A New Zealand-led study investigating how images affect our belief in written statements has been featured on the news satire show ‘the Colbert Report’.
The research, undertaken by Eryn Newman, a PhD student in Victoria’s School of Psychology, and colleagues, examined the phenomenon American comedian and news satirist Stephen Colbert calls ‘truthiness’—the feeling that something is true. Their research, published in the Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, found that individuals were more likely to agree with a statement that was accompanied by decorative image.
Stephen Colbert coined the word ‘truthiness’ in the pilot episode of his show in 2005, and in 2006 it was the Merriam-Webster word of the year.
Read a full press release from Victoria University Wellington here.
You can watch Stephen Colbert discussing the research below.
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Who’s Honoring Me Now? – Psychonomic Bulletin & Review | ||||
|
||||
