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Anatomy of an Information Warfare Campaign

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About This MicroSim

This interactive MicroSim helps students deconstruct the stages and tactics of an information warfare campaign, identifying how each stage exploits specific cognitive biases and platform features.. It supports the learning objectives in Chapter: Misinformation and the Information Age.

How to Use

Use the interactive controls below the drawing area to explore the visualization. Hover over elements for additional information and click to see detailed descriptions.

Iframe Embed Code

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

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<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/theory-of-knowledge/sims/info-warfare-anatomy/main.html"
        height="450px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Grade Level

9-12 (High School / IB TOK)

Duration

15-20 minutes

Prerequisites

  • Basic understanding of propaganda and persuasion techniques
  • Familiarity with cognitive biases (confirmation bias, anchoring, availability heuristic)
  • Awareness that information can be weaponized to influence beliefs and behavior

Learning Objectives

  • Analyze the stages and tactics of an information warfare campaign by identifying how each stage exploits specific cognitive biases and epistemological vulnerabilities

Activities

  1. Exploration (5 min): Open the sim and step through the first two stages of the information warfare campaign. Read the description of each stage and the tactics used. Note the progression from planning and research to initial content seeding. Pay attention to how each stage builds on the previous one.
  2. Guided Practice (10 min): Continue stepping through all remaining stages. At each stage, pause and answer these questions in writing: (a) What is the primary goal of this stage? (b) Which cognitive bias does this stage exploit most? (c) What would a critical thinker look for to detect this stage in action? After completing all stages, discuss with a partner: At which stage is intervention most effective, and why?
  3. Assessment (5 min): Choose a real-world example of an information campaign (e.g., a viral health myth, a political disinformation effort). Map it onto the stages you just studied. Identify at least three stages that are visible in your example and explain which cognitive biases were exploited at each. Write a brief "defense plan" listing two strategies to resist manipulation at each identified stage.

Assessment

  • Correctly sequences at least four stages of an information warfare campaign
  • Identifies at least two specific cognitive biases exploited across different stages with clear explanations
  • Proposes concrete, actionable countermeasures for at least two stages of the campaign

Quiz

Test your understanding with this review question.

1. During the "amplification" stage of an information warfare campaign, which cognitive bias is most directly exploited?

  1. Anchoring bias, because the first piece of information sets the frame
  2. Availability heuristic, because repeated exposure makes the narrative seem more common and credible
  3. Sunk cost fallacy, because people have already invested time reading the content
  4. Dunning-Kruger effect, because people overestimate their ability to detect manipulation
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. The amplification stage relies on flooding multiple channels with the same narrative so that people encounter it repeatedly. The availability heuristic causes people to judge the narrative as more common, important, and credible simply because it comes to mind easily due to frequent exposure.

Concept Tested: Cognitive biases in information warfare

References

  1. Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information Disorder: Toward an Interdisciplinary Framework for Research and Policymaking. Council of Europe.
  2. Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.