TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hruschka, Timon M. J.
A1  - Appel, Markus
T1  - Learning about informal fallacies and the detection of fake news: an experimental intervention
T2  - PLoS One
N2  - The philosophical concept of informal fallacies–arguments that fail to provide sufficient support for a claim–is introduced and connected to the topic of fake news detection. We assumed that the ability to identify informal fallacies can be trained and that this ability enables individuals to better distinguish between fake news and real news. We tested these assumptions in a two-group between-participants experiment (N = 116). The two groups participated in a 30-minute-long text-based learning intervention: either about informal fallacies or about fake news. Learning about informal fallacies enhanced participants’ ability to identify fallacious arguments one week later. Furthermore, the ability to identify fallacious arguments was associated with a better discernment between real news and fake news. Participants in the informal fallacy intervention group and the fake news intervention group performed equally well on the news discernment task. The contribution of (identifying) informal fallacies for research and practice is discussed.
KW  - learning
KW  - human learning
KW  - reasoning
KW  - social media
KW  - psychology
KW  - psychometrics
KW  - social psychology
KW  - statistical data
Y1  - 2023
UR  - https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/35040
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-350404
SN  - 1932-6203
VL  - 18
IS  - 3
ER  -