ABSTRACT

Previous studies have shown that contaminating effects of misinformation can be reduced by consciously raising the awareness of eyewitnesses to the discrepancy between the misinformation and the original information (e.g., Tousignant, J. P., Hall, D., & Loftus, E. F. [1986]. Discrepancy detection and vulnerability misleading postevent information. Memory & Cognition, 14(4), 329–338. doi:10.3758/BF03202511). We tested whether similar effects could be obtained without conscious awareness, by drawing on the metaphor “something smells fishy” linking fishy smells and suspicion (Lee, S. W. S., & Schwarz, N. [2012]. Bidirectionality, mediation, and moderation of metaphorical effects: The embodiment of social suspicion and fishy smells. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(5), 737–749. doi:10.1037/a0029708). In a pilot study, we established the replicability and generality of previous findings concerning this metaphorical link. We then examined the effects of the smell-suspicion link on susceptibility to misleading post-event information using the misinformation paradigm. Here, the “something smells fishy” metaphor was used to invoke suspicion and increase discrepancy detection. Forty-eight hours after viewing an event, participants received misinformation in a room sprayed with either a fishy or a neutral smell. As expected, unaware exposure to the fishy smell (compared to the neutral smell) increased discrepancy detection (measured indirectly) and resistance to the contaminating effects of misinformation, eliminating misinformation interference and lowering suggestibility on the final test.

摘要

以前的研究表明，通过有意识地提高目击者对错误信息与原始信息之间差异的认识，可以减少错误信息的污染影响（例如，Tousignant, JP, Hall, D., & Loftus, EF [1986]。差异检测和漏洞误导事后信息。Memory & Cognition, 14 (4), 329–338. doi:10.3758/BF0​​3202511)。我们测试了是否可以在没有意识的情况下获得类似的效果，方法是利用将鱼腥味和怀疑联系起来的隐喻“闻起来有鱼腥味”（Lee, SWS, & Schwarz, N. [2012]。隐喻效果的双向性、中介性和适度性） : 社会怀疑和腥味的体现.人格与社会心理学杂志, 103(5), 737–749。doi:10.1037/a0029708)。在一项试点研究中，我们确定了先前关于这种隐喻联系的发现的可复制性和普遍性。然后，我们使用错误信息范式检查了气味怀疑链接对误导性事件后信息的敏感性的影响。在这里，“闻起来有腥味”的比喻被用来引起怀疑并增加差异检测。观看活动 48 小时后，参与者在一个喷洒有鱼腥味或中性气味的房间里收到错误信息。正如预期的那样，不自觉地暴露于鱼腥味（与中性气味相比）增加了差异检测（间接测量）和对错误信息的污染影响的抵抗力，消除了错误信息的干扰并降低了最终测试的暗示性。