The present study explores the impact of including social media messages on learning from television programs that broadcast pseudoscientific claims. Seventy-seven university students were allocated to one of three experimental conditions: viewing television content with messages supporting the claim, with opposing messages, or without any messages presented. Memory retention did not differ among the conditions. However, social media messages influenced validation of the arguments claimed in the video. The participants who watched the video with opposing messages showed significant decrease in positive attitude toward the pseudoscientific technology that claimed to be effective in the video. Additionally, the participants who watched the video with supporting messages made fewer critical comments and showed willingness to donate more to the activity using the pseudoscientific technology. The impact of including social media messages and the process of attitude change are discussed.

The present study explores the impact on memory and attitude change of social media messages that are incorporated into television programs, and the interaction of such messages with the viewer’s disposition to critical thinking. Sixty university students were allocated to one of two experimental conditions and viewed television content: social media messages were included in only one condition. The results showed a significant interaction between participants’ disposition (Objectiveness) and the experimental condition: participants with higher Objectiveness scores exhibited larger changes in their attitudes. An analysis of 10 participants’ eye fixations suggested participants’ tendency to change their allocation of attention to different types of message over time. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between the tendency to focus on these messages and scores for disposition to critical thinking (Objectiveness and Logical thinking). We discuss the possible conclusions on the impact of showing social media messages and the limitations of this study.