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The Illusory truth effect is a psychological effect where the more we hear or see something, the more we believe, trust, and remember it. As humans, we find comfort in familiarity. Today, we can see the illusory truth effect in the news advertisements, political propaganda, and conspiracy theories. There are both pros and cons to the illusory truth effect; some cons are the spreading of misinformation, bad decision-making based on inaccurate information, and political candidates using it against us during election seasons. All these cons can sway public opinion about people or major events. There are some, but only a few, pros to the illusory truth effect, because we are programmed to remember information the more we are exposed to it. We can use it to our advantage when studying or just trying to remember information. For example, when studying for a test, many people use flash cards; this repeated flashing of information to our brains forces us to retain the information. Every day,

We are affected by the illusory truth effect and do not realize it; one of the biggest examples for our generation is on social media. Every day, we spend hours of our time scrolling through information, and often the same information is repeated to us on the app. Many times, it is the same information being shown to us within hours, by people who are not verified sources or qualified in any way to give us this information.

 While some times the information may be true, often it is inaccurate or blown way out of proportion, and none of us ever really bother to fact-check the information with a trusted source, we just see the information and assume all these people cannot just be wrong, so it must be true. Today, the news is very politicized, and they use the illusory truth effect to sway our opinions on just about every event or candidate that they can.

 So example, if you go on Fox News and watch their programming, they press the narrative over and over that China is the enemy and a threat to our country. If you were to tune into CNN or MSNBC, you would see that they relate every topic to Russia being the enemy and a threat to the nation. 

These large media companies know that most Americans turn on and watch the same news station whenever they turn on the news, so they can use that to their advantage by selling the same narrative night after night, attempting to create fears and division throughout our country and is one of the main reasons our country is so divided.

Many companies are well aware of the Illusory truth effect and take advantage of it through their advertising and marketing. How many times have you seen the same commercials on television over and over?

 They know that even if there is a company with a better product than theirs, if they can get their product in front of you, there is a much better chance you are going to trust them and buy their product. This also allows these companies to cut corners in the quality of their product because they know you will trust them and probably will not try a competitor's brands if they cannot market it in front of you.

 The Illusory truth effect is something that we encounter every day and need to be on the lookout for because if you do not notice what is going on around you, can may fall for these psychological tricks.