily lives. Both conscious and unconscious, this is a thing that is done many times a day all over the world. Friends and family of mine have definitely used this with me and I am sure that I’ve used this with them. I believe it is a true danger to our generation to walk blindly without seeking out the truth. It leaves the world vulnerable.



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