AI tutors vs. tenacious myths

Evidence from personalised dialogue interventions in education

Bibliographic Data

ID21563995
AuthorsBrooklyn J Corbett (0000-0002-1727-4097, The University of Queensland, corresponding author), Jason M Tangen (0000-0002-0649-2566, The University of Queensland)
Year2026
Volume175
Pages108828
Publication date2026-02-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueComputers in Human Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0747-5632 • E-ISSN: 1873-7692
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.chb.2025.108828
OpenAlexW4415299750
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited62

Misconceptions in psychology and education persist despite clear contradictory evidence, resisting traditional correction methods. This study investigated whether personalised AI dialogue could effectively correct these stubborn beliefs. In a preregistered experiment (N = 375), participants holding strong psychology misconceptions engaged in one of three interventions: (1) personalised Misconception AI Dialogue targeting their specific misconception, (2) generic Textbook-style Refutation, or (3) Neutral AI Dialogue (control). Results showed that personalised Misconception AI Dialogue produced significantly larger immediate belief reductions compared to both Textbook Refutation and Neutral AI Dialogue. This advantage persisted at 10-day follow-up but diminished by 2 months, where the Misconception AI Dialogue and Textbook Refutation conditions converged while both remained superior to control. Both AI conditions generated significantly higher engagement and confidence than Textbook Refutation reading, demonstrating the motivational benefits of conversational interaction. These findings demonstrate that AI Dialogue can accelerate initial belief correction through personalised, interactive engagement that disrupts the cognitive processes maintaining misconceptions. However, the convergence of effects over time suggests brief interventions require reinforcement for lasting change. Future applications should integrate AI tutoring into structured educational programs with spaced reinforcement to sustain the initial advantages of personalised dialogue. • Personalised AI dialogue outperforms textbooks at correcting psychology myths • Initial advantages of AI dialogue diminished but persisted at 2 months • AI dialogues generate higher engagement and confidence than textbook reading • Correcting a specific misconception does not generalise to other unrelated myths

Cognition · Mythology · Psychological intervention · Reinforcement · Reinforcement learning · Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning · Online Learning and Analytics · Topic Modeling

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