Pre-requisites
Students do not need any prior knowledge to follow this lecture. However, those who have taken courses such as psychology or persuasive communication may find them helpful as additional support during the lecture.
Explanation of activity
The goal of information influence activities can include:
- Creating a favorable impression of the influencer,
- Discrediting opponents, or
- Deterrence.
Such activities may involve entertaining messages that ridicule opponents or rely on fear and shock tactics, including depictions of violence. Hostile influencers often exploit existing societal divisions, such as ethnic, linguistic, or religious differences.
A key reason why information influence can be effective lies in human psychological thinking patterns, particularly cognitive biases. Two relevant biases in this context are:
- Confirmation Bias – People tend to notice and remember information that supports their existing beliefs while ignoring evidence that contradicts them. For example, anti-vaccine individuals may seek out information about vaccine-related health risks while disregarding scientific studies confirming vaccine safety.
- Groupthinking – Individuals tend to align their opinions with the perceived majority view within their social group. If most people in someone’s online community (e.g., Facebook friends) believe vaccines are dangerous, those with differing opinions may conform to the dominant view to avoid isolation.
At the beginning of the lecture, some perception errors will be introduced. This will be followed by student presentations of their assigned homework. Students are required to prepare a 10-minute presentation on a specific perception error assigned by the lecturer. The presentation should include:
- A definition of the perception error,
- Its characteristics,
- Its application in information influence activities, and
- Relevant examples.
Teacher materials
https://mojutustehnikad.ee/polariseerimine/
Relevant reading to understand the materials:
- Kahneman, Daniel. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- James Pamment, Howard Nothhaft, Henrik Agardh-Twetman, Alicia Fjällhed 2018. Countering Information Influence Activities: The State of the Art, version 1.4 (1 July 2018), Department of Strategic Communication, Lund University
Further reading to further develop the activity/understanding of the topic:
- Adame, B. J. (2016). The role of anchoring in judgment and decision-making: Heuristics and biases in context. In S. Hall (Ed.), Cognitive biases in risk assessment (pp. 36-41). Academic Press.
- STEREOTYPE DYNAMICS. Language-Based Approaches to the Formation, Maintenance, and Transformation of Stereotypes Editors Yoshihisa Kashima Klaus Fiedler Peter Freytag. 2007
Student Materials
- Stubenvoll, M., & Matthes, J. (2022). Why Retractions of Numerical Misinformation Fail: The Anchoring Effect of Inaccurate Numbers in the News. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 99(2), 368-389. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990211021800
- How to use the anchoring Effect (and not have it used against you) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovhuYznC_38
Analysis of Student Understanding
- Examples presented in the homework should be placed in a new context to clearly assess whether students have understood the underlying mechanism of the cognitive bias. Cognitive biases do not need to be demonstrated solely in the context of information influence but can also be illustrated in more neutral, everyday situations. This helps students understand how psychological biases shape their behavior and decision-making in various aspects of life.
Assessing and Evaluation
In assessing whether students have understood the materials, educators should reflect on the following:
- Students are able to define the assigned cognitive bias and describe its key characteristics.
- Students are able to explain how and where this cognitive bias is used in information influence activities.
- Students are able to provide at least three examples of the cognitive bias in action, including at least one original example.
- Students are able to describe strategies to mitigate the effects of this cognitive bias and avoid falling into its “trap.”
- Students are able to reference and correctly cite at least three relevant academic sources.
- Students are able to recommend an educational resource (such as a video or podcast) and justify its relevance to understanding the cognitive bias.
Modulations
- A separate lecture (1.5 hours) should be dedicated to cognitive biases next time, followed by student presentations of their homework (1.5 hours).
- More time, approximately 20 minutes, can be allocated for the homework presentations.
- Students should be encouraged to include more original examples in their presentations.
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June 23, 2025
