Applying Cognitive Psychology Principles to the (Dis)Information Environment: An Examination of Discourse Comprehension, Memory, and Fusion of News Articles

摘要

Disinformation campaigns such as fake news have evolved beyond traditional propaganda and are being used in strategicways. Further, sources of information have changed from traditional media (newspapers, fliers, radio) to multi social mediaplatforms (Twitter, You-Tube, Reddit). This paper addresses how cognitive psychology research related to traditional textsand news discourse applies to information garnered in the changing social media environment and especially falseinformation. Specifically, the memory representations that readers create when they read text and how they are able tointegrate complex ideas from multiple sources (including images) are reviewed. An emphasis is placed on the fragility ofmemory representations such as the susceptibility to information reconstruction and how that vulnerability can interactwith disinformation. Potential ways to counter disinformation are explored such as perspective shifting, changing thecontext, and thinking analytically. In addition, this paper will identifies what gaps need to be addressed in the growingresearch areas of misinformation and fake news.