When individuals have questions about scientific issues, they often search the Internet. Evaluating sources of information and claims they find has become more difficult in the post-truth era. Students are often taught source evaluation techniques, but the proliferation of "fake news" has resulted in a misinformation arms race. As…

Prior research from the field of science communication shows that, upon reading journalistic articles about novel scientific findings, readers who recognize the tentative nature of the findings rate the journalistic article that reports these findings as less credible. Apparently, readers' appraisal is influenced by misconceptions about the…

Plausibility judgments rarely have been addressed empirically in conceptual change research. Recent research, however, suggests that these judgments may be pivotal to conceptual change about certain topics where a gap exists between what scientists and laypersons find plausible. Based on a philosophical and empirical foundation, this article…