Effects of an intervention designed for identifying misinformation, desinformation and conspiracy theories

Education is a key factor in meeting the challenge caused to society by misinformation and disinformation (the so callled "infodemics"). The project aims at developing media and information literacy among high school students.

The intervention consists of two main components: an app called “bad news” and a training (TIDaCT: Training in identifying Disinformation and Conspiracy Tehories).

Specifically, the study will investige 1) pre, post and follow-up differences between experiment groups (app+, TIDaCT) in media and information literacy, beliefs in conspiracy theories, analytical thinking, rejection of science, (2) within-group differences for the experimental groups in these variables, and (3) evaluate the usability of the multi-module intervention through a qualititative approach with the use of focus groups.

In cooperation with the municipality of Halmstad, altogether eight high school classes will be recruited for the study. They will be randomly placed in four experiment groups (app+, TIDaCT) and four inactive control groups.

Swedish versions of the following measuring tools are used:  The Generic Conspiracist Belief Scale (GCBS; Brotherton et al., 2013), Rational-Experiential Inventory (REI-40; Pacini & Espstein, 1999; Björklund & Bäckström, 2008), Rejection of Science (Lewandowsky, Gignac, & Oberauer, 2013), and Media Literacy Skills Scale (MLSS; Eristi & Erdem, 2017).