Do You Consider Yourself Media Literate? | Psychology Today

As we find ourselves caught up in the maelstrom of modern media, it can be challenging to separate fact from fiction. Furthermore, as the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) accelerates, and in some instances is nefariously used to fuel misinformation and disinformation campaigns, it’s not hard to understand the rising distrust in modern communications. The question is, do you consider yourself media literate and, therefore, somewhat immune to the influence?

According to a 2010 report, children between the ages of 8 and 18 years spent just over 7.5 hours per day consuming entertainment media outside of school. Updated reports such as Guttmann (2023) highlight little change, with the average adult worldwide consuming 7 hours, 52 minutes of media per day. In and of itself, time spent on media is not the problem, it is the potential exposure to content with a specific agenda, bias, or general negative influence that creates the need for improved media literacy.

Victoria Short, executive director of the Open Minds Foundation highlights

“At Open Minds, we bring together a group of individuals with direct or indirect lived experience of coercion and coercive control. Through high control religious groups, or membership of cults, our benefactors understand the reality of manipulation and misdirection employed to influence an individual. Regardless of race, intelligence, and socio-economic factors, every individual is potentially at risk of being manipulated, and the consequences can be disastrous.”

She continues,

“One of the key attributes underpinning coercion and coercive control is the control of information. How and what information is shared, can have a direct impact on victim susceptibility. In the age of modern media, it can become additionally challenging to differentiate truth from lies. Critical thinking, and importantly the practise of media literacy, should not be underestimated. They are the fastest, most reliable methods for inoculating your psyche from external manipulation.”

To be media literate is to be able to think critically about information consumed through media and specifically is our ability to apply critical thinking to retain an objective viewpoint. Psychologically, being objective is not a natural human forte, and we are already grappling with the realities of aspects such as groupthink, truth bias, the illusory truth effect, and confirmation bias, for example, which naturally narrow our viewpoints in favour of expedited cognitive reasoning. Add to this the tsunami of content that we consume on a daily basis, and it is no surprise that our already saturated brains seek familiarity to simplify our information processing.

As explored by Dill-Shackleford in her book How Fantasy Becomes Reality (2009), “it is a widespread belief that when one reaches the age that one can differentiate between fact and fiction in the media, one is no longer subject to learning or persuasion through fictional media.” This could not be further from the truth, and additional studies consistently highlight a typically poor ability to differentiate.

Improved media literacy is essential, not only to curb the impact of coercion within society but also to help undermine and reduce other social challenges. Scharrer and Ramasubramanian (2015) note that media can fuel racial and ethnic stereotyping, but media literacy education can result in a reduction in prejudice and an appreciation for diversity. More recent studies such as Kahne & Bowyer (2016) and Melki et al. (2021) have explored the connection between improved media literacy and better identification of misinformation and fake news finding that practised critical thinking can offer better identification. What these studies have in common is that improved media literacy can drive a reduction in negative influence by the media, which can only be a good thing.

One key aspect of media literacy, which can be specifically used to challenge our thinking and improve our abilities, is to employ lateral thinking. The word lateral may have most of us thinking of lateral flow tests thanks to the pandemic, but lateral thinking refers to the capacity for nonselective reading, specifically seeking multiple sources and incorporating alternative viewpoints that challenge our own. A 2017 study published by Stanford found that people typically fall into two groups—vertical thinkers and lateral thinkers or “fact checkers,” with vertical thinkers being more common. Traditionally, Western education systems focus on the pursuit of facts, commonly rely on a single source of information, and encourage us to read “vertically,” starting with a core subject and then branching down tangents into other related content. Lateral thinking is the opposite. It encourages us to focus on a single or small group of details and then to seek multiple sources to corroborate or refute the claims, including sources that conflict with our own viewpoints. The intention is to test, rationalise, and maintain an objective viewpoint.

But how often do you practise your lateral thinking skills and test your own opinions? We are constantly externally influenced, and we can develop skewed opinions because of it, so it’s important to practice this skill regularly.

“You have a brain and mind of your own. Use it and reach your own decisions” – Napoleon Hill, author.

6 Simple Ways to Improve Your Lateral Thinking

The brain is like a muscle and needs regular workouts to stay healthy. Use these six simple ways to try out and improve your lateral thinking.

1. Use books and podcasts: Reading a wide range of books, ideally in different genres, or listening to a variety of podcasts is a good way to challenge your thinking or gain a new perspective and deeper understanding of a topic. Lateral reading is also a good skill to practise when evaluating sources.
2. Use key exercises and techniques: By using techniques such as random word association, SCAMPER, or even mind mapping, you can flex your lateral thinking muscles and improve this underutilised critical thinking skill.
3. Try experimentation and reflection: Why not test your assumptions in real-life situations? By doing so, you can reflect on the outcomes and your learnings. Applying lateral thinking to real-life situations helps to make things less abstract and improve your overall performance.
4. Seek feedback and collaboration: The key thing about lateral thinking is the idea of approaching a problem differently. By collaborating with different groups and individuals, you can get a fresh perspective and come up with ideas outside of your usual.
5. Play games and puzzles: Playing games and doing puzzles such as sudokus and crosswords can help you develop your mental flexibility and curiosity, and further develop your cognitive skills. Plus, research has shown that performing moderately difficult cognitive tasks is helpful for cognitive and brain health.
6. Rework your mindset and habits: It is possible to rework your mindset to establish new habits that you wish to develop. For example, you can try being more playful or curious in your daily life. With practice, this will become easier and can help you embrace lateral thinking as a way of life, not just a skill.