Table 6.
Familiarity and believability ratings of true claims in pilot study
| Claim | Familiarity | Believability | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | SD | M | SD | |
| aA man in Canada was still allowed to board his flight after a pipe bomb was found in his bag | 1.40 | 0.87 | 2.29 | 1.09 |
| In Turkey, people do not chew gum at night due to a superstition that it represents chewing the flesh of the dead | 1.40 | 0.87 | 2.62 | 1.03 |
| aThe color of a chicken’s egg is related to the chicken’s earlobe color | 1.51 | 0.97 | 2.59 | 1.03 |
| Hippopotamus milk is pink (item excluded as actually found to be false) | 1.54 | 1.08 | 2.33 | 0.87 |
| aChicken carcasses can be used for renewable energy | 1.57 | 1.12 | 3.38 | 1.01 |
| 2014 was the deadliest year for flying on a plane, with 992 fatalities globally | 1.62 | 0.96 | 3.27 | 1.10 |
| aThe national animal of Scotland is the unicorn | 1.68 | 1.23 | 2.78 | 1.08 |
| aSaudi Arabia has revealed plans for a US$500 billion “no fossil fuels” mega-city | 1.69 | 1.08 | 1.98 | 0.94 |
| Exposure to microwaves can open the blood-brain barrier | 1.81 | 1.10 | 2.84 | 1.23 |
| In 2015, Sweden imported nearly 1.3 million tons of waste from Norway, the UK, Ireland, and others | 1.84 | 1.19 | 2.47 | 1.28 |
| aPessimism may be inherited due to a genetic mutation | 1.93 | 1.17 | 2.20 | 1.01 |
| Dandelion root extract is being tested as a cancer treatment | 2.13 | 1.31 | 3.43 | 1.03 |
| After the release of “The Hunger Games” in 2012, women’s participation in archery rose by 105% | 2.20 | 1.37 | 2.74 | 1.03 |
| Germany has officially removed any tuition fees for both local and international college students | 2.25 | 1.34 | 3.57 | 0.90 |
| Honeybee stings are used in the treatment of arthritis | 2.29 | 1.49 | 2.75 | 1.22 |
| The plague is still active in the US today | 2.30 | 1.49 | 3.00 | 0.95 |
| 26 civilians died in the conflict along the Ukraine-Russia border in the summer of 2017 alone | 2.35 | 1.31 | 2.78 | 1.05 |
| The heart of a blue whale is so massive that a human being can swim through its arteries | 2.49 | 1.58 | 2.97 | 1.22 |
| Coca Cola single-bottle production is over 110 billion per year | 2.52 | 1.34 | 3.63 | 1.37 |
| A mattress doubles its weight after 10 years of usage | 2.57 | 1.56 | 3.52 | 1.21 |
| Roughly 800 journalists have been killed globally over the last 10 years | 2.59 | 1.51 | 2.22 | 1.23 |
| Nano-robots are being tested in the treatment of cancer | 2.78 | 1.45 | 3.20 | 1.32 |
| Acne is a hereditary condition | 2.79 | 1.31 | 2.75 | 1.17 |
| China is implementing a citizen ranking system to determine who is a good citizen | 3.47 | 1.71 | 2.21 | 1.29 |
Note. aindicates claims used in Experiments 1–3