Replication Rate, Framing, and Format Affect Attitudes and Decisions about Science Claims

A series of five experiments examined how the evaluation of a scientific finding was influenced by information about the number of studies that had successfully replicated the initial finding. The experiments also tested the impact of frame (negative, positive) and numeric format (percentage, natural frequency) on the evaluation of scientific findings. In Experiments 1 through 4, an attitude difference score served as the dependent measure, while a measure of choice served as the dependent measure in Experiment 5. Results from a diverse sample of 188 non-institutionalized U.S. adults (Experiment 2) and 730 undergraduate college students (Experiments 1, 3, and 4) indicated that attitudes became more positive as the replication rate increased and attitudes were more positive when the replication information was framed positively. The results also indicate that the manner in which replication rate was framed had a greater impact on attitude than the replication rate itself. The large effect for frame was attenuated somewhat when information about replication was presented in the form of natural frequencies rather than percentages. A fifth study employing 662 undergraduate college students in a task in which choice served as the dependent measure confirmed the framing effect and replicated the replication rate effect in the positive frame condition, but provided no evidence that the use of natural frequencies diminished the effect.

The decline of the population of fresh water perch in Lake Erie is due to competition from snipe eels, a non-native species that was introduced to the Lake in the 1990s.

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Laparoscopic surgery results in high levels of post operative infection when the technique is used to remove a person's appendix.

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A new drug, Amgonalen, effectively treats schizoid personality disorder.   Note. For item 6, statements with 0 of 10 and 10 of 10 used "disagreed" instead of "failed to agree" in order to avoid awkward phrasing. "Failed to agree was used for all other statements, mirroring the stimuli in Experiments 1 and 2.

Instructions
For each issue, please carefully read all the material presented to you. The paragraph on the left will promote a particular hypothesis. The paragraph on the right (if present) will present additionally information. After you have read the material for a particular issue, indicate your feelings about the way you feel about the hypothesis promoted in the paragraph on the left.

Example issue: the cause of the common cold
Claim A According to one source… The common cold is caused by a virus.

According to another source…
The common cold is caused by going outside in the winter with wet hair.

Claim #8
According to one source… The decline of the population of fresh water perch in Lake Erie is due to competition from snipe eels, a nonnative species that was introduced to the Lake in the 1990s.

According to another source…
Several freshwater marine biologists have publicly weighed in on the fresh water perch issue and 77% of them claim that snipe eels are the cause for the decline of the perch population.

According to another source…
While it is true that, in theory, doping steel with nickel will make it wear out faster, it is also true that adding nickel prevents the brakes from rusting. Dr. Anderson failed to take the issue of rust into account. Claim #20 According to one source… A team of astronomers at the Chandra X-ray Observatory found that the sun emits 30 times more X-rays than most other stars of the same size and age.

According to another source…
Astronomers using X-ray telescopes have analyzed the X-ray output of the sun and compared it to similar stars and 24% of the studies confirmed that the sun has an X-ray output 30 times higher than similar stars. What is your opinion about the scientific organizations mentioned in the preceding paragraphs? a. Little faith should be placed in the claims of these organizations b. Moderate faith should be placed in the claims of these organizations c. A great deal of faith should be placed in the claims of these organizations d. I do not know if I should place faith in the claims of these organizations 5. Did you read both paragraphs for each item or did you occasionally just read one paragraph and not the other? (remember you can be honest because your answers will be anonymous) a. Always read both paragraphs for each issue b. Occasionally just read one paragraph c. Usually just read one paragraph 6. Did you give serious and thoughtful answers to all the items or did you just make responses without thinking about the issues so that you could get the experiment over with? (remember you can be honest because your answers will be anonymous) a. Always gave serious and thoughtful answers b. Occasionally just circled a number without thinking c. Usually just circled a number without thinking