The neurocognition of social-emotional (mis)information

错误信息和“假新闻”，即虚假或真实性可疑的信息，越来越普遍，并影响人们的观点和行为（Lazer等人，2018；Lewandowsky等人，2012）。虽然网上传播和错误信息的检测已经得到了比较充分的调查，但在个人信息处理系统中，决定其命运的过程却鲜为人知。这个项目的目的是描述潜在的错误信息是如何在神经认知系统中处理的，以及如何通过干预来调节，以保护我们自己免受其有害影响，使用高时间分辨率的脑电生理反应。一个关键的焦点是错误信息的情感内容是如何塑造这种处理的，因为我们对情感的作用知之甚少，即使错误信息经常是情绪化的。潜在的错误信息在这里被定义为口头或通过来源标记为不可信的信息。我们关注的是关于人的社会情绪信息，这些信息已经被证明会影响人脸处理和人的评估的各个方面（例如，Abdel Rahman, 2011; Kissler & Strehlow, 2017； Junghöfer等人，2017；Schindler等人，2021），尤其是我们的情绪反应、我们的观点和我们的社会判断（Baum等人，2018；Baum和Abdel Rahman, 2020; 2021）。子项目1通过调查关于知名人士的错误信息的影响，以及反映在社会知觉和自身非语言社会交际行为中的内隐过程的影响，明确了社会错误信息的行为和神经认知机制。子项目2描述了干预的神经认知，通过调查使用情绪调节和同理心以及讽刺和幽默的策略来防止错误信息。最后，子项目3在对本项目和相关实验的综合数据进行大规模分析的基础上，确定了与社会错误信息处理相关的人格、认知能力及其相互作用方面的关键个体差异。拟议项目的结果将有助于全面了解我们对错误信息的敏感性，这是避免其潜在有害影响的关键。

Misinformation and “fake news”, that is, information that is false or of questionable veracity, is increasingly prevalent and affects opinions and behaviours (Lazer et al., 2018; Lewandowsky et al., 2012). While the online spread and the detection of misinformation are comparatively well-investigated, little is known about the processes that determine its fate within the individual information processing system. The aim of this project is to describe how potential misinformation is processed within the neurocognitive system and how this is modulated by interventions to protect ourselves against its detrimental effects using high temporally resolving electrophysiological brain responses. A key focus is how emotional contents of misinformation shape this processing, as we know little about the role of emotion even though misinformation is frequently emotionally loaded. Potential misinformation is conceptualized here as information that is either verbally or via the source marked as untrustworthy. We focus on social-emotional information about persons that has been shown to affect various aspects of face processing and person evaluation (e.g., Abdel Rahman, 2011; Kissler & Strehlow, 2017; Junghöfer et al., 2017; Schindler et al., 2021), and especially our emotional responses, our opinions and our social judgments (Baum et al., 2018; Baum and Abdel Rahman, 2020; 2021). Subproject 1 specifies the behavioural and neurocognitive mechanisms of social misinformation by investigating the effects of misinformation about well-known persons, as well as effects in implicit processes reflected in social perception and own non-verbal social-communicative behaviour. Subproject 2 describes the neurocognition of interventions as possible guards against misinformation by investigating strategies using emotion regulation and empathy, as well as satire and humour. Finally, subproject 3 identifies key individual differences in personality, cognitive ability and their interactions relevant for the processing of social misinformation on the basis of a mega-analysis of the integrated data of this project and related experiments. The results from the proposed project will contribute to the comprehensive understanding of our susceptibility to misinformation which is key to avoid its potentially detrimental effects.