Every day, we process large amounts of information. But what happens when new information clashes with what we already think we know? As we read, we connect new information to our existing knowledge. However, adapting our mental picture in response to contradictory information does not always happen automatically, as shown by the PhD research of Amy de Bruïne.
De Bruïne is a reading researcher at the Institute of Education and Child Studies and investigated how we connect new information encountered during reading to what we have previously read or already know.
The subject is close to her heart. 'I've always loved reading, and I find it remarkable how, while reading, you build an entire world in your mind,' she says.
'Without realising it, you form a picture of the characters and of what is happening. That is precisely why plot twists are so enjoyable: suddenly, things turn out to be very different from what you thought. Think of a detective story in which you have suspected someone for chapters on end, only to discover that they are innocent after all,' she continues.
'I wanted to know what happens at such a moment. When do you notice that contradiction, and when do you not? And are you then able to adjust the picture you have already built up?'
Processing contradictory information requires mental resources
In her PhD research, De Bruïne examined how people deal with contradictory, corrective and surprising information. Her research shows that receiving new information does not automatically mean that we immediately revise our existing understanding.
In five experiments, participants read texts or were presented with new facts. In some experiments, they had to carry out an additional task at the same time. This allowed De Bruïne to investigate what happens when people have fewer mental resources available to process the information they encounter carefully.
'We found that people responded less strongly to contradictions when they were under cognitive load,' she explains. 'They were also less successful at immediately incorporating corrective information into the mental representation they had built while reading.'
New information still sticks
That does not mean the new information is lost altogether. Once the additional task had ended and more mental resources became available, participants were still able to adjust their earlier understanding.
'That was an interesting finding. If there is not enough mental capacity available at the time to process new information properly, that does not necessarily mean the information is gone. Adjustment can still take place later.'
Remembering something is not the same as learning from it
Mental capacity is not the only factor that determines what we do with new information. De Bruïne also investigated what happens when people encounter information that is surprising.
Suppose you think that around 20 percent of bus drivers are women, but then read somewhere that the figure is 90 percent. That would probably come as a surprise. You are likely to remember such a striking statistic, but whether you believe it is another matter.
Role of credibility
'And that credibility turned out to be important,' says De Bruïne. 'People remembered surprising information well, but whether they subsequently adjusted their knowledge depended strongly on how credible they considered that information to be.'
This distinction between remembering and learning is important. Even information that participants did not believe was not entirely without effect. They were less likely to incorporate it into their knowledge, but their later judgements could still be influenced by it to some extent.
From plot twist to the real world
Outside the world of fiction, we are of course constantly building a picture of the world around us. We do this on the basis of what we read, hear and see. Online, we have access to an almost endless stream of information from a wide variety of sources. With the rise of AI, it is also becoming increasingly easy to produce information that appears convincing and trustworthy, but is not always accurate.
'That is why it is important to understand how we evaluate and process information, and why we accept some information but not others,' says De Bruïne. 'I hope my research contributes to that understanding.'
