“Insidious” Repetition of Climate Skeptic Claims Creates Doubt – Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

“A single repetition is enough to nudge recipients towards acceptance of the repeated claim, even when their attitudes are aligned with climate science”

Repeating climate denial claims makes them seem more credible, Australian-led study finds

Even those who are concerned about climate crisis were influenced by false claims, showing how ‘insidious’ repetition is, researcher says

Petra Stock Thu 8 Aug 2024 04.00 AEST

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The study’s lead author, Mary Jiang, from the Australian National University, said: “The findings show how powerful and insidious repetition is and how it can influence people’s assessment of truth.”

Published in the academic journal Plos One, the study said people were more likely to judge a statement as probably true if they had encountered it before, a behaviour psychologists called the “illusory truth effect”.

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“A single repetition is enough to nudge recipients towards acceptance of the repeated claim, even when their attitudes are aligned with climate science, and they can correctly identify the claim as being counter-attitudinal,” the paper states.

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An example of a science-based claim was that “climate change models can make accurate predictions”, Jiang said. A sceptical claim might challenge the accuracy of climate science or suggest a conspiracy.

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“Media are crucial in all of this because the science is settled … We know what the issues are and we know what needs to be done in response and we know the timeframe,” she said.

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The paper concluded: “Do not repeat false information. Instead, repeat what is true and enhance its familiarity.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/08/repeating-climate-denial-claims-makes-them-seem-more-credible-australian-led-study-finds

The abstract of the study. The researchers used a sample size of 100 volunteers, whittled down to 52 after post processing, so obviously it is solid science.

Repetition increases belief in climate-skeptical claims, even for climate science endorsers

Abstract

Does repeated exposure to climate-skeptic claims influence their acceptance as true, even among climate science endorsers? Research with general knowledge claims shows that repeated exposure to a claim increases its perceived truth when it is encountered again. However, motivated cognition research suggests that people primarily endorse what they already believe. Across two experiments, climate science endorsers were more likely to believe claims that were consistent with their prior beliefs, but repeated exposure increased perceptions of truth for climate-science and climate-skeptic claims to a similar extent. Even counter-attitudinal claims benefit from previous exposure, highlighting the insidious effect of repetition.

Read more: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0307294

You naughty unbelievers, if you all stopped repeating claims that climate models are trash, that lots of scientists don’t think Michael Mann is a climate hero, that Biden’s energy policies aren’t working, more people would believe.

The study authors stop short of calling for outright censorship, but “Media are crucial in all of this because the science is settled … We know … what needs to be done in response and we know the timeframe“.

Perhaps believers should organise morning Gaea worship sessions, where everyone chants “The climate models are accurate, all climate claims are correct” for 10 minutes every day, to counter the impact of all those insidious climate skeptic messages.