by Andy Stoycheff, NTCenter, Bulgaria.
The Blueprint is a model for educators and analysts that suggests the principal triggers (activation points) and vectors (mechanisms of action) that affect our cognition and behaviour through perception, processing and decision-making. The model is informed by advanced and comprehensive studies on neuroanatomy and neuromodulation, hormonal activity, psychophysiology and emotions.
Structurally, it is comprised of 7 key elements: emotions, feelings, words, sounds, images, symbols, and colours. Each element evokes a specific bodily reaction that is suggestive or indicative of a largely predictable, albeit non-deterministic, cognitive response to the original stimulus.
Analysts and educators can use the model as a framework to guide a deconstruction process, where a stimulus is broken down into distinct elements — triggers and vectors — and these elements are further investigated for their properties and characteristics. Learning and understanding how these elements interact and play together in our minds is key to understanding the cognitive implications of disinformation, false claims, conspiracy theories, propaganda and information warfare. The Blueprint is also a powerful framework for teaching information and media literacy. In its current form, The Blueprint is intended for professionals, but numerous presentations and trainings based on it have already been delivered to audiences of adult 16+ learners in schools, universities, workshops and conferences.
One of the primary mechanisms used in disinformation campaigns lies in the attempt to trigger strong feelings, often fear, disgust, or indignation. These emotional states are known to lead to impulsive actions. But why? Once a disturbing stimulus that triggers anger is detected in a digital environment, it is processed by the senses — because of the medium, this is usually visual and auditory. Trigger words, colours, masterfully used symbols, combined with sound, send signals along the neural pathways in the brain that reach the limbic system (up to 15 ms). Once there, the thalamus – a sensory switchboard of sorts – identifies the signals as potentially dangerous and signals the amygdala (5-15 ms) before even allowing the signal to reach (200-300 ms) and be processed in the pre-frontal cortex. The amygdala immediately issues a distress signal, prompting (20-50 ms) the hypothalamus, the main hormonal control hub, to command the release of adrenaline (time to initial effect – 5-15 secs), noradrenaline (5-30 secs), testosterone (5-10 mins) and cortisol (10-20 mins).
In an ever-going battle of control between the rational and the emotional parts of the brain, the emotions take over, and the pre-frontal cortex function, where decisions are carefully weighed and rationality prevails, is temporarily inhibited. The amygdala and the insula, the part of the brain that modulates emotional response, are in an activated state. The hormones in our bloodstream trigger a physiological reaction – our muscles tense and get filled with blood, our hands sweat, our heartbeat and blood pressure increase, we prepare for danger – the fight-or-flight reflex is activated. It is only around this time, about 300ms after the initial stimulus, that the rational part of our brain identifies that the original stimulus and the reaction to it correspond to the emotions of fear and anger.
Since in the digital world we do not have a tangible, physical threat, there is no sabre-teeth tiger to run from or to fight, the particular mix of hormones already in our system drives a predictable set of behaviours:
- Impulsive sharing and spreading of inflammatory content
- Selective attention to triggering images, colors, words, or sounds
- Polarised and emotional commenting and conflict escalation
- Inhibited critical thinking and scepticism, increasing susceptibility to information-based influence
- Increased physiological arousal manifesting as restlessness or anxiety
- Rapid formation and reinforcement of cognitive biases
- Avoidance or withdrawal from rational discourse,favoring emotionally simplistic narratives or echo chambers
This is predictable. We know for sure how certain emotional states affect cognition and dictate certain behaviours. We know precisely the timing of these behaviours – based on when a certain hormone kicks in and when it wears off.
I suggest it makes sense to redesign our media and information literacy approach and start educating about the cognitive mechanisms of disinformation. Not vague statements, but the very mechanisms in play. We can provide learners with a clearer, science-based understanding of how emotions, hormones, and neural pathways shape responses to digital content. This approach cultivates metacognitive insight and enables us to recognise our own cognitive biases, emotional triggers, and susceptibility to manipulative tactics. My argument is that we cannot get to information resilience without a basic understanding of cognition.
Andy Stoycheff is an educator and researcher with a focus on disinformation and informational influence from the perspective of cognitive science, neurobiology, psychology, and psychophysiology. With a dedicated team, he creates solutions for training critical thinking and resilience to targeted informational influence based on science. Andy is an enthusiastic science communicator, and when not in front of a formal and professional audience, he frequently speaks in schools or invites university colleagues with their students over for informal discussions on science advances, research and technology that can help better understand and demonstrate to a wider public the various cognitive processes that shape our lives. He leads NTCenter, a small research institute in Sofia.
