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1. The promise and peril of real-time corrections to political misperceptions

   https://doi.org/10.1145/2441776.2441895  

   Garrett, R. Kelly; Weeks, Brian E. (January 2013, CSCW '13 Proceedings of the 2013 conference on Computer supported cooperative work)

   Computer scientists have responded to the high prevalence of inaccurate political information online by creating systems that identify and flag false claims. Warning users of inaccurate information as it is displayed has obvious appeal, but it also poses risk. Compared to post-exposure corrections, real-time corrections may cause users to be more resistant to factual information. This paper presents an experiment comparing the effects of real-time corrections to corrections that are presented after a short distractor task. Although real-time corrections are modestly more effective than delayed corrections overall, closer inspection reveals that this is only true among individuals predisposed to reject the false claim. In contrast, individuals whose attitudes are supported by the inaccurate information distrust the source more when corrections are presented in real time, yielding beliefs comparable to those never exposed to a correction. We find no evidence of real-time corrections encouraging counterargument. Strategies for reducing these biases are discussed. 

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2. Simple interventions can correct misperceptions of home energy use

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0467-2  

   Marghetis, Tyler; Attari, Shahzeen Z.; Landy, David (October 2019, Nature Energy)
3. The role of race, religion, and partisanship in misperceptions about COVID-19

   https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430220985912  

   Druckman, James_N; Ognyanova, Katherine; Baum, Matthew_A; Lazer, David; Perlis, Roy_H; Volpe, John_Della; Santillana, Mauricio; Chwe, Hanyu; Quintana, Alexi; Simonson, Matthew (May 2021, Group Processes & Intergroup Relations)

   Concerns about misperceptions among the public are rampant. Yet, little work explores the correlates of misperceptions in varying contexts – that is, how do factors such as group affiliations, media exposure, and lived experiences correlate with the number of misperceptions people hold? We address these questions by investigating misperceptions about COVID-19, focusing on the role of racial/ethnic, religious, and partisan groups. Using a large survey, we find the number of correct beliefs held by individuals far dwarfs the number of misperceptions. When it comes to misperceptions, we find that minorities, those with high levels of religiosity, and those with strong partisan identities – across parties – hold a substantially greater number of misperceptions than those with contrasting group affiliations. Moreover, we show other variables (e.g., social media usage, number of COVID-19 cases in one’s county) do not have such strong relationships with misperceptions, and the group-level results do not reflect acquiescence to believing any information regardless of its truth value. Our results accentuate the importance of studying group-level misperceptions on other scientific and political issues and developing targeted interventions for these groups. 

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4. Mapping Emotions

   Alexander, C.; Weinburgh, M.; Brown, K.; & Stroup, M. (January 2023, Social education)
5. Mapping Emotions

   Alexander, C; Weinburgh, M; Brown, K; Stroup, M (April 2023, Social education)

   The COVID-19 pandemic brought unexpected changes across the globe to nearly all aspects of life. Activities such as shopping, traveling, and school, all considered routine aspects of life, suddenly took on a new level of risk. Approximately 1.6 billion students across the world had their schooling experiences interrupted during this global event.1 Matthew Stroup, a high school AP Psychology teacher, was dealing with these unexpected changes, but he also decided to use this disruption as a teaching moment. Mr. Stoup understood that sheltering in place and the resulting social isolation increased stress and anxiety among many families.2 During the 2020-21 school year, approximately 71% of all students were receiving either all or some of their schooling virtually.3 Mr. Stroup observed the effect of this unpredictable learning environment on his students’ learning and the toll it was taking on their relationships with peers, teachers, and family. According to the American Psychological Association, 81% of teens experienced a degradation in their mental health between Spring of 2020 and into the end of the year.4 The idea for the activity described in this article sprang from a class discussion on the effect of social isolation and travel hesitancy on mental health. 

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