Cognitive psychologist Briony Swire-Thompson on the science of lies, misinformation and fact-checking
Reliable Sources
CNN
3.4 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 25 November 2020
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What is the allure of misinformation? What are the reasons why people believe lies, and what does it take to change their minds? Brian Stelter speaks with Briony Swire-Thompson, cognitive psychologist and senior research scientist at Northeastern University's Network Science Institute, for answers. Swire-Thompson shares what her research has shown about lies, trust, and belief, and how Trumpism has changed the field of study. When it comes to conspiracy theories, Swire-Thompson says election denialism "has all the makings of a long-lasting conspiracy theory."
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Lying has been one of the themes of the Trump presidency. |
| 0:05.0 | It is still going on today with election denialism and Trump dead-enders. |
| 0:12.0 | So what drives belief? and Trump dead-enders. |
| 0:17.0 | So what drives belief in bogus information? |
| 0:22.0 | And what can cause people to change their minds. |
| 0:26.0 | Those are some of the questions on this week's Reliable Sources Podcast. So let's cue the music. |
| 0:28.0 | I'm Brian Stelter and this is our weekly podcast edition of reliable sources our chance to go more in depth |
| 0:35.9 | with media leaders and newsmakers. This week something a little bit different. |
| 0:42.0 | The science behind lies. I'm taping this |
| 0:46.4 | episode on Wednesday, November 25th, one day before Thanksgiving. |
| 0:57.1 | Whether you are seeing your family in person or via Zoom or FaceTime or Skype, whether you are gathering for Thanksgiving or for holidays in December, |
| 1:07.6 | there are going to be a lot of interactions, a lot of tensions between people with different political views and beliefs. |
| 1:11.8 | We are ending one presidential administration. |
| 1:15.0 | We are in a transition to another administration. |
| 1:18.0 | As the Biden years begin, election denialism and Trump's lies about the outcome are going to remain a |
| 1:26.4 | factor. So joining me this week to dig deeper into the science behind lies and fact-checking is Briany Swire Thompson. She's a |
| 1:37.8 | cognitive psychologist and senior research scientist at Northeastern |
| 1:42.0 | University's Network Science Institute. |
| 1:45.0 | Briany, thank you so much for coming on. |
| 1:47.0 | Oh, thanks very much. |
| 1:49.0 | I thought we should start with your job. |
| 1:51.0 | The description of your job for the Institute is so interesting. with your |
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