Contacts
My research and training are in memory and cognition. I completed my PhD at Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand and from 2012-2015 I studied at the University of California, Irvine as a Fulbright Scholar and then Research Scholar. During this time I studied human memory and forensic science communication/jury decision-making. From 2015-2017 I trained as a Research Associate/Postdoc at the University of Southern California, studying social-cognitive perspectives on assessments of truth and memory. In early 2018 I joined the ANU as a Lecturer in the Research School of Psychology.
Research Website: ANU Memory and Applied Cognition Lab
Research interests
Truthiness and Mistakes in Memory and Belief
Did I lock the door when I left the house? Do I believe that news headline that just appeared on my phone? We are regularly making decisions about what is real and what is not. In my research I examine the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to memory and belief and the ways these processes can go awry. I am especially interested in how people come to believe and remember things are true, even when they are not. And in particular, how people can succumb to truthiness—using feelings and pseudoevidence to decide what is real, instead of drawing on facts.
These judgements about what is real and what is not are all made in context, when we have different goals and information on the mind. In my research I also examine the role of context in assessments of truth, memory and broader judgements about people and evidence.
Combining approaches from social and cognitive psychology I try to understand the role of evidence, feelings and context in correcting misinformation, enhancing science communication and understanding bias in judgements within criminal justice contexts.
See recent discussion on: Seeing is believing: How media mythbusting can actually make false beliefs stronger
See recent webinar on: The impact of information (and misinformation) on mental health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic
Publications
Co-Edited Book
Greifeneder, R., Jaffé, M., Newman, E., & Schwarz, N. (Eds.) (2020). The psychology of fake news: Accepting, sharing, and correcting misinformation. London, UK: Routledge
Handbooks
Lewandowsky, S., Cook, J., Schmid, P., Holford, D. L., Finn, A., Lombardi, D., Al-Rawi, A. K., Thomson, A., Leask, J., Juanchich, M., Anderson, E. C., Sah, S., Vraga, E. K., Gavaruzzi, T., Rapp, D. N., Amazeen, M. A., Sinatra, G. M., Kendeou, P., Armaos, K. D., Newman, E. J., Ecker, U. K. H., Tapper, K., Bruns, H. H. B., Pennycook, G., Betsch, C., Hahn, U. (2021). The COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Handbook. A practical guide for improving vaccine communication and fighting misinformation. Available at: https://sks.to/c19vax
Lewandowsky, S., Cook, J., Ecker, U. K. H., Albarracín, D., Amazeen, M. A., Kendeou, P., Lombardi, D., Newman, E. J., Pennycook, G., Porter, E. Rand, D. G., Rapp, D. N., Reifler, J., Roozenbeek, J., Schmid, P., Seifert, C. M., Sinatra, G. M., Swire-Thompson, B., van der Linden, S., Vraga, E. K., Wood, T. J., Zaragoza, M. S. (2020). The Debunking Handbook 2020.
Lewandowsky, S., Cook, J., Ecker, U. K.,...& Newman, E. J. et al., (2021). Under the Hood of The Debunking Handbook 2020: A consensus-based handbook of recommendations for correcting or preventing misinformation.
Journal Articles and Chapters
Zhang, L., Schwarz, N., Atari, M., Newman, E. J., & Afhami, R. (2022). Conceptual metaphors, processing fluency, and aesthetic pleasure. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 98 104-247.
Banks, E., Harris, M., Yazidjoglou, A., Martin, M., Newman, E., Ford, L., & Lucas, R. M. (2022). Tobacco control continues to work as smoking prevalence declines: combating manufactured uncertainty–Author response. Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
Harris, M., Martin, M., Yazidjoglou, A., Ford, L., Lucas, R. M., Newman, E., & Banks, E. (2022). Smokers Increasingly Motivated and Able to Quit as Smoking Prevalence Falls: Umbrella and Systematic Review of Evidence Relevant to the “Hardening Hypothesis,” Considering Transcendence of Manufactured Doubt. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntac055
Derksen, D.G., Giroux, M.E., Newman, E.J., & Bernstein, D.M. (2022). Stable truthiness across the lifespan. Developmental Psychology, 58 (5), 913-922. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001334
Legg, M. & Newman, E. J. (2021). Evaluating Witnesses in the Online Court. Law Society Journal, 84, 70-72.
