貼標籤的反效果
Research shows that older adults are more likely than other age groups to share and engage with misinformation on social media.
研究發現老年人比其他年齡族群更容易散播及相信社群媒體上的假消息。
There are two popular explanations for why elderly people are prone to sharing fake news.
年長者為何常散播假新聞有兩種流行的解釋。
prone to…易於…prone to watching too much TV容易看太多電視I’m prone to headaches我容易頭痛
The first reason often given is that older people are less capable of making informed judgement than younger adults because their cognitive abilities have declined.
首先，老人因為認知能力下降，所以相較於年輕人較無法作出明理的判斷。
judgement(n.)判斷poor judgement很糟的判斷cognitive(adj.)認知的
The second reason is that older people tend to be lonely and they share misinformation as a way to reach out to other people.
第二個原因是，老年人往往比較孤單，所以想藉著傳遞假消息與他人交流。
misinformation(n.)假資訊=false information=fake information
However, the explanation is a lot more complex than what one might expect, according to a new analysis published in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.
然而，近期發表於《心理科學近期趨勢》期刊的分析指出，實際的原因可能比大家想得來得複雜許多。
psychological(adj.)心理學的psychology(n.)心理學
While it’s true that memory can decline with age, the ability to process and understand information stays the same as we become older and general knowledge improves.
雖然記憶力確實會隨年齡增長而衰退，但處理及理解資訊資訊的能力隨年紀變大，普遍性的知識也增進，卻會維持不變。
“Different cognitive abilities actually decline at different rates, and some don’t decline at all,” says Nadia Brashier, a co-author of the analysis and researcher in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience at Harvard.
分析的共同作者、哈佛大學的認知心理及認知神經科學研究員布希爾說：「不同的認知能力的確會以不同速度衰退，而有些則完全不會衰退。」
neuroscience(n.)神經科學
“These preserved abilities can help older adults compensate for the deficits they do experience.”
她說：「這些保留下來的能力可補償年長者的衰退。」
preserve (v.)保留=keep safecompensate(v.)補償compensation(n.)補償、賠償金、(工作)報酬deficit(n.)赤字、逆差、虧trade deficit貿易逆差
And as for loneliness, she says, “Older adults are not the loneliest age group, and scientists currently have no evidence that lonely people share more fake stories.”
至於孤獨感，她表示：「年長者並不是最孤單的一群人，而且科學家目前有沒有證據指出孤單的人會散佈更多假訊息。」
Brashier’s work looks beyond the commonly held assumptions and suggests that social media platforms will have to look closely at other factors if they want to minimize the amplification of misinformation online more effectively.
布希爾的研究並不專注於大眾咸信的假設，且指出社群媒體平台若要更有效地減低網路上假訊息的擴大，應該要針對其他因素把關。
look beyond不看…assumption(n.)假設、假定、臆測look closely把關minimize(v.)最小化maximize(v.)最大化maximize the profit把利潤最大化amplification(n.)放大amplify(v.)放大、擴大amplify the sound放大聲音misinformation(n.)假消息=false information=fake information
“A lot of the common-sense approaches to fake news social media platforms have implemented may harm older users,” she says.
她說：「許多社群平台用來對付假新聞的常識性作法可能會傷害年長的使用者。」
implement(v.)實施implement the plan實施計畫
For instance, social media sites often rely on fact checks and information boxes to provide context for misleading or false information shared online.
例如，社群網站往往依賴事實查核以及資訊欄位為在網路流傳的誤導或錯誤訊息提供背景。
rely on依賴=depend onfact check事實查核context(n.)(事件)背景、前後文out of context斷章取義misleading(adj.)誤導人的、讓人誤會的mislead(v.)誤導
But for older audiences, these might have the opposite of the intended effect.
然而對年長者來說，這些作法可能會造成反效果。
intend(v.)計畫、打算
“Repeatedly seeing a claim paired with a ‘false’ label ironically increases older adults’ belief in that claim later,” Brashier says.
布希爾指出，重複看到貼上「假新聞」標籤的訊息，反而會讓他們變成相信這個訊息是真的。
paired with與…在一起=along with=together withironically(adv.)諷刺地irony(n.)諷刺