An official website of the United States government
ABSTRACT Scientific misinformation is a defining challenge of our time. As public trust in science declines and falsehoods spread faster than facts, the scientific community must rethink its role in public discourse. This Perspective draws on a scenario-based workshop entitled ‘Truth Matters: Strengthening Science Communication to Counter Misinformation’, conducted at the 20th International Congress of Developmental Biology in San Juan, Puerto Rico (June 2025), designed to train scientists in emotionally attuned, culturally responsive and effective communication strategies. At the joint conference with the International Society of Developmental Biology, the Society for Developmental Biology and the Latin American Society for Developmental Biology, we explored why misinformation persists, how identity and social belonging shape belief, and why empathy, not just evidence, is essential to making truth resonate. Here, we offer a call to action along with practical tools: to make scientific knowledge meaningful, we must communicate effectively and ensure it resonates with the broader public.
more »
« less
Denialism as Applied Skepticism: Philosophical and Empirical Considerations
The scientific community, we hold, often provides society with knowledge — that the HIV virus causes AIDS, that anthropogenic climate change is underway, that the MMR vaccine is safe. Some deny that we have this knowledge, however, and work to undermine it in others. It has been common (but not uncontroversial) to refer to such agents as “denialists”. At first glance, then, denialism appears to be a form of skepticism. But while we know that various denialist strategies for suppressing belief are generally effective, little is known about which strategies are most effective. We see this as an important first step toward their remediation. This paper leverages the approximate comparison to various forms of philosophical skepticism to design an experimental test of the efficacy of four broad strategies of denial at suppressing belief in specific scientific claims. Our results suggest that assertive strategies are more effective at suppressing belief than questioning strategies.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1734616
- PAR ID:
- 10489117
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Erkenntnis
- Volume:
- 85
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0165-0106
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 871 to 890
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- denialism, skepticism
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Recent years have seen a surge in research on why people fall for misinformation and what can be done about it. Drawing on a framework that conceptualizes truth judgments of true and false information as a signal-detection problem, the current article identifies three inaccurate assumptions in the public and scientific discourse about misinformation: (1) People are bad at discerning true from false information, (2) partisan bias is not a driving force in judgments of misinformation, and (3) gullibility to false information is the main factor underlying inaccurate beliefs. Counter to these assumptions, we argue that (1) people are quite good at discerning true from false information, (2) partisan bias in responses to true and false information is pervasive and strong, and (3) skepticism against belief-incongruent true information is much more pronounced than gullibility to belief-congruent false information. These conclusions have significant implications for person-centered misinformation interventions to tackle inaccurate beliefs.more » « less
-
Abstract Anthropogenic climate change threatens the structure and function of ecosystems throughout the globe, but many people are still skeptical of its existence. Traditional “knowledge deficit model” thinking has suggested that providing the public with more facts about climate change will assuage skepticism. However, presenting evidence contrary to prior beliefs can have the opposite effect and result in a strengthening of previously held beliefs, a phenomenon known as biased assimilation or a backfire effect. Given this, strategies for effectively communicating about socioscientific issues that are politically controversial need to be thoroughly investigated. We randomly assigned 184 undergraduates from an environmental science class to one of three experimental conditions in which we exposed them to short videos that employed different messaging strategies: (a) an engaging science lecture, (b) consensus messaging, and (c) elite cues. We measured changes in student perceptions of climate change across five constructs (content knowledge, acceptance of scientific consensus, perceived risk, support for action, and climate identity) before and after viewing videos. Consensus messaging outperformed the other two conditions in increasing student acceptance of the scientific consensus, perceived risk of climate change, and climate identity, suggesting this may be an effective strategy for communicating the gravity of anthropogenic climate change. Elite cues outperformed the engaging science lecture condition in increasing student support for action on climate, with politically conservative students driving this relationship, suggesting that the messenger is more important than the message if changing opinions about the necessity of action on climate change is the desired outcome. Relative to the other conditions, the engaging science lecture did not support change in students' perceptions on climate, but appealing to student respect for authority produced positive results. Notably, we observed no decline in students' acceptance of climate science, indicating that none of the conditions induced a backfire effect.more » « less
-
Abundant laboratory and classroom research demonstrate the superior effectiveness of effortful learning strategies based on cognitive science over re-reading, highlighting, and other strategies more widely used by college students. However, persuadingstudents to adopt and adhere to effective strategies is difficult. This article outlines a novel, peer-to-peer intervention rooted in the Knowledge, Belief, Commitment, and Planning theoretical framework (McDaniel & Einstein, 2020) that emphasizes the need for students to believe in, commit to, and plan to use effective strategies rather than simply “know” them. Opportunities for faculty and learning center personnel to incorporate elements of the intervention into existing programming and adapt them to local institutional needs are described.more » « less
-
Abundant laboratory and classroom research demonstrate the superior effectiveness of effortful learning strategies based on cognitive science over re-reading, highlighting, and other strategies more widely used by college students. However, persuading 224 Usdansky et. al students to adopt and adhere to effective strategies is difficult. This article outlines a novel, peer-to-peer intervention rooted in the Knowledge, Belief, Commitment, and Planning theoretical framework (McDaniel & Einstein, 2020) that emphasizes the need for students to believe in, commit to, and plan to use effective strategies rather than simply “know” them. Opportunities for faculty and learning center personnel to incorporate elements of the intervention into existing programming and adapt them to local institutional needs are described.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-018-0054-0