Bild, E., Redman, A., Newman, E. J., Muir, B., Tait, D., & Schwarz, N. (2021). Virtual court: Low audio quality leads to less favorable evaluations of witnesses and lower weighting of evidence. Law & Human Behavior, 45 (5), 481-495; https://doi-org.virtual.anu.edu.au/10.1037/lhb0000466
Zhang, L., & Newman, E. J. & Schwarz, N. (2021) When photos backfire: Truthiness and falsiness effects in comparative judgment, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 92, 104054, doi: https://doi-org.virtual.anu.edu.au/10.1016/j.jesp.2020.104054
Greifeneder, R., Jaffé, M., Newman, E., & Schwarz, N. (2021). What is new and true about fake news. In Greifeneder, R., Jaffé, M., Newman E.J., & Schwarz, N. (Eds.) The psychology of fake news: Accepting, sharing, and correcting misinformation. London, UK: Psychology Press
Newman, E. J. & Zhang, L. (2021). The Science of Truthiness. In Greifeneder, R., Jaffé, M., Newman E.J., & Schwarz, N. (Eds.) The psychology of fake news: Accepting, sharing, and correcting misinformation. London, UK: Psychology Press
Buzzfeeed: Something as simple as a photo can trick you into believing fake news
Jalbert, M., & Newman, E. J. & Schwarz, N. (2020) Only Half of What I’ll Tell You is True: How Experimental Procedures Lead to an Underestimation of the Truth Effect. Journal of Applied Research in Applied Memory and Cognition, 9(4), 602-613. Doi: https://doi-org.virtual.anu.edu.au/10.1016/j.jarmac.2020.08.010
Dawel, A.,Shou, Y., Smithson, M., Cherbuin, N., Banfield, M., Calear, A., Farrer, L., Gray, D., Gulliver, A., Housen, T., McCallum, S., Morse, A., Murray, K., Newman, E.,Rodney Harris, R., & Batterham, P. (2020). The effect of COVID-19 on mental health and wellbeing in a representative sample of Australian adults, COVID-19 special issue in Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 1026.
Derksen, D. G., Giroux, M. E., Connolly, D., & Newman, E. J. & Bernstein, D. M (2020). Truthiness and Law: Non-Probative Photos Bias Perceived Credibility in Forensic Contexts. Applied Cognitive Psychology. doi: https://doi-org.virtual.anu.edu.au/10.1002/acp.3709
Koriat, A., Undorf, M., Newman, E. J., & Schwarz, N. (2020) Subjective confidence in the response to personality questions: Some insight into the construction of people’s responses to test items. Frontiers in Psychology, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01250
Newman, E. J., Jalbert, M., Schwarz, N., & Ly, D. (2020). Need for Cognition: Individual differences in Truthiness and Illusory Truth. Consciousness & Cognition, 78, 102866. doi: https://doi-org.virtual.anu.edu.au/10.1016/j.concog.2019.102866
Newman, E. J., Jalbert, M., & Feigenson, N. (2019). Cognitive fluency in the courtroom. In R. Bull & I. Blandon-Gitlin (Eds). International Handbook of Legal and Investigative Psychology, Routledge/ Taylor Francis.
Jalbert, M., Newman, E., & Schwarz, N. (2019). Trivia claim norming: Methods report and data. ResearchGate.-- DOI 10.6084/m9.figshare.9975602
Newman, E. J., & Schwarz, N. (2018). Good sound, Good Research: How the audio quality of talks and interviews influences perceptions of the researcher and the research. Science Communication, 40, 246-257. doi 10.1177/1075547018759345
Sanson, M., Newman, E. J., & Garry, M. (2018). The characteristics of Directive Future Experiences and Directive Memories. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research & Practice. doi:10.1037/cns0000136
Newman, E. J., Azaad, T., Lindsay, D. S., & Garry, M. (2018) Photos promote rose-colored truthiness for claims about the future. Memory & Cognition, 1-11. doi:10.3758/s13421-016-0652-5.
