Test whether repetition represents independent evidence or only makes a claim feel familiar.
Open situation →Reasoning Practice · Starter
The post feels true because you have seen it all week
You have seen the same claim in several Instagram-style posts during the week. Some posts also show many likes. By Friday the claim feels familiar and easy to accept.
Your decision
What is the most useful check?
Show the best first move
B. Trace the claim to independent evidence and separate exposure count from source count.
Why this move helps
Repetition can increase perceived truth without adding evidence. Social endorsement can be another cue, but neither exposure count nor like count tells you whether the underlying evidence is independent and reliable.
Evidence still missing
- The original source of the claim.
- How many genuinely independent sources support it.
- Whether the repeated posts copied one another.
Evidence note
A 2026 experiment in an Instagram-like setting found that repeated statements were judged as more true and with greater confidence. Like counts did not remove the repetition effect.
Next action
Write two numbers: exposures seen and independent sources found. Use the second number for evidence strength.
Best first lens
Illusory Truth Effect
Use the lens to ask a better question. It does not prove that a person or team has a cognitive bias.
Other defensible lenses
The situation may have more than one explanation.
No alternative lens is required for this exercise.
Continue the path
Situation → skill → technique → action.
You can verify important claims without treating repetition as independent confirmation.
Build this skill →Separate independent evidence from repetition and generated summaries.
Run the technique →