revise psychology paper using feedback I provide

Running Head: FALSE NEWS

Bias and False News

Student Name

Course

Institution

Introduction

The 2016 election was one of the more controversial elections of the current age. Strong feelings rose on either side, based on personal values and belief structures. Sadly, these feelings were fueled by the presence of false news reports in social media. Untruthfulness was abundant and some stories were so outrageous it begged the question why anyone would believe them in the first place. These false news stories continued to occur because the readers believed what they wanted according to their personal bias, and also because their surroundings and exposure made their bias seem logical.

What is fake news

In the 2016 election, news stories seemed to occur every single day that leaned strongly toward one candidate or the other. Some of these accounts purported lies that were so outrageous that they were questionably slander. Other stories were much more difficult to flush out, because they seemed to have a ring of truth to them. These are the stories that caused division and conflict on social media, flueing partisanship. These stories were widely accepted because they had a ring of plausibility to them, such as the idea that a television show had been rumored to cause autism (Kraft, 2016) or that the vaccine Gardasil had caused the death of young girls. (“Gardasil Vaccine: one more girl dead,” 2017) Individuals took these stories as truth, and used them as examples of corruption in government, or as examples of media bias. In their mind, these stories supported their own ideals that one candidate was better than the other, when in reality there was no truth attached to any of these tories.

Mental Scotoma

So what is it that causes an individual to believe fake news reports? In part, this willingness to believe something without checking its accuracy goes back to the idea of mental scotoma. Medically defined, mental scotoma is a figurative blind spot in a person's psychological awareness, the patient being unable to gain insight into and to understand his mental problems.” (Farlex, 2012) Now, this definition reads as though anyone who believe false news reports has a mental illness, and that idea is not accurate. But for those who believe fake news sources without question, this behavior demonstrates a lack of insight regarding accepting views that contradict one's own. There is a “blind spot” in the mental vision. This blind spot makes an individual more susceptible to accepting the views that we align with and rejecting the ones which we do not. In short, the mind believes what it wants to believe. Our preference based decisions are based on our past experiences and the way that these experiences are projected into our psyche. (Bazerman, 2017) In other words, individuals carry with them the certain impressions that are created from their schema; these mental attitudes are what form biases. So, this is not to say that biases are meaningless, but that our prejudices have a strong role in determine our beliefs about what is true and what is not. (Stanovich, 2013)

Click Bait

Incidentally, false news ads are designed for individuals to be attracted to them according to their bias. Headlines are designed to grab attention and for individuals to go to those sights. Social media has become a business, and clickbait articles containing false news sources are a big part of that. When these articles are put in the path of the reader - who contains a particular bias to start out with - it makes it easier to believe the news being put in front of them. Often, a social media users information is tracked according to websites that they visit, and these false news stories are customized according to the reader’s preferences. So they might see multiple articles on the same subject or purporting the same headline. This gives the fake news articles credibility, because it makes it appear that the same story is coming from multiple sources. As users interact with the story, it continues to spread. And so the fake news stories gain validity in the eyes of the user. Still those who peruse such articles should have the skill set to discern whether or not they articles are true. Most choose not too, simply on the basis of wanting their belief to be the valid one; their own belief structure is held so tightly that it is ingrained within their personal self-worth. In other words, they must be right, or there is something wrong with them as a person. (Einav, 2011)

Can false news stories be stopped?

The short answer is no. Because of freedom of the press, false journalists have the right to publish as they see fit, regardless of the truth of the matter. Slander and libel laws can curb the spread of false news to some extent, but the key is in getting the adults reading the news to check sources before they buy into the headlines that they read. The New York Times gives some tips to ascertaining whether a news source is a false one. They suggest that a reader should always check the content of the sources that they read. IMages and sound bites are often distorted and reused to make it seem as though fake news stories are accurate. They also suggest to check the account history of hte source. If the account has not been active long, then there is a higher likelihood of the story being accurate. Their final suggestion is to check the images that are used in the stories. If the images have been used before, they say, chances are the story is false and inaccurate.

Conclusion

Personal bias is the primary reason that people believe false news sources. Individuals have their personal beliefs so ingrained within them - and no person ever wants to contradict their personal beliefs - that they accept as true anything that aligns with those beliefs. This is exacerbated by the appearance of click bait ads, which make false news story appear credible by indicating that they come from more than one source. The key is getting individuals to check their sources and ascertain whether stories are true or not before spreading falsehoods as facts.

References

Bazerman, M. (n.d.). Judgment and Decision Making. Retrieved February 07, 2017, from http://nobaproject.com/modules/judgement-and-decision-making

Einav, S., & Robinson, E. J. (2011). When Being Right Is Not Enough: Four-Year-Olds Distinguish Knowledgeable Informants From Merely Accurate Informants. Psychological Science,22(10), 1250-1253. doi:10.1177/0956797611416998

Farlex. (2012). Mental scotoma | definition of mental scotoma by Medical dictionary. Retrieved February 05, 2017, from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/mental scotoma

Gardasil Vaccine: One More Girl Dead. (2015, June 12). Retrieved February 06, 2017, from https://healthimpactnews.com/2014/gardasil-vaccine-one-more-girl-dead/

Kraft, A. (2016, October 23). 'Peppa Pig' Linked To Autism: Children's Show Is Said To Be Harmful For Children. Retrieved February 06, 2017, from http://www.parentherald.com/articles/76631/20161023/peppa-pig-linked-to-autism-childrens-show-is-said-to-be-harmful-for-children.htm

Stanovich, K. E., West, R. F., & Toplak, M. E. (2013). Myside Bias, Rational Thinking, and Intelligence. Current Directions in Psychological Science,22(4), 259-264. doi:10.1177/0963721413480174