The Impact of Text’s Format on the Cognitive Assessment of the Information’s Reliability

Occupation: Research Engineer, Laboratory of Behavioral Neurodynamics
Affiliation: Saint Petersburg State University
Address: Sankt-Petersburg, Universitetskaya nab., 7-9

O. Shcherbakova

Occupation: Associate Professor of the Department of General Psychology
Affiliation: Saint Petersburg State University, Faculty of Psychology
Address: Saint Petersburg, Admiral Makarov Embankment, 6, Russia

Journal name

Psikhologicheskii zhurnal

Edition

Volume 43 Issue 3

Pages

89-101

Abstract

The format of modern texts is believed to affect the readers' judgement of the text’s credibility. However, most studies do not address the psychological bases of this effect. To fill this gap, we designed an experiment aimed at studying cognitive assessment of the reliability/credibility of information presented in verbal vs. iconic texts. We predicted that the text format affects 1) the reader’s judgement of whether its content is false or true 2) the reader's confidence in such a judgement. Participants (N = 200; 88.5% – female; 15 – 56 y.o., Me = 28) 1) read 20 texts describing fictional facts (10 texts were presented in verbal format, 10 – in iconic one); 2) made judgments about the credibility of each fact; 3) assessed their own confidence in their judgements. It was found that readers were much more likely to judge the facts presented in iconic format as false (χ2 = 12.382, df = 1, p < 0.001, V = 0.056). The influence of the text format on the participants' confidence in their judgements was small (t = 2.256, df = 3998, p = 0.024, d = 0.071), in contrast to the effect of the response type (i.e., “true” vs. “false”): the participants were much more confident in their judgments when they believed that the facts they read about were false as opposed to true (t = 11.415, df = 3987.2, p < 0.001, d = 0.363). We conclude that imagery components of the iconic texts restrict the build-up of readers’ own mental representations corresponding to their general knowledge. This, in turn, may decrease the readers’ trust in the information presented and lead to their greater confidence in decisions about the unreliability of the facts described in iconic texts in comparison with verbal ones.

Keywords

reading, cognitive assessment of the reliability, confidence in the information, verbal text, iconic text

Acknowledgment

The study was supported by a grant from the Government of the Russian Federation No 14.W03.31.0010.

Publication date

23.06.2022

Number of characters

30351

Cite

GOST	Blinova E., Shcherbakova O. The Impact of Text’s Format on the Cognitive Assessment of the Information’s Reliability // Psikhologicheskii zhurnal – 2022. – V. 43. – Issue 3 C. 89-101 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://psy.jes.su/S020595920020499-4-1 (circulation date: 19.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S020595920020499-4
MLA	Blinova, E., Shcherbakova, O. "The Impact of Text’s Format on the Cognitive Assessment of the Information’s Reliability." Psikhologicheskii zhurnal 43.3 (2022):89-101. DOI: 10.31857/S020595920020499-4
APA	Blinova E., Shcherbakova O. (2022). The Impact of Text’s Format on the Cognitive Assessment of the Information’s Reliability. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal 43(3), pp.89-101 DOI: 10.31857/S020595920020499-4

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 3, views: 418

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Blinova E.N., Shcherbakova O.V. Kognitivnye mehanizmy ponimanija verbal'nyh i ikonicheskih tekstov // Psikhologicheskii zhurnal, 2021. V. 42. № 1. P. 66–79. (In Russian)

2. Blinova E.N., Shcherbakova O.V. Patterny intellektual'nogo povedenija, projavljajushhiesja pri rabote s verbal'nymi i ikonicheskimi tekstami. Psihologija XXI veka: aktual'nye vyzovy i dostizhenija. Sbornik statej uchastnikov mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoj konferencii molodyh uchenyh. Ed. A.V. Shaboltas. Saint Petersburg: Skifia-print, 2020. P. 78–88. (In Russian)

3. Blinova E.N., Shcherbakova O.V. Patterny kognitivnoj dejatel'nosti, oposredujushhej ponimanie verbal'nyh i ikonicheskih tekstov. Psihologicheskie issledovanija: Vyp. 10 Eds. A.L. Zhuravlev, E.A. Sergienko, N.E. Harlamenkova. Moscow: Izd-vo “Institut psihologii RAN”, 2020. P. 66–77. (In Russian)

4. Vekker L.M. Psihicheskie processy. V. 2. Leningrad: Izd-vo Leningr. un-ta, 1976. (In Russian)

5. Zhizn' onlajn: potreblenie, pol'zovanie, razvlechenija. Analiticheskij obzor VCIOM. 2020. December 16. URL: https://wciom.ru/analytical-reviews/analiticheskii-obzor/zhizn-onlain-potreblenie-polzovanie-razvlechenija (data obrashhenija 17.02.2021). (In Russian)

6. Issledovanie “Istochniki novostej i doverie SMI”. Levada-centr (vypolnjaet v Rossii funkcii inostrannogo agenta). 2020. February 27. URL: https://www.levada.ru/2020/02/27/istochniki-novostej-i-doverie-smi (data obrashhenija 17.02.2021). (In Russian)

7. Mediapotreblenie v Rossii – 2020. Issledovatel'skij centr kompanii “Deloitte” v SNG. Moscow, October 2020. (In Russian)

8. Shcherbakova O.V. Informacionno-jenergeticheskaja organizacija nekotoryh patternov metakognitivnoj reguljacii. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Serija 12. Psihologija. Pedagogika. Sociologija, 2012. № 3. P. 103–114. (In Russian)

9. Shherbakova O.V. Kognitivnye mehanizmy ponimanija komicheskogo: Diss. …kand. psihol. nauk. Saint Petersburg, 2009. (In Russian)

10. Jakushina E.V. Mediaobrazovanie. Kak proverit' dostovernost' informacii v Internete?. Media. Informacija. Kommunikacija, 2013. № 6. P. 6–8. (In Russian)

11. Ainsworth S. DeFT: A conceptual framework for considering learning with multiple representations. Learning and Instruction, 2006. V.16. № 3. P. 183–198.

