Why Does Repetition Make Things Seem True?

You see a news story on your phone in the morning. Later, you come across it on another page, and by evening, a friend mentions it too. Have you learned something new, or simply encountered the same claim several times?

Using a story about a neighborhood park, this video explores the illusory truth effect. Experiments with professional content moderators and a review of 182 studies show how repetition can influence how true a statement seems.

In the accompanying activities, students trace posts back to their sources and compare a dated public notice with interpretations of its message. A fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen and a painting by Woodville invite them to examine how information travels and what people base their claims on. Finally, students write two endings to the same story: one in which repetition makes a claim convincing, and another in which new evidence supports it.