The study was done to develop three messages designed to increase safety belt usage. Based on a previous study (Schwalm and Slovic, 1982), twelve written messages that were designed to encourage seat belt use (via different perception of risk themes) were developed and presented to subjects. These messages were evaluated by the subjects and questionnaire responses were obtained. Analyses of the questionnaire data formed the basis for selecting six messages, which were developed further into six animatic equivalent TV spots. These spots were then tested by a well-known market research firm on over 2,000 subjects. Behavioral and attitude data were collected and analyzed, and formed the basis for the development, production and delivery of three 30-second broadcast quality master TV spots for further field testing and use in an upcoming safety belt campaign.
To conduct basic research on how people receive, evaluate, and form positions on scientific information and its relationship to low-dose radiation exposure. There are three major areas of study in our research program. First is the development of theories, frameworks and concepts essential to guiding data collection and analysis. The second area is a program of experimental studies on risk perception, evaluation of science information, and the structure of individual positions regarding low dose exposures. This involves the study of existing knowledge and the evaluation of science information presented within a variety of formats, as educational information, news media stories, and alternative communication methods (personal contact, small group interaction, email & internet, etc.). Third is the community-level studies to examine and record how the social conditions, under which science communications take place, influence the development of attitudes and opinions about: low- dose exposures, the available management options, control of radiation risks, and preferences for program and policy goals.
No abstract is provided for this article.
The Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale (GCB-15) is a reliable and valid measure of conspiracist ideation, but it is also inefficient. At 15 items, the GCB-15 can take upwards of four minutes to complete. Here we introduce the GCB-5—a 5-item, short form of the GCB-15. Across five studies, we use self- and informant-report methods to demonstrate that the GCB-5 is a reliable, criterion-valid, and construct-valid measure of conspiracist ideation. In the final study, we further provide evidence that the GCB-5 has promise for addressing novel research questions. Specifically, we show that people high in conspiracist ideation—as assessed by the GCB-5—are more accepting of the use of nuclear weapons and other forms of so-called “virtuous violence” (e.g., anti-abortion legislation).
People respond to the hazards they perceive. If their perceptions are faulty, efforts at public and environmental protection are likely to be misdirected. In order to improve hazard management, a risk assessment industry has developed over the last decade which...
No abstract is provided for this article.
No abstract is provided for this article.
Many studies that involve people's perceptions or behaviors focus on aggregate rather than individual responses. For example, variables describing publ
Subjects in two experiments had to learn to predict a numerical criterion, Y, on the basis of a numerical cue, X. Experiment 1 varied the algebraic sign of r XY and cue-criterion compatibility (similarity) in an attempt to discover why subjects have difficulty learning to use cues that are negatively correlated with a criterion. Compatibility was found to be the major determinant of learning. Experiment 2 showed that learning of negative linear functions was hindered by the presence of intermediate values of X, which were associated with intermediate values of Y. Removal of these intermediate values made the negative linear function much easier to learn. The results of both experiments were interpreted in terms of the subjects' ability to test hypotheses about functional relationships.
Compassion shown towards victims often decreases as the number of individuals in need of aid increases, identifiability of the victims decreases, and the proportion of victims helped shrinks. Such “compassion fade” may hamper individual-level and collective responses to pressing large-scale crises. To date, research on compassion fade has focused on humanitarian challenges; thus, it remains unknown whether and to what extent compassion fade emerges when victims are non-human others. Here we show that compassion fade occurs in the environmental domain, but only among non-environmentalists. These findings suggest that compassion fade may challenge our collective ability and willingness to confront the major environmental problems we face, including climate change. The observed moderation effect of environmental identity further indicates that compassion fade may present a significant psychological barrier to building broad public support for addressing these problems. Our results highlight the importance of bringing findings from the field of judgment and decision making to bear on pressing societal issues.
No abstract is provided for this article.
Abstract : This paper summarizes the work done by the Institute in the areas of probability assessment, prediction and choice; evaluation of past decisions; and decision theory. Twelve completed reports and six studies in progress are described.
Technology has enhanced our ability to harness our environment, eradicate dread diseases and fashion a life of comfort and leisure. But it has become apparent that these benefits are accompanied by a variety of hazardous side effects. Hardly a day passes that does not reveal some new danger in our foods, our homes, our places of work, our leisure activities, our environment or our medical treatments.
: Forty subjects were trained to use scatter plots with regression lines to make numerical predictions of one variable (criterion) from another variable (cue). The subjects were trained on two separate cues, differing in validity. Later, the two cues were presented together, simultaneously for 20 subjects, successively for the rest. Subjects were asked to use both cues to predict the criterion. Instructions emphasized that the two cues were independent of one another, but did not specify how the two should be combined. Initial analyses indicated that a regression model provided an adequate fit to the data, that the subjects showed conservatism similar to the conservatism found in previous Bayesian inference studies. However, more molecular analyses indicated patterns of behavior which consistently deviated from the optimal model. The post hoc hypothesis that subjects were regressing each cue, then averaging the regressed values, was supported by the data for most subjects. Searching for heuristic strategies, rather than relying on the apparent fit of optimal models was advocated fur future research.
