Improving Debt Literacy by 2/3 Through Four Simple Infographics Requires Numeracy and Not Focusing on Negatives of Debt

Abstract

Borrowing behavior may be more resistant to formal educational treatments than other financial behaviors. In order to study the process and results of infographics-based debt education, we used eye tracking technology (SMI RED 500 Hz) to monitor the oculomotor behavior of 108 participants (68 females) aged 18 to 60 who were shown 4 infographics. The study used an experimental design with repeated measures and an internal comparison group. We also used scales of debt literacy and a set of information literacy scales: numerical, graph, and linguistic. The results confirm that short-term infographics-based debt education can improve debt literacy significantly. The difference in processing the educational contents that were not known to participants before the educational session suggests that participants with better information literacy make more considerable debt literacy progress. Specifically, we found that numerical literacy is a significant mediator of debt education results, depending on the initial level of debt literacy; this relation is moderated by the focus of visual attention on negatives of debt. We found no significant relationship between debt literacy education results and those of graph and linguistic literacy.

Leveraging information literacy: Mapping the conceptual influence and appropriation of information literacy in other disciplinary landscapes

“…Debt literacy. In a different area of psychology around debt literacy Porzak et al (2021) demonstrate that they are well-versed in the topic and cite specific core authors in their literature review such as LIS authors, Webber and Johnston (2017). They subsequently build on this work to position information literacy in terms of numerical, graph and linguistic literacy, which they assess through short subjective assessment scales.…”

Digital Infographic: Its Impact on Cognitive Achievement and Visual Thinking Skills of Students with Different Cognitive Styles (Independent/ Dependent)

“…Cognitive styles are the differences between individuals in how cognitive processes are practiced, such as perception, thinking, problem solving, learning, and realizing the relationships between the elements or variables that the individual is exposed to during the behavioral situation. (Porzak, et al, 2021) Cognitive styles refer to the tendency to prefer the use of specific mental processes and mental abilities over others during the perception of motivations and during response to them. (Akinyemi, et al, 2022) Dependent/ Independent style refers to the individual differences that exist between people in the processes of their perception of different situations in terms of their commitment to the overall context in which the situation occurs or dealing with it independently.…”