Depth of information processing as a moderator to mental models of climate change

Marie-Rose Degg

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Master's Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Psychology - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,5, University of Kassel (Center for Enviro...

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Master's Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Psychology - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,5, University of Kassel (Center for Environmenal Systems Research), language: English, abstract: In stock-flow relationships inflows and outflows of a stock accumulate over time. Previous studies have shown people's poor understanding of accumulation. This study examines the relationship between performance in a stock-flow experiment and depth of information processing. Half of the participants read a text about the dangers of climate change to prompt deeper processing (and understanding) of the following stock-flow task. Then they were given one of two scenarios in which the atmospheric carbon dioxide level rose/fell from year 2000 and stabilized at a higher/lower level until the year 2100. They had to choose the correct carbon dioxide emissions and uptake trajectory in order to realize the development of the carbon dioxide level in their scenario. Performance was low. More than half of the participants chose emission trajecto-ries similar to the shape of the atmospheric carbon dioxide curve which is an indication for pattern matching. Giving participants information about the dangers of climate change did not increase their performance.