New research states that information that aligns with our worldview is automatically recognized by our brain as accurate
A new study, the result of a collaboration between researchers from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, sheds light on how rapid and involuntary mental processes occur when we are exposed to statements that match or contradict our worldview.
The study, which was published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, shows how people's tendency to remain rooted in their worldview is supported by automatic cognitive "reflexes".
The research team included Dr. Michael Gilad, head The Society, Cognition and Brain Research Laboratory at Ben-Gurion University in the Negev; Moran Sela, PhD student in the Department of Psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem andProf. Anat Merrill, from the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The researchers found that the subjects confirmed the grammatical accuracy of political statements, personal tastes and social issues more quickly when the sentences matched their personal opinion, even though the subjects' opinion was completely irrelevant to the performance of the task itself.
In a series of experiments, the researchers asked subjects to respond to a number of statements, such as "the Internet has made people more lonely" or "the Internet has made people more sociable" and determine, as quickly as possible, whether the grammar of the sentence was correct or not. At the end of the experiment, the subjects were asked if they agreed with each statement that appeared in the previous step. The findings showed that subjects were faster in identifying the grammatical accuracy of the statements they agreed with, which shows automatic and immediate cognitive processes of confirming our positions.
Dr. Gilad: "In order to make informed decisions, people need to be able to weigh the pros and cons of different opinions. The immediate and automatic tendency to accept statements that match our worldview can impair our ability to think about things logically and critically. Future studies can examine how other factors, such as stressful situations or liberal or conservative views, influence this tendency to automatically confirm our positions."
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Comments
Nostradamus
Man-made global warming is a fact. Only idiots, or criminals say otherwise.
It has nothing to do with the right or the left, except that the oil companies have the right in their testicles.
The science behind global warming is simple: GHG is a greenhouse gas. Its concentration in the atmosphere has increased steadily since the industrial revolution. We know for sure that the source of this PADF is fossil fuel. Oh, I almost forgot, the climate is indeed warming, even though we were supposed to be in a warming period now.
Nostradamus, I cannot stress this enough: a global warming denier is either an idiot or a criminal.
I don't think Trump is an idiot...
Zafir, a righteous priest in Sodom.
I am also in favor of vaccines, against cigarettes, in favor of the theory of evolution, in favor of the freedom of science including stem cell research, in favor of freedom of speech, against the use of oil and fossil fuels but only for reasons of air pollution and strengthening terrorist states. But I do not believe that global warming is man-made. I firmly oppose incitement against President Trump, who until now is the best American president ever. And the climate agreements were also designed to weaken and limit the West and especially the USA and strengthen oil countries from the third world and share the Western wealth in a utopian and dangerous left-wing plan as if there wasn't enough suffering from Nazism, fascism and communism, so now the left is implementing globalism
Zafir, a righteous priest in Sodom. I am also in favor of vaccines, against the use of oil for reasons of air pollution and money for countries and terrorist organizations only, in favor of science and the theory of evolution, freedom of speech and freedom of science. Although I do not believe that man is responsible for global warming and the only reason for the climate agreements is to weaken the West and especially the USA and redistribute the world's resources and strengthen the third world oil countries with dangerous utopian programs of the left. I am against the incessant and false incitement against Trump who is so far the best American president ever
The content of the news is completely neutral. But the illustration is not neutral. It is possible to find a more appropriate and less controversial illustration (for example: a similar illustration without Trump).
Avi Belisovsky
What Nostradamus says is that the truth belongs to the left.. He is not the sharpest pencil...
Nostradamus
What does this article have to do with the left? Are you claiming that only the left does research?
It's better that you keep quiet and they think you're an idiot, than your comments, which only reinforce the knowledge that you really are one.
Nostradamus, it is sad to hear that in your opinion the truth belongs to a certain side of the map, therefore if you oppose this side you must also oppose the scientific truth.
Yes. Cigarettes kill, vaccines eliminate epidemics and do not cause autism, the earth is warming. It is not clear why these things should even be in political controversy. Science is supposed to have its say, and the politicians can argue about social, religious and other issues, not about science.
And besides, for those who didn't understand the connection between smoking and Trump - he learned from them how to cover up the truth. He is even worse than them, they tried to give what they claim a scientific cover, he simply says that science is not worth it, so it should not be taken into account either.
Nistradamus
how screwed you are It seems to me that you are a troll of the most despicable form, this is a scientific site, look for other sites.
Nostradamus
This site has turned from a scientific site into a leftist propaganda site. Too bad
It's fine to keep spaces constant for the message
You don't have to inflate the text space...
Especially if the message has weight