Seeing isn't always believing

The effects of misinformation modality and debunking on message credibility and memory recall

Bibliographic Data

ID22434230
AuthorsTimothy Prestby (0000-0002-4652-7735, Pennsylvania State University, corresponding author), Eunchae Jang (0000-0001-7547-9050, Pennsylvania State University), Andrew Pacheco (PepsiCo), A Andrew Pacheco (0000-0002-2065-5624, PepsiCo (United Kingdom))
Year2026
Pages1-22
Publication date2026-05-14
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Cartography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2372-9333 • E-ISSN: 2372-9341
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/23729333.2026.2655716
OpenAlexW7161161428
LanguageEN
References cited61

The proliferation of realistic-looking visuals such as maps and images that are deliberately fabricated to spread misinformation has ignited a public trust crisis. Does the visual nature of this misinformation make it more credible and memorable? Does debunking affect people’s credibility judgments and memory of misinformation? This study explores these questions by conducting an online pre-post test experiment (N = 317). Accordingly, we compare responses to one misinformation article story in three different formats: text-only, text and ground-image, and text and satellite map while investigating if the inclusion of a follow-up debunking article changes these responses. Our findings suggest that visual modalities did not lead to higher recall or message credibility compared to text modality. However, debunking was effective in decreasing message credibility regardless of the modality of misinformation and in bolstering recall of misinformation and correcting information. Beyond expanding our theoretical understanding of modality effects by studying maps, our findings provide guidance on how to effectively debunk misinformation with fact-checking.

Credibility · Misinformation · Modality effect · Perception · Recall · Media Influence and Health · Memory Processes and Influences · Misinformation and Its Impacts

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