IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0283951.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Executive function and the continued influence of misinformation: A latent-variable analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Paul McIlhiney
  • Gilles E Gignac
  • Ullrich K H Ecker
  • Briana L Kennedy
  • Michael Weinborn

Abstract

Misinformation can continue to influence reasoning after correction; this is known as the continued influence effect (CIE). Theoretical accounts of the CIE suggest failure of two cognitive processes to be causal, namely memory updating and suppression of misinformation reliance. Both processes can also be conceptualised as subcomponents of contemporary executive function (EF) models; specifically, working-memory updating and prepotent-response inhibition. EF may thus predict susceptibility to the CIE. The current study investigated whether individual differences in EF could predict individual differences in CIE susceptibility. Participants completed several measures of EF subcomponents, including those of updating and inhibition, as well as set shifting, and a standard CIE task. The relationship between EF and CIE was then assessed using a correlation analysis of the EF and CIE measures, as well as structural equation modelling of the EF-subcomponent latent variable and CIE latent variable. Results showed that EF can predict susceptibility to the CIE, especially the factor of working-memory updating. These results further our understanding of the CIE’s cognitive antecedents and provide potential directions for real-world CIE intervention.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul McIlhiney & Gilles E Gignac & Ullrich K H Ecker & Briana L Kennedy & Michael Weinborn, 2023. "Executive function and the continued influence of misinformation: A latent-variable analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(4), pages 1-21, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0283951
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283951
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0283951
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0283951&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0283951?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. De keersmaecker, Jonas & Roets, Arne, 2017. "‘Fake news’: Incorrect, but hard to correct. The role of cognitive ability on the impact of false information on social impressions," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 107-110.
    2. Gignac, Gilles E. & Kretzschmar, André, 2017. "Evaluating dimensional distinctness with correlated-factor models: Limitations and suggestions," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 138-147.
    3. Alodie Rey-Mermet & Krishneil A Singh & Gilles E Gignac & Christopher R Brydges & Ullrich K H Ecker, 2020. "Interference control in working memory: Evidence for discriminant validity between removal and inhibition tasks," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(12), pages 1-23, December.
    4. Jon Roozenbeek & Sander van der Linden, 2019. "The fake news game: actively inoculating against the risk of misinformation," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 570-580, May.
    5. Brydges, Christopher R. & Gignac, Gilles E. & Ecker, Ullrich K.H., 2018. "Working memory capacity, short-term memory capacity, and the continued influence effect: A latent-variable analysis," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 117-122.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dorsaf Sallami & Esma Aïmeur, 2025. "Exploring beyond detection: a review on fake news prevention and mitigation techniques," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-38, February.
    2. Brydges, Christopher R. & Gignac, Gilles E. & Ecker, Ullrich K.H., 2018. "Working memory capacity, short-term memory capacity, and the continued influence effect: A latent-variable analysis," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 117-122.
    3. Sai-fu Fung & Esther Oi-wah Chow & Chau-kiu Cheung, 2020. "Development and Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of a Brief Wisdom Development Scale," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-14, April.
    4. Jinjin Ma & Yidi Chen & Huanya Zhu & Yiqun Gan, 2023. "Fighting COVID-19 Misinformation through an Online Game Based on the Inoculation Theory: Analyzing the Mediating Effects of Perceived Threat and Persuasion Knowledge," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Konstantina Spanaki & Efpraxia D. Zamani & Uchitha Jayawickrama & Femi Olan & Shaofeng Liu & Ilias O. Pappas, 2024. "Information Management in Times of Crisis: the Role of Mindfulness and Digital Resilience for Individuals and Organisations," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 369-374, April.
    6. Meng Zhen Larsen & Michael R. Haupt & Tiana McMann & Raphael E. Cuomo & Tim K. Mackey, 2023. "The Influence of News Consumption Habits and Dispositional Traits on Trust in Medical Scientists," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-13, May.
    7. João Pedro Baptista & Anabela Gradim, 2020. "Understanding Fake News Consumption: A Review," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-22, October.
    8. Femi Olan & Uchitha Jayawickrama & Emmanuel Ogiemwonyi Arakpogun & Jana Suklan & Shaofeng Liu, 2024. "Fake news on Social Media: the Impact on Society," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 443-458, April.
    9. Kampa, Nele & Scherer, Ronny & Saß, Steffani & Schipolowski, Stefan, 2021. "The relation between science achievement and general cognitive abilities in large-scale assessments," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    10. Andrea Moscadelli & Giuseppe Albora & Massimiliano Alberto Biamonte & Duccio Giorgetti & Michele Innocenzio & Sonia Paoli & Chiara Lorini & Paolo Bonanni & Guglielmo Bonaccorsi, 2020. "Fake News and Covid-19 in Italy: Results of a Quantitative Observational Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-13, August.
    11. Sachin Modgil & Rohit Kumar Singh & Shivam Gupta & Denis Dennehy, 2024. "A Confirmation Bias View on Social Media Induced Polarisation During Covid-19," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 417-441, April.
    12. Fabio Padovano & Pauline Mille, 2022. "Education, fake news and the PBC," Economics Working Paper from Condorcet Center for political Economy at CREM-CNRS 2022-01-ccr, Condorcet Center for political Economy.
    13. Matthew Spradling & Jeremy Straub & Jay Strong, 2021. "Protection from ‘Fake News’: The Need for Descriptive Factual Labeling for Online Content," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-26, May.
    14. Marco Batista & Marta Leyton-Román & Ruth Jiménez-Castuera, 2022. "Validity and Reliability of the Portuguese Version of the Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire—EVS III," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-13, January.
    15. Alex Armand & Mattia Fracchia & Pedro C. Vicente, 2024. "Let's call! Using the phone to increase vaccine acceptance," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 82-106, January.
    16. Seoyong Kim & Sunhee Kim, 2020. "The Crisis of Public Health and Infodemic: Analyzing Belief Structure of Fake News about COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-23, November.
    17. Della Lena, Sebastiano, 2024. "The spread of misinformation in networks with individual and social learning," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    18. Kathie M. d'I. Treen & Hywel T. P. Williams & Saffron J. O'Neill, 2020. "Online misinformation about climate change," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(5), September.
    19. Domenico, Giandomenico Di & Sit, Jason & Ishizaka, Alessio & Nunan, Daniel, 2021. "Fake news, social media and marketing: A systematic review," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 329-341.
    20. Giofrè, David & Pastore, Massimiliano & Cornoldi, Cesare & Toffalini, Enrico, 2019. "Lumpers vs. splitters: Intelligence in children with specific learning disorders," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 1-1.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0283951. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.