Familiarity backfire from corrective repetition
Does repeating misinformation in a correction make it more believable?
Target-comparable backfire appears in some tested formats and contexts, while replications and later studies also report counterevidence. The record does not warrant a blanket rule against repeating misinformation inside corrections, and the causal mechanism remains unresolved.
The stranger test
Many mentions, fewer evidence roots
One participant-data lineage per publication-defined data series. Experiments within one publication are collapsed; author, method, material, and research-program overlap remain disclosed separately.
Scope:A lineage audit of the familiarity backfire claim. Independent counts refer to participant-data roots, not complete independence of authors, methods, or research programs. Worldview backfire and continued influence are distinct.
Sentence x-ray
Read the evaluated record
A target-comparable delayed myths-and-facts result in a student sample, subject to the paper's convenience-sample and generalizability limits.
Inspect 2 exact source spans
Source 1.1
Misinformation lingers in memory: Failure of three pro-vaccination strategies
Results vaccine-autism comparison
"This time, beliefs in the vaccines/autism link were statistically significantly higher in the myths vs. facts condition compared to the visual (M = .97, SE = .22, p < .001) and control condition (M = .8, SE = .22, p = .002), and in the fear condition compared to visual condition (M = .67, SE = .22, p = .016)."
Source 1.2
Misinformation lingers in memory: Failure of three pro-vaccination strategies
Discussion limitations paragraph 8
"Some aspects of our experimental procedures may limit the generalization of the findings. Firstly, we used a convenience sample with limited variability in age and educational level."
Supports the narrower unlicensed-negation boundary and proposed mechanism.
Inspect 2 exact source spans
Source 2.1
Unlicensed Corrections Violate the Gricean Maxims of Communication: Evidence for a Cognitive Mechanism Underlying Misinformation Backfire Effects
Crossref abstract result
"Misinformation use was significantly greater when a correction was provided without licensing than when no information was provided at all."
Source 2.2
Unlicensed Corrections Violate the Gricean Maxims of Communication: Evidence for a Cognitive Mechanism Underlying Misinformation Backfire Effects
Crossref abstract mechanism
"We suggest that the backfire effect observed in this study may be the result of a violation of the Gricean maxims of communication"
Every tested retraction reduced reliance relative to no retraction, and explicit misinformation repetition improved the retraction relative to no reminder. Every retraction also supplied an alternative causal account.
Inspect 4 exact source spans
Source 3.1
Reminders and Repetition of Misinformation: Helping or Hindering Its Retraction?
Accepted manuscript p. 3, abstract result
"Retractions that explicitly repeated the misinformation were more effective in reducing misinformation effects than retractions that avoided repetition, presumably because of enhanced salience."
Source 3.2
Reminders and Repetition of Misinformation: Helping or Hindering Its Retraction?
Accepted manuscript p. 18, retraction-versus-control result
"any kind of retraction reduced reliance on misinformation compared to a control condition with no retraction"
Source 3.3
Reminders and Repetition of Misinformation: Helping or Hindering Its Retraction?
Accepted manuscript p. 18, explicit-repeat contrast
"a retraction that explicitly repeated the misinformation (condition RER) lowered reliance on misinformation more than a retraction that provided no reminder (condition RNR)"
Source 3.4
Reminders and Repetition of Misinformation: Helping or Hindering Its Retraction?
Accepted manuscript p. 18, alternative-account qualifier
"each retraction was accompanied by an alternative causal account of the event"
Both experiments retained corrected belief below the pre-correction baseline despite delayed regression.
Inspect 3 exact source spans
Source 4.1
The Role of Familiarity in Correcting Inaccurate Information
Manuscript p. 16, Experiment 1 result
"As post-manipulation belief levels remained below pre-manipulation belief levels, no true backfire effect was elicited."
Source 4.2
The Role of Familiarity in Correcting Inaccurate Information
Manuscript p. 22, Experiment 2 result
"As post-manipulation myth belief levels remained below pre-manipulation belief levels, no true backfire effect was elicited."
Source 4.3
The Role of Familiarity in Correcting Inaccurate Information
Manuscript p. 30, discussion conclusion
"However, we found no evidence for the existence of a true familiarity-based backfire effect."
Five brand-misinformation studies did not observe familiarity backfire.
Inspect 2 exact source spans
Source 5.1
Familiarity backfire effects? Disentangling the competing effects of repetition and fact-checking corrections of brand misinformation
PDF p. 1 abstract scope
"Across five studies (N = 4337), this article systematically compares the competing effects of repetition and correction on belief in corporate misinformation and brand evaluations."
Source 5.2
Familiarity backfire effects? Disentangling the competing effects of repetition and fact-checking corrections of brand misinformation
PDF p. 1 abstract result
"This research finds no evidence of a familiarity backfire effect: in none of the studies, repetition increases belief in the misinformation more than correction reduces it."
Preserves the induced-skepticism open-response result as an unresolved boundary.
