Cognitive Differences and Media Accuracy Discernment in College Students

Abstract

This quantitative, correlational-predictive study applied standard multiple regression to determine if reflective-analytic cognitive style can predict media accuracy discernment in community college students recruited from two Pacific region colleges (N = 100). The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT), Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT), and a Media Accuracy Discernment Scale composed of 15 factually accurate and 15 factually inaccurate headlines were administered to the sample through the online self-survey platform Qualtrics. Students determined whether the headlines were factually accurate or factually inaccurate. Cognitive Reflection Test and MFFT scores quantified students’ dominant cognitive approach, used to evaluate information presented in the mass media. In combination, measurements of reflective-analytic cognitive style successfully predicted accurate media discernment, R² = .18, p < .001. However, none of the variables alone successfully predicted accurate media discernment. These findings contribute to what needed to be understood by investigating reflective-analytic cognitive style as a predictor of media accuracy discernment. These findings also provide information on which individual cognitive scores may be related to fake news susceptibility.