Dr. Woods Presents International Research in New York City

December 3, 2024

Dr. Woods presented an international collaborative research project on the Illusory Truth Effect with Grand View alumnus Dr. Paul Reisthuis '16 at the Psychonomic Society meeting in New York City. Psychonomics, the premier international society for the world’s leading cognitive scientists, is celebrated as the pinnacle of psychological research.

Their presentation attracted an extraordinary audience, including the chair of Psychonomics, one of the founding researchers of the Illusory Truth Effect, and several other distinguished scholars. Their work overturns three decades of established research, offering a paradigm-shifting perspective on how the Illusory Truth Effect shapes socio-political beliefs. Specifically, their findings reveal that how opinions are encoded significantly influences whether repetition increases their perceived truthfulness. In practical terms, their research demonstrates that when skepticism is low, repeated socio-political opinions are far more likely to be accepted as truth.

This revelation has sparked significant attention due to its timely implications for understanding the spread of political misinformation and the formation of public opinion, highlighting the important contributions of Dr. Reisthuis and Dr. Woods. They are currently developing the next phase of this research project, which will focus on how agreement and personal bias can play a role in the Illusory Truth Effect for socio-political opinions.