Tactics for increasing resistance to misinformation

Summary This study was the first to test both the independent and additive effects of change‐detection prompts and warnings about potential discrepancies between an event and post‐event information on susceptibility to misinformation. Participants ( N = 239) viewed a mock crime video, read a post‐event narrative containing misinformation, and completed a memory test about the video content. Participants were randomly assigned to change‐detection and warning conditions. Ecological validity was enhanced by describing the materials as a police training exercise and by examining effects of one versus four misinformation items (opposed to typically higher rates in experimental research). Using a novel statistical approach for this topic (GLMM), we compared across the misinformation quantities participants received. Change‐detection prompts, but not a pre‐warning, decreased misinformation rates, and the effect of change‐detection was not enhanced by a pre‐warning. Results held regardless of misinformation quantity. These findings emphasize the utility of change‐detection mechanisms for increasing misinformation resistance.