Feedback exercises boost discernment of misinformation for gamified inoculation interventions

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Communication Studies

Background:

• Gamification, particularly through inoculation games like Bad News and Harmony Square, shows promise in reducing susceptibility to misinformation.
• Prior research highlights potential drawbacks, including negative impacts on real news evaluation and memory decay without reinforcement.
• Existing gamified approaches require enhancement to address these nuances for sustained effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of feedback exercises on the effectiveness of gamified misinformation interventions.
• To determine if feedback can improve the ability to distinguish between misinformation and real news.
• To assess the long-term effects and optimal application of feedback in gamified learning environments.

Main Methods:

• Conducted two preregistered lab experiments (N=191, N=321) and four in-game surveys (N=559 to N=2,558) using Bad News and Harmony Square games.
• Tested different types of post-gameplay feedback in lab settings to assess immediate and delayed effects on discrimination accuracy.
• Implemented two feedback exercises within the games to evaluate their impact on discernment compared to gameplay alone.

Main Results:

• Feedback after playing Bad News significantly improved accuracy in identifying both misinformation and real news one week later, compared to a no-feedback control group.
• In-game feedback exercises in both Bad News and Harmony Square substantially boosted discernment, primarily by enhancing the accuracy of identifying real news.
• Signal detection theory analysis confirmed that feedback exercises improve the ability to differentiate between various types of information.

Conclusions:

• Feedback exercises are crucial for maximizing the effectiveness of gamified misinformation interventions.
• These exercises likely improve the learning environment, leading to better cognitive resistance against misinformation and more accurate real news evaluation.
• Integrating targeted feedback mechanisms offers a promising strategy for developing more robust and enduring defenses against online misinformation.