Can Encountering More Misinformation Lead to More Resistance to Misinformation?

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Misinformation is a current issue, particularly when considered in the context of the COVID pandemic,where consistent misinformation circulating caused detrimental effects.The misinformation effect outlines how, after witnessing an event and receiving contradictoryinformation after, an individual's memory may begin to incorporate some of the misinformation into theiroriginal memory of the event. Further research has shown that memories are more likely to change if theindividual does not notice the discrepancy immediately. However, when the discrepancy is noticed, thiscan facilitate memory for the original event.This research is aimed at exploring the possibility that encountering larger pieces of misinformationmakes people more sceptical and resistant to misinformation, reducing the misinformation effect.This project will conduct a meta-analysis, as well as three experimental studies designed to complementthe meta-analysis. The meta-analysis itself will focus on the effect that varying amounts ofmisinformation have on discrepancy detection. Further to this, multiple smaller meta-analyses areplanned to explore certain subsets of studies, such as type of test (forced choice vs. free recall forinstance).The first experimental study will directly look at the effect differing amounts of misinformation have onboth amount of discrepancies detected and memory performance. The second experimental study willexplore how different types of misinformation (e.g., complimentary vs. supplementary), in combinationwith varying amounts of misinformation, can moderate the misinformation effect. Finally, the thirdexperimental study will follow-up on any further questions that may arise during the course of the MAand first two experimental studies.