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On Known Unknowns: Fluency and the Neural Mechanisms of Illusory Truth.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Wang, W-C; Brashier, NM; Wing, EA; Marsh, EJ; Cabeza, R
Published in: Journal of cognitive neuroscience
May 2016

The "illusory truth" effect refers to the phenomenon whereby repetition of a statement increases its likelihood of being judged true. This phenomenon has important implications for how we come to believe oft-repeated information that may be misleading or unknown. Behavioral evidence indicates that fluency, the subjective ease experienced while processing information, underlies this effect. This suggests that illusory truth should be mediated by brain regions previously linked to fluency, such as the perirhinal cortex (PRC). To investigate this possibility, we scanned participants with fMRI while they rated the truth of unknown statements, half of which were presented earlier (i.e., repeated). The only brain region that showed an interaction between repetition and ratings of perceived truth was PRC, where activity increased with truth ratings for repeated, but not for new, statements. This finding supports the hypothesis that illusory truth is mediated by a fluency mechanism and further strengthens the link between PRC and fluency.

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Published In

Journal of cognitive neuroscience

DOI

EISSN

1530-8898

ISSN

0898-929X

Publication Date

May 2016

Volume

28

Issue

5

Start / End Page

739 / 746

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Reaction Time
  • Perirhinal Cortex
  • Oxygen
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Judgment
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Illusions
  • Humans
 

Citation

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ICMJE
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Wang, W.-C., Brashier, N. M., Wing, E. A., Marsh, E. J., & Cabeza, R. (2016). On Known Unknowns: Fluency and the Neural Mechanisms of Illusory Truth. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 28(5), 739–746. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00923
Wang, Wei-Chun, Nadia M. Brashier, Erik A. Wing, Elizabeth J. Marsh, and Roberto Cabeza. “On Known Unknowns: Fluency and the Neural Mechanisms of Illusory Truth.Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 28, no. 5 (May 2016): 739–46. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00923.
Wang W-C, Brashier NM, Wing EA, Marsh EJ, Cabeza R. On Known Unknowns: Fluency and the Neural Mechanisms of Illusory Truth. Journal of cognitive neuroscience. 2016 May;28(5):739–46.
Wang, Wei-Chun, et al. “On Known Unknowns: Fluency and the Neural Mechanisms of Illusory Truth.Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, vol. 28, no. 5, May 2016, pp. 739–46. Epmc, doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00923.
Wang W-C, Brashier NM, Wing EA, Marsh EJ, Cabeza R. On Known Unknowns: Fluency and the Neural Mechanisms of Illusory Truth. Journal of cognitive neuroscience. 2016 May;28(5):739–746.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of cognitive neuroscience

DOI

EISSN

1530-8898

ISSN

0898-929X

Publication Date

May 2016

Volume

28

Issue

5

Start / End Page

739 / 746

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Reaction Time
  • Perirhinal Cortex
  • Oxygen
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Judgment
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Illusions
  • Humans