©
Getty Images (Laurence Dutton)
The study, published in Nature Communications, explores how different approaches, including text-based messages, videos, and online games, can inoculate people against misinformation. The researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Potsdam and King’s College London conducted five large-scale experiments with over 11,000 participants to examine the durability of these interventions and identify ways to strengthen their effects.
The research team tested three types of misinformation-prevention methods:
• Text-based interventions, where participants read pre-emptive messages explaining common misinformation tactics.
• Video-based interventions, short educational clips that expose the emotional manipulation techniques used in misleading content.
• Gamified interventions, an interactive game that teaches people to spot misinformation tactics by having them create their own (fictional) fake news stories in a safe, controlled environment.
Participants were then exposed to misinformation and evaluated on their ability to detect and resist it over time. The study found that while all three interventions were effective, their effects diminished quickly over time, prompting questions about their long-term impact. However, providing memory-enhancing “booster” interventions, such as a follow-up reminder or reinforcement message, helped maintain misinformation resistance for a significantly longer period.
The study found that the longevity of misinformation resistance was primarily driven by how well participants remembered the original intervention. Follow-up reminders or memory-enhancing exercises were also found to significantly extend the effectiveness of the initial intervention, much like medical booster vaccines.
Read the full story on the University of Oxford website.