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Research Paper | Information Technology | Volume 15 Issue 7, July 2026 | Pages: 783 - 790 | India
Digital Information Processing During Modern Conflicts: A Cognitive Perspective
Abstract: Armed conflicts are now fought simultaneously on physical battlefields and in digital information environments. Ordinary citizens encounter conflict-related content within minutes of events occurring, often through unverified social media channels, and must process emotionally charged, rapidly evolving, and frequently manipulated information. This paper examines how people cognitively process digital information during modern conflicts, drawing on dual-process theory, cognitive load theory, motivated reasoning, and the information-disorder framework. It reviews the literature on misinformation dynamics during recent conflicts, analyses recurring cognitive vulnerabilities through four illustrative case studies, and proposes a five-phase mixed-methods research design combining a systematic review, content analysis, a survey, a controlled experiment, and semi-structured interviews. The paper sets out research objectives, questions and hypotheses, a conceptual framework, measurement instruments, and an execution timeline. Expected contributions include an integrated cognitive model of wartime information processing and evidence-based recommendations for media-literacy interventions and platform design.
Keywords: information processing, cognition, misinformation, modern conflict, dual-process theory, media literacy, information warfare
How to Cite?: Simrita Kaur, Raghu Raja Mehra, "Digital Information Processing During Modern Conflicts: A Cognitive Perspective", Volume 15 Issue 7, July 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 783-790, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26709214858, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26709214858