The course "The Psychology of Misinformation" is a comprehensive course that aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills to recognize and resist misinformation and disinformation. The course is divided into two main units, which cover the cognitive biases and heuristics that make people vulnerable to mis/disinformation, as well as interventions to help people become more resilient against such campaigns. The student-centered, active learning pedagogy used in the course is particularly effective in making the students more resilient against mis/disinformation. Through a series of interventions, students learn to identify common strategies used in disinformation campaigns, spot online trolls, and understand the tactics used by foreign governments and groups, as well as domestic agents, to spread false, misleading, or manipulative information or propaganda. These interventions are implemented through online games and activities, such as the Bad News Game (see here: https://www.getbadnews.com/books/english/), which require students to engage and interact with the material on their own, in a quite environment without any distractors.
Course Code
PSYC 2500
Credits
3
Department
Hudson Golino
Associate Professor