Skip to main content

All Access Pass: All Guilford journals, $49.95 for 3 months | Click on any article to purchase

Search
Search
Quick Search anywhere
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu

Debunking Misinformation About a Causal Link Between Vaccines and Autism: Two Preregistered Tests of Dual-Process Versus Single-Process Predictions (With Conflicting Results)

Published Online:December 2022https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.580

Abstract

Dual-process and single-process theories lead to conflicting predictions about whether debunking messages negating a state of affairs should change responses on implicit measures in a manner intended by the message. Two preregistered studies (N1 = 550; N2 = 880) tested these predictions using official health information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention debunking the idea that vaccines would cause autism. Consistent with predictions derived from dual-process learning theories, Experiment 1 found that debunking-via-negation increased responses linking vaccines to autism on implicit measures, although it effectively reduced self-reported judgments linking vaccines to autism on explicit measures. Using the same measures and materials, Experiment 2 found that debunking-via-negation effectively reduced responses linking vaccines to autism on both implicit and explicit measures, consistent with predictions derived from single-process propositional theories. Potential reasons for the conflicting outcomes are discussed, including their implications for the debate between dual-process and single-process theories.

REFERENCES

  • Banaji M. R., , & Hardin C. D. (1996). Automatic stereotyping. Psychological Science, 7, 136–141. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Brashier N. M., , & Marsh E. J. (2020). Judging truth. Annual Review of Psychology, 71, 499–515. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Carey J. M., , Guess A. M., , Loewen P. J., , Merkley E., , Nyhan B., , Phillips J. B., , & Reifler J. (2022). The ephemeral effects of fact checks on COVID-19 misperceptions in the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. Nature Human Behavior, 6, 236–243. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Chaiken S., , & Trope Y. (Eds.). (1999). Dual-process theories in social psychology. Guilford Press. Google Scholar
  • Chan M. S., , Jones C. R., , Jamieson K. H., , & Albarracín D. (2017). Debunking: A meta-analysis of the psychological efficacy of message countering misinformation. Psychological Science, 28, 1531–1546. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Cone J., , Flaharty K., , & Ferguson M. J. (2019). Believability of evidence matters for correcting social impressions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116, 9802–9807. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Corneille O., , & Stahl C. (2019). Associative attitude learning: A closer look at evidence and how it relates to attitude model. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 23, 161–189. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Curran P. J., , & Hussong A. M. (2009). Integrative data analysis: The simultaneous analysis of multiple data sets. Psychological Methods, 14, 81–100. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • De Houwer J. (2018). Propositional models of evaluative conditioning. Social Psychological Bulletin, 13(3), e28046. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • De Houwer J., , Van Dessel P., , & Moran T. (2020). Attitudes beyond associations: On the role of propositional representations in stimulus evaluation. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 61, 127–183. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Eggertson L. (2010). Lancet retracts 12-year-old article linking autism to MMR vaccines. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 182, E199–E200. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Fazio R. H., , & Olson M. A. (2003). Implicit measures in social cognition research: Their meaning and use. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 297–327. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Forscher P. S., , Lai C. K., , Axt J. R., , Ebersole C. R., , Herman M., , Devine P. G., , & Nosek B. A. (2019). A meta-analysis of procedures to change implicit measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 117, 522–559. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Gawronski B. (2019). Six lessons for a cogent science of implicit bias and its criticism. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14, 574–595. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Gawronski B., , & Bodenhausen G. V. (2006). Associative and propositional processes in evaluation: An integrative review of implicit and explicit attitude change. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 692–731. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Gawronski B., , & Bodenhausen G. V. (2011). The associative-propositional evaluation model: Theory, evidence, and open questions. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 59–127. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Gawronski B., , & Bodenhausen G. V. (2014). The associative-propositional evaluation model: Operating principles and operating conditions of evaluation. In Sherman J. W., , Gawronski B., , & Trope Y. (Eds.), Dual-process theories of the social mind (pp. 188–203). Guilford Press. Google Scholar
  • Gawronski B., , & Brannon S. M. (2019). Attitudes and the implicit-explicit dualism. In Albarracín D., & Johnson B. T. (Eds.), The handbook of attitudes. Vol. 1: Basic principles (2nd ed., pp. 158–196). Routledge. Google Scholar
  • Gawronski B., , & De Houwer J. (2014). Implicit measures in social and personality psychology. In Reis H. T., & Judd C. M. (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology (2nd ed., pp. 283–310). Cambridge University Press. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Gawronski B., , Luke D. M., , & Creighton L. A. (in press). Dual-process theories. In Carlston D. E., , Johnson K., , & Hugenberg K. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of social cognition (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. Google Scholar
