Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2017Increasing Vaccination: Putting Psychological Science into Action
Vaccination is one of the great achievements of the 20th century, yet persistent public health …
Vaccination is one of the great achievements of the 20th century, yet persistent public health problems include inadequate, delayed, and unstable vaccination uptake. Psychology offers three general propositions for understanding and intervening to increase uptake where vaccines are available and affordable. The first proposition is that thoughts and feelings can motivate getting vaccinated. Hundreds of studies have shown that risk beliefs and anticipated regret about infectious disease correlate reliably with getting vaccinated; low confidence in…
Decision Psychology | North America | Global | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Global Governance | Culture/Society | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2021COVID-19 Infodemic: Twitter vs. Facebook
The global spread of COVID-19 is affected by the spread of related misinformation – the …
The global spread of COVID-19 is affected by the spread of related misinformation – the so-called COVID-19 infodemic – that makes populations more vulnerable to the disease through resistance to mitigation efforts. This article analyzes the prevalence and diffusion of links to low-credibility content about the COVID-19 pandemic across Twitter and Facebook. They characterize cross-platform similarities and differences in popular sources, diffusion patterns, influencers, coordination, and automation. Comparing the two platforms, authors found divergence among…
Decision Psychology | North America | Global | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
Lesson/ModuleWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2017Translating Science Into Policy: The Role of Decision Science
This module introduces the basic techniques of “decision science” that are used in policy making. …
This module introduces the basic techniques of “decision science” that are used in policy making. The materials are mainly prescriptive, focusing on how to make good decisions, but also include examples of the systematic ways that people make poor decisions. The module: (1) surveys the meanings of utility; (2) examines decision making in conditions where risk is not an issue; (3) examines decision making in conditions where risk is an issue because the likelihood of…
Decision Psychology | North America | Global | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Decision Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Policy Translation -
Lesson/ModuleWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2016Educational Module: Forensic Pattern Recognition
This module uses latent print (fingerprint) identification as a case study of the broader category …
This module uses latent print (fingerprint) identification as a case study of the broader category of forensic pattern recognition evidence. The case of forensic pattern recognition evidence is meant, in turn, to be a case study of the broader issue of the interaction between science and law and policy. The case of fingerprinting identification poses challenging questions for legal professionals and policy-makers. Although fingerprint identification is one of the most widely used and widely trusted…
Decision Theory | North America | Global | Policy/Regulation | Probability/Bayes | Decision Analysis | Government/Law | Science/Technology | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Quantitative Literacy -
ArticlePublication 2021Rational Policymaking during a Pandemic
Policymaking during a pandemic can be extremely challenging. As COVID-19 is a new disease and …
Policymaking during a pandemic can be extremely challenging. As COVID-19 is a new disease and its global impacts are unprecedented, decisions are taken in a highly uncertain, complex, and rapidly changing environment. In such a context, in which human lives and the economy are at stake, the authors argue that using ideas and constructs from modern decision theory, even informally, will make policymaking a more responsible and transparent process.
Decision Theory | Global | Policy/Regulation | Priority Setting/Ethics | Infectious Diseases | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2021Identifying Credible Sources of Health Information in Social Media: Principles and Attributes
Social media is widely used as a source of health information for the general public. …
Social media is widely used as a source of health information for the general public. The potential for information shared through social media to influence health outcomes necessitates action by social media platforms to enhance access and exposure to high-quality, science-based information. This paper summarizes the work of an independent advisory group convened by the National Academy of Medicine that deliberated and gathered information to develop a set of initial principles and attributes that could…
Decision Psychology | North America | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Education/Labor | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2021Scientific Theory of Gist Communication and Misinformation Resistance
This article presents a framework for understanding how misinformation shapes decision-making, which has cognitive representations …
This article presents a framework for understanding how misinformation shapes decision-making, which has cognitive representations of gist at its core. The author discusses how the framework goes beyond prior work, and how it can be implemented so that valid scientific messages are more likely to be effective, remembered, and shared through social media, while misinformation is resisted. The distinction between mental representations of the rote facts of a message – its verbatim representation – and…
Decision Psychology | North America | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
Online LearningVideo, Teaching Resource 2021Reporting on COVID-19 Vaccines at the Intersection of Science and Politics
Journalists play a vital role in communicating to the public about COVID-19 vaccines, and currently …
Journalists play a vital role in communicating to the public about COVID-19 vaccines, and currently under challenging circumstances. The science surrounding COVID-19 is rapidly changing, vaccines have been developed at “warp speed” using a new approach, and misinformation is on the rise. Moreover, current and historical injustices and inequities, as well as heightened political polarization, affect what information is consumed, trusted, and acted upon. This webinar offers an opportunity for members of the media to…
Decision Psychology | North America | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2021Measuring the News and Its Impact on Democracy
Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the deliberate spread of misinformation online, and on social …
Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the deliberate spread of misinformation online, and on social media in particular, has generated extraordinary concern, in large part because of its potential effects on public opinion, political polarization, and ultimately democratic decision making. Recently, however, some have argued that both the prevalence and consumption of “fake news” per se is extremely low compared with other types of news and news-relevant content. Although neither prevalence nor consumption is a…
Decision Psychology | North America | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Science/Technology