Memory and fake news

contributions from cognitive psychology to the misinformation and disinformation phenomena

Abstract

Although false information has been systematically used for political and economic purposes for several centuries, it has recently reached unprecedented levels of influence and pervasiveness. This occurs as a result of a series of factors, especially technological and economic. A multitude of terms, such as fake news, disinformation, misinformation, mal-information, among others, have been used to describe the phenomenon, which is complex and requires research in multiple areas. However, there is a scarcity of literature in cognitive psychology related to the topic, especially on memory process. In order to reduce this gap, we aim in this article to establish bridges between these phenomena and the theories of memory. In addition to this more theoretical effort, we carried out a brief review of articles in Portuguese and English that present experimental data on the phenomenon. Most of the reviewed studies addressed the phenomenon through reasoning and decision processes, but disregard memory processes. False information is seldom completely new and our reasoning and decision-making processes rely on our semantic memories to decide which information is real and which is false. Therefore, considering memory processes is essential not only for a more accurate understanding of the phenomenon, but also for effectively coping with it.