Retractions: Updating from Complex Information

TL;DR

This study investigates how retractions influence belief updating, revealing they cause less effective updating compared to new information, due to increased complexity in processing retractions, supported by behavioral evidence across diverse groups.

Contribution

It introduces a modified experimental design to measure retraction effectiveness and demonstrates that retractions lead to diminished belief updating and greater cognitive effort.

Findings

Retractions result in less belief updating than new information.

Longer response times and lower accuracy indicate increased complexity.

Findings are consistent across different subject groups.

Abstract

We modify a canonical experimental design to identify the effectiveness of retractions. Comparing beliefs after retractions to beliefs (a) without the retracted information and (b) after equivalent new information, we find that retractions result in diminished belief updating in both cases. We propose this reflects updating from retractions being more complex, and our analysis supports this: we find longer response times, lower accuracy, and higher variability. The results -- robust across diverse subject groups and design variations -- enhance our understanding of belief updating and offer insights into addressing misinformation.