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Category: Project

Description: This project provides a replication and extension of our test of bait questions as a vehicle for misinformation. Having found that misleading bait questions can cause the ME, here we test whether warnings about the possibility of misinformation appearing in the interview video can mitigate the ME. Past research has demonstrated that warnings can reduce or eliminate the ME, and this project aims to replicate and extend that work. Participants are randomly assigned to receive (1) a general warning that there may be misleading information in the film or (2) a specific warning that bait questions in the interview might contain misleading information. Participants are also randomly assigned to (1) receive the warning before the film, (2) receive the warning after the film, or (3) receive no warning at all. We hypothesize that receiving a warning prior to the film will mitigate ME. We also predict that rreceiving a warning after the film may reduce the size of the ME, but it will not eliminate it entirely. Additionally, receiving the specific warning about bait questions (rather than the general warning) may decrease the size of the ME.