Inspect 1 exact source span
Source 6.1
Examining the replicability of backfire effects after standalone corrections
Abstract results and qualification
"Across three experiments (total N = 1156) we found that standalone corrections did not backfire immediately (Experiment 1) or after a one-week delay (Experiment 2). However, there was some mixed evidence suggesting corrections may backfire when there is skepticism regarding the correction (Experiment 3). Specifically, in Experiment 3, we found the standalone correction to backfire in open-ended responses, but only when there was skepticism towards the correction. However, this did not replicate with the rating scales measure."
Kept visible
What remains unresolved
- Unresolved lineage. Unknown participant-data root for the unpublished Skurnik, Yoon, and Schwarz 2007 flu-flyer manuscript. Later sources describe the result, but the manuscript, data, sample record, and direct edition remain unavailable.
em:dossier-lineage:sha256:bcdc8f465086810c43d44ee4421818d87928b2234df8f8749f14d2d3a83d0bc3
Policy reasons
- target comparable support preserved
- counterevidence preserved
- baseline mismatch preserved
- skepticism boundary unresolved
- mechanism attribution unresolved
Open the complete 25-work source register
- How Warnings about False Claims Become RecommendationsIan Skurnik, Carolyn Yoon, Denise C. Park, Norbert Schwarz
- The Debunking Handbook Part 2: The Familiarity Backfire EffectJohn Cook, Stephan Lewandowsky
- Making the Truth Stick & the Myths Fade: Lessons from Cognitive PsychologyNorbert Schwarz, Eryn Newman, William Leach
- When Debunking Scientific Myths Fails (and When It Does Not)Christina Peter, Thomas Koch
- A Case for Clarity in the Writing of Health StatementsElizabeth A. H. Wilson, Denise C. Park
- Rumors and Health Care Reform: Experiments in Political MisinformationAdam J. Berinsky
- Patient Knowledge and Recall of Health Information Following Exposure to “Facts and Myths” Message Format VariationsKenzie A. Cameron, Michael E. Roloff, Elisha M. Friesema, Tiffany Brown, Borko D. Jovanovic, Sara Hauber, David W. Baker
- Can corrections spread misinformation to new audiences? Testing for the elusive familiarity backfire effectUllrich K. H. Ecker, Stephan Lewandowsky, Matthew Chadwick
- The effectiveness of short‐format refutational fact‐checksUllrich K. H. Ecker, Ziggy O’Reilly, Jesse S. Reid, Ee Pin Chang
- Reminders and Repetition of Misinformation: Helping or Hindering Its Retraction?Ullrich K. H. Ecker, Joshua L. Hogan, Stephan Lewandowsky
- Reminders of Everyday Misinformation Statements Can Enhance Memory for and Beliefs in Corrections of Those Statements in the Short TermChristopher N. Wahlheim, Timothy R. Alexander, Carson D. Peske
- Recalling Fake News During Real News Corrections Can Impair or Enhance Memory Updating: The Role of Recollection-Based RetrievalPaige L. Kemp, Timothy R. Alexander, Christopher N. Wahlheim
- Fake News Reminders and Veracity Labels Differentially Benefit Memory and Belief Accuracy for News HeadlinesPaige L. Kemp, Vanessa M. Loaiza, Christopher N. Wahlheim
- Processing Style and Responsiveness to Corrective InformationDustin Carnahan, R. Kelly Garrett
- The Continued Influence of Implied and Explicitly Stated Misinformation in News ReportsPatrick R. Rich, Maria S. Zaragoza
- The Role of Familiarity in Correcting Inaccurate InformationBriony Swire, Ullrich K. H. Ecker, Stephan Lewandowsky
- Polarity and Attitude Effects in the Continued-Influence ParadigmAndrew Gordon, Ullrich K. H. Ecker, Stephan Lewandowsky
- Examining the replicability of backfire effects after standalone correctionsToby Prike, Phoebe Blackley, Briony Swire-Thompson, Ullrich K. H. Ecker
- Correcting vaccine misinformation: A failure to replicate familiarity or fear-driven backfire effectsUllrich K. H. Ecker, Caitlin X. M. Sharkey, Briony Swire-Thompson
- Correcting the unknown: Negated corrections may increase belief in misinformationKevin S. Autry, Shea E. Duarte
- Misinformation lingers in memory: Failure of three pro-vaccination strategiesSara Pluviano, Caroline Watt, Sergio Della Sala
- Parents’ beliefs in misinformation about vaccines are strengthened by pro-vaccine campaignsSara Pluviano, Caroline Watt, Giovanni Ragazzini, Sergio Della Sala
- Unlicensed Corrections Violate the Gricean Maxims of Communication: Evidence for a Cognitive Mechanism Underlying Misinformation Backfire EffectsJacob G. Thomas, Kevin S. Autry
- The backfire effect after correcting misinformation is strongly associated with reliabilityBriony Swire-Thompson, Nicholas Miklaucic, John P. Wihbey, David Lazer, Joseph DeGutis
- Familiarity backfire effects? Disentangling the competing effects of repetition and fact-checking corrections of brand misinformationIpek N. Nibat, Olivier Trendel, Robert Mai, Tinka Krüger, Wassili Lasarov, Stefan Hoffmann