Lecture 8

Question 1

misinformation

Answer 1

false or misleading content

Question 1

disinformation

Answer 1

information that is false but there is intent to mislead and deceive.

Question 2

false news

Answer 2

fabricated or false, that resembles a lot what we are used to see in the news. Look a lot like news, but intent to mislead. Differs in the process in which it was created.

Question 3

spinozean vs cartesian model of belief

Answer 3

Both say that when people receive misinformation, people first have to comprehend and accept or reject the message. In both its a two steps.

To distinguish between the two: cartesian is really rational. First understand and then assess the message.

Spinozan: acceptance is part of the comprehension stage. Understanding is the same as acceptance. Verification of what was initially accepted or rejection.

Question 4

which one of the two model does the judge stephen task support

Answer 4

spinozean

Question 5

model of (mis)information belief and spread

Answer 5

It’s about wheather people share because of belief or because of exposure.

• This suggests that unless people think about accuracy, people will share false information
• People that were asked about accuracy, shared less the false information.

Question 6

meta-cognitive myopia

Answer 6

Rely on information that is available in our environment without really thinking about history of data.

Question 7

truth-bias

Answer 7

tendency to believe communicated information regardless of accuracy

Question 8

summary of all cognitive factors (risk factors to misinformation belief and spread)

Answer 8

• meta-cognitive myopia
• truth-bias
• illusory-truth effect (repetition increases the perceived truthfulness of information)
• analytic thinking (reliance on deliberative analytic processing as opposed to intuitive

Question 9

partisan bias

Answer 9

Bias interpretation of information, when this information fits in cherished social identity or ideological worldview

Question 10

partisan bias can lead to sharing of misinformation through (3 steps)

Answer 10

• selective exposure
• partial processing
• intentional or irresponsible sharing.

Question 11

2 types of polarization

Answer 11

belief/attitude: divergence of political attitudes and beliefs towards extremes

affective: negative affect towards out-group

Question 12

4 main types of Interventions targeting individuals

Answer 12

1. debunking (Refuting message that has been said)
2. labeling (tagging information as false)
3. pre-bunking (alternating and exposing people to micro-doses of misinformation)
4. digital literacy (ability to spot misinformation)

Question 13

what are debunking and labeling not very efficient against

Answer 13

partisan bias

Question 14

what is needed for pre-bunking and digital literacy to work

Answer 14

accuracy motivation

Question 15

2 most common solutions targeting systems

Answer 15

1. content moderation (removing “bad actors” and problematic content from platform)
2. change incentives structure

Question 16

critical issues when facing news

Answer 16

1. beware of buzzwords
2. avoid popular claims that misrepresent the problem or phenomenon
3. beware of operationalization and unintended consequences of interventions

Question 17

Recap Socio-political factors (risk factors) that can lead to belief and sharing of misinformation

Answer 17

Partisan bias (selective exposure, partial processing, intentional or irresponsible sharing) + polarization (belief/attitude or affective)

Question 18

The cons of the most common solutions targeting systems

Answer 18

1. Content moderation : can be arbitrary and used for propaganda purposes
2. Change incentives structure: can only be used if people are able to discern