Research has shown that when we're repeatedly exposed to a phrase or stimulus, it becomes more likely to be judged as true, even if no useful information is provided. This is due to a psychological phenomenon called cognitive ease, where our brains process familiar information more easily and associate it with feelings of truth and goodness. This effect can be seen in various areas, such as advertising, where repeated exposure to a product can make it seem more appealing, and in social media, where repeated exposure to a person's face can make them seem more familiar and likable. However, cognitive ease can also lead to gullibility and make us more prone to accept false information. On the other hand, being skeptical and analytical takes more mental work and can be less pleasant, but it's essential for separating fact from fiction. The key is to identify when more thought is required and to be vigilant in distinguishing between what's really true and what we've simply heard many times before.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Research has shown that repeated exposure to a statement can make people more likely to judge it as true.
2. The body temperature of a chicken is actually around 41 degrees Celsius, not 34.
3. Cognitive ease is a measure of how hard the brain is working, with easy tasks feeling more true and familiar.
4. Things that are true generally elicit cognitive ease.
5. Repeated exposure to a stimulus can create cognitive ease, even if the stimulus is nonsense.
6. Experiments have shown that people judge words, songs, and faces more favorably after repeated exposure.
7. The more frequently a word appears in a newspaper, the more people feel it means something good.
8. People prefer high-contrast video with crisp audio.
9. Text with higher contrast and clearer typography is easier to read and handled with more cognitive ease.
10. Lawyers with easily pronounced last names are overrepresented in law firms.
11. Companies with pronounceable abbreviations on the stock market perform better than those with unpronounceable tags.
12. Cognitive ease is useful for being creative and intuitive but can also make people more gullible.
13. Making a test harder to read can actually increase the accuracy of results by forcing the brain to work harder.
14. Cognitive ease is pleasant, effortless, and familiar, but can also trick people into thinking something is true when it's not.
15. Being skeptical and analytical takes more mental work and is more confusing, but is the best way to separate fact from fiction.
16. The more something is repeated, the more it starts to feel true.