Citation

Shtulman A. Curr. Opin. Psychol. 2023; 55: e101753.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101753

PMID

38043147

Abstract

Children have a reputation for credulity that is undeserved; even preschoolers have proven adept at identifying implausible claims and unreliable informants. Still, the strategies children use to identify and reject dubious information are often superficial, which leaves them vulnerable to accepting such information if conveyed through seemingly authoritative channels or formatted in seemingly authentic ways. Indeed, children of all ages have difficulty differentiating legitimate websites and news stories from illegitimate ones, as they are misled by the inclusion of outwardly professional features such as graphs, statistics, and journalistic layout. Children may not be inherently credulous, but their skepticism toward dubious information is often shallow enough to be overridden by the deceptive trappings of online misinformation.

Language: en

Keywords

Conceptual development; Epistemic vigilance; Media literacy; Possibility judgment; Selective trust