“I Remember What the Text Says but Don’t Really Think It’s True (When It Disagrees With Me)”

• In Event: Epistemic Beliefs and Learning and Reasoning About Texts

Abstract

This study investigated readers’ prior beliefs about controversial topics in relation to their recall of conclusions from texts discussing those topics. Results indicated that a substantial proportion of readers recalled conclusions that matched their prior beliefs rather than what the texts actually said and also put relatively high trust in those conclusions. Those readers also displayed less cognitive reflection and critical reading strategies than readers recalling text conclusions correctly although those conlusions were at odds with what they believed about the topics. However, the latter group put less trust in the conclusions that they rightly derived from the texts, thus distancing themselves from the text-based conclusions and adjusting their trustworthiness judgments to their prior topic beliefs.

Authors

• Tonje Stenseth, University of Oslo

• Helge I. Stromso, University of Oslo

• Ivar Braten, University of Oslo