False certainty as an unwanted side effect of knowledge acquisition in computer-based online search and content learning

Previous research has shown that learners’ subjective certainty in the assumed correctness of their false answers to a knowledge test increased after online learning. It is unclear, however, 1) whether this False Certainty Effect (FaCE) results from online learning per se, or 2) whether a FaCE results from people confusing their own knowledge with information available on the internet while searching the internet, and 3) whether any topic-directed activity can result in a FaCE, even if it is not obviously topic related. We conducted two computer-based experiments to answer these questions. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 135) were randomly assigned to either an online-search learning condition, a computer-based content-learning condition with pre-selected learning material, or a computer-based topic-exploration condition with no learning-relevant information. Across all conditions, there was an increase in false certainty after the activity. The FaCE was equally strong in the two learning conditions (online search and content learning) and minimal in the non-learning condition. In Experiment 2 (N = 87), we replicated the FaCE for a learning activity with pre-selected materials but did not find a spill-over effect to an unrelated topic. These results indicate that the FaCE is primarily an unwanted side effect of the knowledge acquisition that arises from brief computer-based learning activities.