Citation

Gibbons JA, Lukowski AF, Walker WR. Media Psychol. 2005; 7(3): 273-300.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1207/S1532785XMEP0703_3

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In Experiment 1, participants rated the believability of 9 unbelievable and 9 believable headlines as determined via preratings. After 1 day, participants made believability ratings and recognition judgments for 18 unbelievable headlines (9 targets and 9 foils) and 18 true headlines (9 targets and 9 foils). Experiment 2 conceptually replicated the procedure of Experiment 1 using SuperLab Pro to display headline stimuli while recording participants' decision times to make believability ratings and recognition judgments. Unbelievable headlines became more believable over time in both experiments, and participants in Experiment 2 took longer to make judgments for unbelievable headlines than for true headlines. In Experiment 3, participants saw mildly unbelievable headlines for 1, 2, or 4 min simultaneously or sequentially before making believability judgments. Simultaneous exposure time increased headline belief more so than sequential exposure. In testing the limited capacity model of mediated message processing, changes in headline believability were better explained by models incorporating elaborate processing mechanisms, such as the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion.
In Experiment 1, participants rated the believability of 9 unbelievable and 9 believable headlines as determined via preratings. After 1 day, participants made believability ratings and recognition judgments for 18 unbelievable headlines (9 targets and 9 foils) and 18 true headlines (9 targets and 9 foils). Experiment 2 conceptually replicated the procedure of Experiment 1 using SuperLab Pro to display headline stimuli while recording participants' decision times to make believability ratings and recognition judgments. Unbelievable headlines became more believable over time in both experiments, and participants in Experiment 2 took longer to make judgments for unbelievable headlines than for true headlines. In Experiment 3, participants saw mildly unbelievable headlines for 1, 2, or 4 min simultaneously or sequentially before making believability judgments. Simultaneous exposure time increased headline belief more so than sequential exposure. In testing the limited capacity model of mediated message processing, changes in headline believability were better explained by models incorporating elaborate processing mechanisms, such as the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion.