|
2
|
Uscinski J, Littrell S, Klofstad C. The importance of epistemology for the study of misinformation. Curr Opin Psychol 2024; 57:101789. [PMID: 38301573 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2024.101789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Revised: 01/14/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Scholars have rapidly produced a robust body of literature addressing the public's beliefs in, and interactions with "misinformation." Despite the literature's stated concerns about the underlying truth value of the information and beliefs in question, the field has thus far operated without a reliable epistemology for determining the truth of the information and beliefs in question, often leaving researchers (or third parties) to make such determinations based on loose definitions and a naïve epistemology. We argue that, while this area of research has made great strides in recent years, more attention to definitions, epistemology, and terminology would both improve the validity of the literature and prevent the field of misinformation studies from becoming political conflict by another name.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Uscinski
- Department of Political Science, University of Miami, 1300 Campo Sano Blvd., Coral Gables, FL 33146, United States.
| | - Shane Littrell
- Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto, 315 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 0A7, Canada
| | - Casey Klofstad
- Department of Political Science, University of Miami, 1300 Campo Sano Blvd., Coral Gables, FL 33146, United States
| |
Collapse
|
|
3
|
Kozyreva A, Lorenz-Spreen P, Herzog SM, Ecker UKH, Lewandowsky S, Hertwig R, Ali A, Bak-Coleman J, Barzilai S, Basol M, Berinsky AJ, Betsch C, Cook J, Fazio LK, Geers M, Guess AM, Huang H, Larreguy H, Maertens R, Panizza F, Pennycook G, Rand DG, Rathje S, Reifler J, Schmid P, Smith M, Swire-Thompson B, Szewach P, van der Linden S, Wineburg S. Toolbox of individual-level interventions against online misinformation. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:1044-1052. [PMID: 38740990 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01881-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
The spread of misinformation through media and social networks threatens many aspects of society, including public health and the state of democracies. One approach to mitigating the effect of misinformation focuses on individual-level interventions, equipping policymakers and the public with essential tools to curb the spread and influence of falsehoods. Here we introduce a toolbox of individual-level interventions for reducing harm from online misinformation. Comprising an up-to-date account of interventions featured in 81 scientific papers from across the globe, the toolbox provides both a conceptual overview of nine main types of interventions, including their target, scope and examples, and a summary of the empirical evidence supporting the interventions, including the methods and experimental paradigms used to test them. The nine types of interventions covered are accuracy prompts, debunking and rebuttals, friction, inoculation, lateral reading and verification strategies, media-literacy tips, social norms, source-credibility labels, and warning and fact-checking labels.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anastasia Kozyreva
- Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Philipp Lorenz-Spreen
- Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefan M Herzog
- Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ullrich K H Ecker
- School of Psychological Science & Public Policy Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Stephan Lewandowsky
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Ralph Hertwig
- Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ayesha Ali
- Department of Economics, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Joe Bak-Coleman
- Craig Newmark Center, School of Journalism, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sarit Barzilai
- Department of Learning and Instructional Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Melisa Basol
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Adam J Berinsky
- Department of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Cornelia Betsch
- Institute for Planetary Health Behaviour, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - John Cook
- Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Lisa K Fazio
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Michael Geers
- Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Andrew M Guess
- Department of Politics and School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Haifeng Huang
- Department of Political Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Horacio Larreguy
- Departments of Economics and Political Science, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Rakoen Maertens
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Gordon Pennycook
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
| | - David G Rand
- Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Steve Rathje
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jason Reifler
- Department of Politics, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Philipp Schmid
- Institute for Planetary Health Behaviour, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Mark Smith
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Paula Szewach
- Department of Politics, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
- Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Sam Wineburg
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|