Date of Award:

5-2024

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

Christopher Warren

Committee

Christopher Warren

Committee

John Seiter

Committee

Gregory Madden

Committee

Sarah Schwartz

Committee

Kerry Jordan

Abstract

In today’s digital age, spreading false information online can have serious consequences, from affecting elections to undermining public health efforts. Despite the issue's importance, there’s been relatively little research into better understanding how people make decisions about lies and misinformation online. My project dives into this challenge by exploring how specific language cues, like grammar errors or unusual word choices, influence people’s perception of statements in terms of deceit online. I examined how people react to these cues through three separate but related studies when reading truthful and deceptive statements. The first two studies showed that true statements with grammatical errors and unusual word choices were seen as more deceitful, and lie statements with the same language were seen as less deceptive. The third part of my research took a closer look at what’s happening in the brain. By measuring brain activity, I discovered a new brain response that is sensitive to the difference between perceived truths and lies. This research sheds light on how language influences how we perceive deception, primarily online.

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