Continued Influence Effect is believing previously learned misinformation even after it has been corrected. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0184, within the Learning family. The core principle: believing previously learned misinformation even after it has been corrected. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
Scientific Definition
Believing previously learned misinformation even after it has been corrected.
Plain-English Definition
Believing previously learned misinformation even after it has been corrected.
Feynman Explanation
Corrections rarely catch up with the original lie.
Core Principle
Believing previously learned misinformation even after it has been corrected.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Believing previously learned misinformation even after it has been corrected.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
First impressions are sticky even when wrong.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Corrections rarely catch up with the original lie.
Examples
- A retracted rumor still shapes how employees view a leader.
- First impressions are sticky even when wrong.
Pending editorial review.
Original analysis from The Incentives Lab — how this element behaves inside real payoff structures.
Why this element matters to incentive design
This is one of the elements leaders describe as a values gap. It is a payoff gap. The mechanism underneath it is straightforward: believing previously learned misinformation even after it has been corrected. You can recognize it in the field by its signature: corrections rarely catch up with the original lie. Every element in the Cognition dimension changes the perceived payoff of an action before the action happens, which is exactly where incentive design has leverage.
How it gets exploited
Left undesigned, first impressions are sticky even when wrong. It is amplified whenever first impressions are sticky even when wrong. Inside organizations that shows up as first impressions are sticky even when wrong. The pattern is the same one Goodhart's Law describes: the measurable proxy attracts the effort, and the purpose behind it quietly loses funding.
How the Lab designs around it
The redesign move is to repeat the correction with the original false claim to overwrite it. Watch for it at the boundaries: handoffs, promotions, incident reviews, and budget cycles are where this element gets its power.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Repeat the correction with the original false claim to overwrite it.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Repeat the correction with the original false claim to overwrite it.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Unusual or bizarre material is more memorable than common material.
A conditioned response changes disproportionately when reinforcement changes.
Forcing yourself to explain a concept reveals exactly where your understanding is hollow.
As more facts are learned about a topic, retrieving any one fact slows.
IQ scores have risen substantially over generations.
Items that stand out are more likely to be remembered.
Your capacity to learn, unlearn, and relearn faster than the environment changes.
Malcolm Knowles's principles of adult learning: self-direction, experience as resource, readiness, problem-centered orientation, intrinsic motivation.
Amishi Jha's research: attention is a finite, depletable, but trainable cognitive resource — short daily mindfulness measurably improves it.
Approach a situation as if you knew nothing.
Hierarchy of cognitive learning: Remember → Understand → Apply → Analyze → Evaluate → Create. Benjamin Bloom, 1956 (revised 2001).
Wallace J. Nichols: proximity to water reliably shifts the nervous system toward a calmer, more creative state.
Where Continued Influence Effect is cited in the corpus
Essays, field guides, and diagnostics from The Incentives Lab that apply this element.
- EssayGoodhart's Law in the Real World
How measurable proxies capture judgment.
- EssayThe Perverse Incentives Hiding in Your KPIs
Cognitive shortcuts turned into scorecards.
- EssayAI Agents Inherit Your Incentives
How this element propagates into automated systems.
- ReferenceThe incentive glossary
Definitions for every mental model, bias, and fallacy in the corpus.
- CourseIncentives 101
The free ten-part primer on reading a payoff structure.
- ReferenceThe Periodic Table of Human Behavior
The full 1,267-element map this page belongs to.
Questions about Continued Influence Effect
- What is Continued Influence Effect?
- Continued Influence Effect is believing previously learned misinformation even after it has been corrected. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0184, within the Learning family. The core principle: believing previously learned misinformation even after it has been corrected. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
- What is an example of Continued Influence Effect?
- First impressions are sticky even when wrong. The Incentives Lab catalogs everyday, organizational, and historical instances of this element on its Human Behavior Taxonomy™ page (HBT-COG-0184).
- How is Continued Influence Effect exploited?
- First impressions are sticky even when wrong.
- How do you design around Continued Influence Effect?
- Repeat the correction with the original false claim to overwrite it.
- Which behavioral dimension does Continued Influence Effect belong to?
- Continued Influence Effect is classified in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™, family "Learning", class "Mental Model". Its permanent identifier is HBT-COG-0184 and its evidence grade is B.