Silva, R., Chrobot, N, Newman, E. J., Schwarz, N., & Topolinski, S. (2017). Make it Short and Easy: Username Complexity Determines Trustworthiness Above and Beyond Objective Reputation. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 2200.
Schwarz, N., & Newman, E. (2017). How does the gut know truth? The psychology of truthiness. APA Science Brief, http://www.apa.org.virtual.anu.edu.au/science/about/psa/2017/06/gut-truth.aspx
Cardwell, B. A., Newman, E. J., Garry, M., Mantonakis, A., & Beckett, R. (2017). Photos That Increase Feelings of Learning Promote Positive Evaluations. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition, doi: 10.1037/xlm0000358
Schwarz, N., Newman, E., & Leach, W. (2016). Making the truth stick and the myths fade: Lessons from cognitive psychology. Behavioral Science & Policy, 2, 85-95. doi: 10.1353/bsp.2016.0009
Cardwell, B. A., Henkel, L. A., Garry, M., Newman, E. J., & Foster, J. L. (2016). Nonprobative photos rapidly lead people to believe claims about their own (and other people’s) pasts. Memory & Cognition, 1-14. doi: 10.3758/s13421-016-0603-1.
Newman, E. J., Garry, M., Unkelbach, C., Bernstein, D. M., Lindsay, D. S., & Nash, R. A. (2015). Truthiness and falsiness of trivia claims depend on judgmental contexts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 41, 1337. doi: 10.1037/xlm0000099.
Thompson, W. C., & Newman, E. J. (2015). Lay understanding of forensic statistics: Evaluation of random match probabilities, likelihood ratios, and verbal equivalents. Law and Human Behavior, 39, 332-349. doi: 10.1037/lhb0000134
Newman, E. J., Sanson, M., Miller, E. K., Quigley-McBride, A., Foster, J. L., Bernstein, D. M., & Garry, M. (2014). People with Easier to Pronounce Names Promote Truthiness of Claims. PLOS ONE, 9, e88671.
Michael, R. B., Newman, E. J., Vuorre, M., Cumming, G., & Garry, M. (2013). On the (non)persuasive power of a brain image. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20, 720-725. doi: 10.3758/s13423-013-0391-6
Fenn, E., Newman, E.J., Pezdek, K., & Garry, M. (2013). The Effect of Nonprobative Photographs on Truthiness Judgments Persists Over Time. Acta Psychologica, 144, 207-211, doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.06.004
Newman, E. J., & Loftus, E. F. (2012). Updating Ebbinghaus on the science of memory. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 8, 209–216. doi:10.5964/ejop.v8i2.453
Newman, E. J., & Loftus, E. F. (2012). Clarkian logic on trial. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 260-263. doi: 10.1177/1745691612442907
Newman, E. J., Garry, M., Bernstein, D. M., Kantner, J., & Lindsay, D. S. (2012). Nonprobative photographs (or words) inflate truthiness. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 19, 969-974. doi: 10.3758/s13423-012-0292-0
Newman, E. J., Berkowitz, S., Nelson, K. J., Garry, M., & Loftus, E. F. (2011). Attitudes about memory dampening drugs depend on context and country. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25, 675-681. doi:10.1002/acp.1740
Newman, E. J., & Lindsay, D. S. (2009). False memories: What the hell are they for? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 1105-1121. doi: 10.1002/acp.1613
Other publications
Newman, E. J., & Reynolds, K. (19 August, 2021). Is it actually false, or do you just disagree? Why Twitter’s user-driven experiment to tackle misinformation is complicated. The Conversation.
Newman, E., Dawel, A., Jalbert, M., Schwarz., N. (26, May, 2020). Seeing is believing: how mythbusting can actually make false beliefs stronger. The Conversation.
Dawel., A., Newman, E., & McCallum, S. (25, May, 2020). Coronavirus lockdown made many of us anxious. But for some people, returning to ‘normal’ might be scarier. The Conversation.
Schwarz, N. & Newman, E. J. (19, March, 2015). The media fuels vaccination myths—by trying to correct them. The Conversation.
Newman, E. J. (1 July, 2014). Don’t always trust your instincts; Mistaking truthiness for truth. Zocalo Public Square. Appeared as an Op-Ed in Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/06/30/psychology-explains-why-people-are-so-easily-duped/