12. Anderson C.A. Imagination and expectation: The effect of imagining behavioral scripts on personal intentions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1983. V. 45. № 2. P. 293–305.

13. Carroll J.S. The effect of imagining an event on expectations for the event: An interpretation in terms of the availability heuristic. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1978. V. 14. № 1. P. 88–96.

14. Clark R.E., Feldon D.F. Ten Common but Questionable Principles of Multimedia Learning. The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, 2nd ed.. Ed. R.E. Mayer. NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014. P. 151–173.

15. Eitel A., Scheiter K., Schüler A. How Inspecting a Picture Affects Processing of Text in Multimedia Learning. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2013. V. 27. № 4. P. 451–461.

16. Foy J., Gerrig R. Flying to neverland: how readers tacitly judge norms during comprehension. Memory and Cognition, 2014. V. 42. № 8. P. 1250–1259.

17. Hameleers M., Powell T.E., Van Der Meer T.G.L.A., Bos L. A picture paints a thousand lies? The effects and mechanisms of multimodal disinformation and rebuttals disseminated via social media. Political Communication, 2020. V. 37. № 2. P. 281–301.

18. Hegarty M., Just M.A. Constructing mental models of machines from text and diagrams. Journal of Memory and Language, 1993. V. 32. № 6. P. 717–742.

19. Hegarty M. Multimedia Learning and the Development of Mental Models. The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, 2nd ed. Ed. R.E. Mayer. NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014. P. 673–702.

20. Jajdelska E., Anderson M., Butler C., Fabb N., Finnigan E., Garwood I., Kelly S., Kirk W., Kukkonen K., Mullally S., Schwan S. Picture This: A Review of Research Relating to Narrative Processing by Moving Image Versus Language. Frontiers in Psychology, 2019. V. 10. 1161.

21. Kalogeropoulos A., Suiter J., Udris L., Eisenegger M. News media trust and news consumption: factors related to trust in news in 35 countries. International Journal of Communication, 2019. V. 13. P. 3672–3693.

22. Koehler D.J. Explanation, imagination, and confidence in judgment. Psychological bulletin, 1991. V. 110. № 3. P. 499–519.

23. Lee W.-K., Wu Ch.-J. Eye Movements in Integrating Geometric Text and Figure: Scanpaths and Given-New Effects. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 2018. V. 16. № 4. P. 699–714.

24. Livio O., Cohen J. “Fool me once, shame on you”: Direct personal experience and media trust. Journalism, 2018. V. 19. № 5. P. 684–698.

25. Mayer R.E. Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, 2nd ed. Ed. R.E. Mayer. NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014. P. 43-71.

26. Messaris P., Abraham L. The role of images in framing news stories. Framing public life: Perspectives on Media and Our Understanding of the Social World. Eds. S.D. Reese, O.H. Gandy, A.E. Grant. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2001. P. 215–226.

27. Paivio A. Mental Representations: A Dual Coding Approach. Oxford University Press, 1990.

28. Petrova Т., Riekhakaynen Е. Processing of Verbal and Non-verbal Patterns: An Eye-Tracking Study of Russian. Third international congress on information and communication technology. ICICT 2018. London: Springer, 2019. Р. 269–275.

29. Pulvermüller F., Härle M., Hummel F. Walking or Talking?: Behavioral and Neurophysiological Correlates of Action Verb Processing. Brain and Language, 2001. V. 78. № 2. P. 143–168.

30. Rayner K., Rotello C.M., Stewart A.J., Keir J., Duffy S.A. Integrating text and pictorial information: eye movements when looking at print advertisements. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2001. V. 7. № 3. Р. 219–226.

31. Schnotz W. Integrated model of text and picture comprehension. The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, 2nd ed.. Ed. R.E. Mayer. NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014. P. 72–103.

32. Seo K. Meta-Analysis on Visual Persuasion – Does Adding Images to Texts Influence Persuasion?. Athens Journal of Mass Media and Communications, 2020. V. 6. № 3. P. 177–190.

33. Sharpe D. Chi-Square Test is Statistically Significant: Now What?. Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, 2015. V. 20. 8.

34. Speer N.K., Reynolds J.R., Swallow K.M., Zacks J.M. Reading Stories Activates Neural Representations of Visual and Motor Experiences. Psychological Science, 2009. V. 20. № 8. P. 989–999.

35. Steinbrück U., Schaumburg H., Duda S., Krüger T. A picture says more than a thousand words: photographs as trust builders in e-commerce websites. CHI '02 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery. NY, USA, 2002. P. 748–749.

36. Stenning K., Oberlander J. A cognitive theory of graphical and linguistic reasoning: Logic and implementation. Cognitive Science, 1995. V. 19. № 1. P. 97–140.

37. Tsai C., Klayman J., Hastie R. Effects of amount of information on judgment accuracy and confidence. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2008. V. 107. № 2. P. 97–105.

38. Turcotte J., York C., Irving J., Scholl R.M., Pingree R.J. News recommendations from social media opinion leaders: Effects on media trust and information seeking. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2015. V. 20. № 5. P. 520–535.

39. Zinko R., Stolk P., Furner Z., Almond B. A picture is worth a thousand words: how images influence information quality and information load in online reviews. Electronic Markets, 2020. V. 30. № 4. P. 775–789.