Senior Project Advisor
Ira Hyman
Document Type
Project
Publication Date
Spring 2023
Keywords
Illusory Truth Effect, Applied Cognitive Psychology, Generation Effect, Cognitive Psychology, Feminism
Abstract
The media, i.e. Tucker Carlson, often asks leading questions that guide audiences to generate implied answers. This can suggest misleading answers and guide people to construct disinformation. This strategy/format utilizes the generation effect (Slamecka & Graf, 1978), which states that when people generate information, they remember it. The Applied Cognitive Psychology (ACOG) lab is interested in whether this will contribute to an illusory truth effect (Hasher et al., 1977), which states that repetition of a statement increases belief in the statement. In order to investigate this phenomenon and reflect on the process itself this project contained two components: (1) para-professional and (2) social-personal. From the research previously conducted, in relation to the social-personal component, being a woman in applied cognitive psychology means pushing through imposter syndrome and all it entails in order to pursue academia, as well as being critical and aware of the tendency of society to devalue your work. Lab members were recruited for an informal interview at the request of the author. During the interviews, all subjects discussed their feelings of imposter syndrome, their happiness with the ACOG lab environment, the impacts of gender on safety, and the frustration and doubt surrounding their various identities. Overall I´ve found I hold many shared experiences and feelings with my other ACOG lab members. When focusing specifically on the gender-guided research of this project it can be concluded that imposter syndrome is very real, even in majority female fields, and that disinformation can lead to the perpetuation of the phenomenon.
Department
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Gadbow, Zoe, "Developing the *ucker Carlson Effect: Creating Space for Collective, Personal, and Professional Work in Cognitive Psychology" (2023). WWU Honors College Senior Projects. 722.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwu_honors/722
Type
Text
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf