Dynamics of trust building: Models of information cross-checking in a multivalued logic framework

Abstract

Information cross-checking is an essential step of the trust building process that grants it its dynamics: it assesses the credibility dimension, finding confirmations or invalidations that respectively increase or weaken the current trust level of a considered piece of information and whose order influences its final value. This paper proposes a model of credibility integration that realistically takes into account even dubious confirmations and invalidations, allowing to represent a wide range of dynamic credulity stances when faced with contradictory information streams. It is formalised in an extended multivalued logic framework and illustrated with several examples to highlight the variety of behaviours it captures.