Disinformation Psychology Conference

Friday, October 13 and Saturday, October 14, 2023

Rio Grande Ballroom, University Center, UTA

This conference will particularly focus on the social media aspects of persuasion. It includes individual differences in the tendency to believe and transmit true or false information.

Speakers will include: 

- Danielle Tomson (Columbia University)

- Jeb Willard (Harvard University)

- Michael Bang Pedersen (Aarhus University, Denmark)

- Rafi Mendelsohn (Cyabra, Israel)

- UTA faculty and students from the Departments of Psychology, Philosophy, Communications, and Fine Arts.

There will also be games in which participants can test their susceptibility to fake news. 

Conference Schedule

 

Friday, October 13

 
Time Topic Speaker Title
8:00-9:00 am Coffee + Mingle
9:00-9:45 am Welcome from UTA/COS Administration Morteza Khaledi, UTA Dean of Science; Linda Perrotti, UTA Chair of Psychology  
9:45-10:00 am Conference Welcome Dan Levine, UTA (Psychology)
10:00-10:30 am History & Components of Disinformation Ken Williford, UTA (Philosophy) "Disinformation: Production and Consumption"
10:30-11:15 am History & Components of Disinformation Helen Abadzi, UTA (Psychology) "Who Disinforms Us and Why: Let Me Count the Ways"
11:15-11:45 am Activity 1 Misinformation susceptibility test
11:45 am-1 pm Lunch Break
1:00-1:30 pm Evolutionary Mismatch Scott Coleman, UTA (Psychology) "Evolutionary Accounts of Social Media Influence"
1:30-2:15 pm Evolutionary Mismatch Michael Bang Petersen, Aarhus U (Political Science) "The Psychology of Online Hostility"
2:15-2:45 pm Who disinforms us Amanda Jordan, UTA (Communication) "Political misinformation on social media"
2:45-3:15 pm Who disinforms us Andre Oboler, Online Hate Prevention Institute (Australia) "A Civil Society Organization's Response to Disinformation Spreading Hate and Extremism Online"
3:15-3:30 pm Coffee break
3:30-4:15 pm Who disinforms us Danielle Tomson, Columbia U (Tow Center) "'Is He For Real?' Epistemology versus Ideology on the Far Right"
4:15-4:45 pm Activity 2 Creating misinformation

 

Saturday, October 14

Time Topic Speaker Title
8:00-9:00 am Coffee + Mingle
9:00-9:30 am Ethics of Disinformation Helen Abadzi, UTA (Psychology) "Disinformation Ethics: You be the Judge"
9:30-10:00 am Ethics of Disinformation Ken Williford, UTA (Philosophy) "Ethics and Information in the Library of Babel"
10:00-10:45 am Activity 3 Discussion on cyberwarfare/Playing the game "Spot the Troll"
10:45-11:15 am Who is Disinformed Amber Morgan, UTA (Psychology) "Dissecting Information Choices: Implications for Health and Academic Outcomes in the Disinformation Era"
11:15-11:45 am Who is Disinformed Fangzhou Wang, UTA (Criminal Justice) "Unraveling the Evolution of Disinformation in Online Romance Scams: Insights from Three Empirical Studies"
11:45 a.m.-12:45 pm Lunch
1:00-1:45 pm Activity 4   Playing the game "Bad News"
1:45-2:15 pm Neuroscience Linda Perrotti, UTA (Psychology) "Uncovering Potential Brain Mechanisms Involved in Processing Disinformation"
2:15-3:00 pm Policy/Economics of Disinformation Jed Willard, Harvard U (FDR Foundation) "Disinformation (etc), Identity Politics, and Competing Narratives"
3:00-3:30 pm Policy/Economics of Disinformation Chyng-Yang Jang, UTA (Communication) "Difficulty in identifying misinformation: COVID 19 and vaccination information source and knowledge level in a Hispanic Community"
3:30-4:15 pm Activity 5 + Coffee Break Playing the game "Cranky Uncle"
4:15-4:45 pm UTA Efforts on Disinformation Aman Dhaliwal, UTA (Psychology) "Research Efforts on Disinformation at UTA"
4:45-5:00 pm Closing Statement Dan Levine, UTA (Psychology)