Fig. 2. Mediation model from 1500 American adults drawn to match the demographics of the U.S. showing false feedback altering the kids these days effect indirectly through both subjective belief in reading ability (“I enjoy reading now”) and memory for how much one enjoyed reading as a child.

The crucial indirect pathway is manipulated beliefs in current ability altering the kids these days effect through reconstructed memory of how much one enjoyed reading as a child (β = −0.009, P = 0.04, 95% CI = −0.02 to −0.002).