Sourcing against misinformation: Effects of a scalable lateral reading training based on cognitive apprenticeship
Fendt M, Nistor N, Scheibenzuber C, Artmann B · 2023
grade Crctindependentreplicated
Sample
312 participants
Population
Adult/online participants, not school-age students
Design
An experimental test of lateral-reading training delivered through cognitive apprenticeship, contrasting written instructions against human trainers, with an online news-credibility test as outcome. Methodologically among the better lateral-reading studies and independent of the Stanford group, but the sample is outside this archive's 4-18 age range.
Key findings
Significant effects of training type and marginal effects of trainer education, with no significant difference between cognitive apprenticeship delivered by written instructions and by human trainers - which is the scalability finding. Effects were concentrated on identifying FAKE news; evaluation of truthful news changed little, i.e. the training shifted scepticism rather than discrimination.
Genetic confound
Low - randomised experimental contrast.
Replication notes
The lateral-reading effect is the most replicated in this literature, including at university and adult level (Fendt et al. 2025 meta-analysis, g = 0.55 across 43 effects). None of that replication occurred with children.
DOI / URL
10.1016/j.chb.2023.107820
Effects
| Outcome | Metric | Value | Measure | Timing | Vs | Horizon | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online news credibility assessment | training vs control contrasts | significant training effects, concentrated on fake-news identification; little change on truthful-news evaluation; no advantage for human trainers over written instructions | researcher-designed | immediately post-training | active-alternative | end-of-treatment | domain-skill |