Feinkohl Insa, Flemming Danny, Cress Ulrike, Kimmerle Joachim
Knowledge Construction Lab, Leibniz-Institut fuer Wissensmedien, Schleichstr. 6, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany.
Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Robert-Roessle-Str. 10, 13092, Berlin, Germany.
Cogn Process. 2016 May;17(2):213-23. doi: 10.1007/s10339-015-0748-z. Epub 2016 Jan 9.
Scientific research findings are frequently picked up by the mainstream media, but it is largely unclear which factors have an impact on laypeople's processing of the presented scientific information. In this study, we investigated the influence of cognitive and metacognitive inter-individual differences on recall and on critical evaluation of new scientific information that was presented in a journalistic article. Sixty-three participants (80 % female; mean age 24.1 ± 3.3 years) read a newspaper article reporting research findings on a recently developed and yet unproven treatment for depression. We found that more sophisticated, domain-specific epistemological beliefs and a higher cognitive ability were independently associated with better recall of content from the article. Additionally, participants with more sophisticated epistemological beliefs displayed a more critical evaluation of the article. Cognitive ability was unrelated to critical evaluation and to epistemological beliefs. There were also no interaction effects of cognitive ability and epistemological beliefs on recall or on critical evaluation. Based on our preliminary findings and previous evidence of epistemological beliefs as a modifiable feature, we discuss this inter-individual characteristic as a potential target for the promotion of better understanding of scientific topics by the general public.
科学研究成果经常被主流媒体报道，但很大程度上不清楚哪些因素会影响普通大众对所呈现的科学信息的处理。在本研究中，我们调查了认知和元认知个体差异对新闻报道中呈现的新科学信息的回忆和批判性评估的影响。63名参与者（80%为女性；平均年龄24.1±3.3岁）阅读了一篇报纸文章，该文章报道了一种针对抑郁症的最新研发且未经证实的治疗方法的研究结果。我们发现，更复杂、特定领域的认识论信念和更高的认知能力与对文章内容的更好回忆独立相关。此外，具有更复杂认识论信念的参与者对文章表现出更批判性的评估。认知能力与批判性评估和认识论信念无关。认知能力和认识论信念在回忆或批判性评估方面也没有交互作用。基于我们的初步研究结果以及认识论信念作为一种可改变特征的先前证据，我们将这种个体特征作为促进公众更好理解科学主题的潜在目标进行讨论。
