The Effects of Metacognition in Survey Research: Experimental, Cross-Sectional, and Content-Analytic Evidence

The Effects of Jargon on Processing Fluency, Self-Perceptions, and Scientific Engagement

“…If variance in processing fluency is effectively produced, independent of comprehension, then it is important to consider what effect this process has on outcomes. Although prior research has successfully linked processing fluency to political engagement (e.g., Shulman & Sweitzer, 2018a, 2018b; Sweitzer & Shulman, 2018), here we try to further explain this relationship. To do so, we integrate feelings-as-information theory (FIT, Schwarz, 2011) with research on self-perceptions (Markus, 1977) to explain how one’s processing fluency experience provides information about the self.…”

“…This experience has sometimes been called the feeling of knowing (Alter & Oppenheimer, 2009; Koriat & Levy-Sadot, 2001; Petty et al, 2007; Schwarz, 2006). Feelings of knowing are often attributed to perceived knowledge, or expertise, in a given domain because we are accustomed to processing familiar ideas easily (Bullock et al, 2019; Koriat & Levy-Sadot, 2001; Petty et al, 2007; Schwarz, 2010; Shulman & Sweitzer, 2018a; Sweitzer & Shulman, 2018).…”

Don’t dumb it down: The effects of jargon in COVID-19 crisis communication

“…Notably, work from science communication [4,11], as well as health [15] and political communication [12,18], tend to assume that audiences are unmotivated to expend the energy necessary to process complicated information outside of their areas of expertise or interest. As such, a lack of motivation, coupled with effortful processing, promotes negativity towards the subject matter.…”

“…The second page displayed the substance of the information about the topic. In the jargon condition, 20 terms were included that were replaced with simpler terms or explanations in the no-jargon condition, a technique used in previous research [4,6,11,12,17,18]. These paragraphs were held on screen for a minimum of eight seconds to better ensure participants read the information (105 words each).…”

“…The contribution of this work is testing whether the aforementioned theoretical proposition and conventional rules of thumb about avoiding jargon translate to crisis communication. Notably, work from science communication [ 4 , 11 ], as well as health [ 15 ] and political communication [ 12 , 18 ], tend to assume that audiences are unmotivated to expend the energy necessary to process complicated information outside of their areas of expertise or interest. As such, a lack of motivation, coupled with effortful processing, promotes negativity towards the subject matter.…”