​Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “Why We’re Suckered,” a psychological exploration of why we believe false information and how we can train our minds to reject it, with Lisa K. Fazio, associate professor of psychology and human development and principal investigator at the Building Knowledge Lab at Vanderbilt University.

It’s hard to miss how the deliberate spread of misinformation has come to play an outsized role in American politics and to have a huge impact on American society. What’s less obvious is how we got to this place and what we can do to get out of it. We’re left asking: Why do people believe misinformation and conspiracy theories? What can we do to combat misinformation and correct false beliefs?

Hear such questions tackled by Professor Lisa Fazio, research focuses on how children and adults learn true and false information from the world around them, and on how to correct errors in people’s knowledge. Her work spans multiple disciplines, including cognitive, developmental, educational, and social psychology, and it informs basic theories about psychological processes. It has clear applications for journalists and teachers, but it can help anyone avoid being fooled by and spreading the misinformation that bombards us every day.

To explain why it is so hard to recognize false information, Dr. Fazio will discuss the cognitive mechanisms that can thwart our efforts to separate fact from fiction. You’ll learn why people often fail to notice errors in what they read and hear. More importantly, you’ll become familiar with the insidious power of repetition, and how you can come to believe even those statements that are highly implausible and contradict your prior knowledge if you hear them often enough.

Professor Fazio will discuss current research on debunking misinformation and other interventions designed to combat misinformation. You’ll learn digital media literacy strategies and quick ways to verify the validity of information that looks suspicious. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.) Tickets at https://profsandpints.ticketleap.com/bull/