  • Gilbert D. T. (1991). How mental systems believe. American Psychologist, 46, 107–119. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Harmon-Jones E., , Amodio D. M., , & Harmon-Jones C. (2009). Action-based model of dissonance. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 41, 119–166. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Hu X., , Gawronski B., , & Balas R. (2017). Propositional versus dual-process accounts of evaluative conditioning: I. The effects of co-occurrence and relational information on implicit and explicit evaluations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43, 17–32. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Irvine E. (2021). The role of replication studies in theory building. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16, 844–853. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Koppehele-Gossel J., , Hoffmann L., , Banse R., , & Gawronski B. (2020). Evaluative priming as an implicit measure of evaluation: An examination of outlier-treatments for evaluative priming scores. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 87, 103905. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Kurdi B., , & Dunham Y. (2020). Propositional accounts of implicit evaluation: Taking stock and looking ahead. Social Cognition, 38, s42–s67. Link, Google Scholar
  • Lewandowsky S., , Ecker U. K. H., , Seifert C. M., , Schwarz N., , & Cook J. (2012). Misinformation and its correction: Continued influence and successful debiasing. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 13, 106–131. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Mayo R., , Schul Y., , & Burnstein E. (2004). “I am not guilty” vs. “I am innocent”: Successful negation may depend on the schema used for its encoding. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 433–449. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Moran T., , & Bar-Anan Y. (2013). The effect of object-valence relations on automatic evaluation. Cognition and Emotion, 27, 743–752. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Oppenheimer D. M., , Meyvis T., , & Davidenko N. (2009). Instructional manipulation checks: Detecting satisficing to increase statistical power. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 867–872. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Patel M., , Lee A. D., , Redd S. B., , Clemmons N. S., , McNall R. J., , Cohn A. C., , & Gastañaduy P. A. (2019). Increase in measles cases—United States, January 1-April 26, 2019. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 68, 402–404. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Peer E., , Brandimarte L., , Samat S., , & Acquisti A. (2017). Beyond the Turk: Alternative platforms for crowdsourcing behavioral research. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 70, 153–163. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Perugini M., , Richetin J., , & Zogmaister C. (2010). Prediction of behavior. In Gawronski B., & Payne B. K. (Eds.), Handbook of implicit social cognition: Measurement, theory, and applications (pp. 255–277). Guilford Press. Google Scholar
  • Peters K. R., , & Gawronski B. (2011). Are we puppets on a string? Comparing the impact of contingency and validity on implicit and explicit evaluations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 557–569. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Petty R. E., , Briñol P., , & DeMarree K. G. (2007). The meta-cognitive model (MCM) of attitudes: Implications for attitude measurement, change, and strength. Social Cognition, 25, 657–686. Link, Google Scholar
  • Ranganath K., A., , & Nosek B. A. (2008). Implicit attitude generalization occurs immediately, explicit attitude generalization takes time. Psychological Science, 19, 249–254. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Schwarz N., , Sanna L., , Skurnik I., , & Yoon C. (2007). Metacognitive experiences and the intricacies of setting people straight: Implications for debiasing and public information campaigns. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 127–161. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Sherman J. W., , Gawronski B., , & Trope Y. (Eds.). (2014). Dual-process theories of the social mind. Guilford Press. Google Scholar
  • Skurnik I., , Yoon C., , Park D. C., , & Schwarz N. (2005). How warnings about false claims become recommendations. Journal of Consumer Research, 31, 713–724. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Strack F., , & Deutsch R. (2004). Reflective and impulsive determinants of social behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8, 220–247. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Stroebe W., , & Strack F. (2014). The alleged crisis and the illusion of exact replication. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9, 59–71. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Taylor L. E., , Swerdfeger A. L., , & Eslick G. D. (2014). Vaccines are not associated with autism: An evidence-based meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies. Vaccine, 32, 3623–3629. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Van Bavel J. J., , Mende-Siedlecki P., , Brady W. J., & Reinero D. A. (2016). Contextual sensitivity in scientific reproducibility. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113, 6454–6459. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Van Dessel P., , Gawronski B., , & De Houwer J. (2019). Does explaining social behavior require multiple memory systems? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 23, 368–369. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Van Harreveld F., , Van der Pligt J., , & De Liver Y. (2009). The agony of ambivalence and ways to resolve it: Introducing the MAID model. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 13, 45–61. Crossref, Google Scholar
  • Wentura D., , & Degner J. (2010). A practical guide to sequential priming and related tasks. In Gawronski B., & Payne B. K. (Eds.), Handbook of implicit social cognition: Measurement, theory, and applications (pp. 95–116). Guilford Press. Google Scholar
  • Wittenbrink B. (2007). Measuring attitudes through priming. In Wittenbrink B., & Schwarz N. (Eds.), Implicit measures of attitudes (pp. 17–58). Guilford Press. Google Scholar
  • World Health Organization . (2019). Ten threats to global health in 2019. Retrieved October 15, 2020, from https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019 Google Scholar
Previous article
Next article