Even Four-Year Olds Instinctively Fact-Check for Misinformation

image via New Scientist

April 1, 2025, 10:45 AM

• •Children ages four to seven demonstrate natural fact-checking skills when put to a test with zebras and space aliens.
• •Researchers found that children who were exposed to more falsehoods were more likely to fact-check new information.
• •The study suggests that "oversanitizing" children's media consumption may be a mistake. It can prevent the development of skills that allow a child to discriminate between true and false.

Young children are able to distinguish between true and false information, even when it comes to fantastical creatures like space aliens. A new study found that four-year-olds who were exposed to more falsehoods were more likely to fact-check claims about zorpies, a fictional alien species. The researchers say that this suggests that children are naturally skeptical and that they can learn to identify misinformation if they are given the opportunity to do so.

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