#4 Prebunking Misinformation with Dr Jon Roozenbeek

How should we combat misinformation in the history classroom? What does it take to stop misinformation at the outset? Dr Jon Roozenbeek is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge and joins us to discuss his team's latest research on "prebunking" misinformation.

Some of the questions we try to answer:

• Did Covid-19 contribute to an increase in fact-checking?
• Did the extent of misinformation grow in the last couple of months?
• What is the history of misinformation?
• How does prebunking misinformation differ from fact-checking?
• What does the Theory of Inoculation describe?
• What is the link between misinformation and social media usage?
• Are some social media platforms more prone to spreading misinformation?
• Does misinformation always rely on manipulation techniques?
• What are some examples of manipulation techniques?
• How easy was it to scale research on misinformation?
• Why does it work to "inoculate" people against misinformation?
• Why shouldn't we tell people what to believe?
• What is psychological reactance?
• Can you change attitudes with facts alone?
• Are we wired to be sceptical about the truth?
• What is more critical, cognition or being sociable?
• What is the future of misinformation?
• Should teachers play a more prominent role in fighting misinformation?

Find Jon on Twitter @roozenbot and the five prebunking misinformation videos on Youtube.

Send your questions and suggestions to @WilliamHPalk or @C_duPlessis.

Thanks for listening!

Support the show