Search

On February 15, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director, General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated at a Munich Security Conference, 'We're not just fighting an epidemic; we're fighting an 'infodemic,' [...]

Thirty years ago, infectious diseases 'were thought to be more or less under control due to improvements in sanitation, antibiotics, and immunization,' (Holmes, 2008, p. 349). Today a combination of [...]

Entertainment education research has shown that television programs can communicate important health information to viewers, for better (e.g., Murrar & Brauer, 2017) or for worse (e.g., Serrone et al., 2018; [...]

In recent years, many kinds of interventions have been developed that seek to reduce susceptibility to misinformation. In two preregistered longitudinal studies (N1 = 503, N2 = 673), we leverage two previously validated "inoculation" interventions (a video and a game) to address two important questions in misinformation interventions research: (1) whether displaying additional stimuli (such as videos unrelated to misinformation) alongside an intervention interferes with its effectiveness, and (2) whether administering an immediate posttest (in the form of a social media post evaluation task after the intervention) plays a role in the longevity of the intervention. We find no evidence that other stimuli interfere with intervention efficacy, but strong evidence that immediate posttests strengthen the learnings from the intervention. In study 1, we find that 48 h after watching a video, participants who received an immediate posttest continued to be significantly better at discerning untrustworthy social media posts from neutral ones than the control group (d = 0.416, p =.007), whereas participants who only received a posttest 48 h later showed no differences with a control (d = 0.010, p =.854). In study 2, we observe highly similar results for a gamified intervention, and provide evidence for a causal mechanism: immediate posttests help strengthen people's memory of the lessons learned in the intervention. We argue that the active rehearsal and application of relevant information are therefore requirements for the longevity of learning‐based misinformation interventions, which has substantial implications for their scalability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While "transfer" has become, in recent years, a subject of great research interest to our field, we still have much to learn about how we can best use this research knowledge to inform local efforts in program development. In this profile, we describe the foundations of the Dartmouth Institute for Writing and Rhetoric and explain how transfer research might inform our future directions in writing and speech. We conclude by explaining what we have learned already from our literature review, our study of first-year student writing, our curricular pilots, and our efforts at ongoing exchange. (Contains 8 notes.)

Digital environmental information presented with low web accessibility reduces participation in environmental advocacy and information seeking behaviors for many people with disabilities, creating a consequential digital divide. We use WEB AIM computer automated analysis of web accessibility to assess the general accessibility of online environmental communication messages. Results show 95.3% of the popular websites in our sample had indicators of potentially critical accessibility errors. Our findings highlight the importance of addressing digital environmental information accessibility shortcomings so that educational, informational and persuasive environmental messages can increase environmental literacy of vulnerable populations and help to bridge the digital divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conspiracy theories pose a variety of social and psychological consequences for individuals and society, and research suggests that around half of the U.S. population believes at least one. A two-phase inoculation experiment was conducted. Inoculated participants reported more negative general attitudes toward conspiracy theories and lower Phase II generic conspiracist beliefs, which are both indicators of harm-reduction and the beneficial healing impacts of therapeutic inoculation. The addition of therapeutic inoculation as a harm-reduction or healing technique in practitioners' stakeholder response toolkit is a valuable contribution to both theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficacy of inoculation theory has been confirmed by decades of empirical research, yet optimizing its effectiveness remains a vibrant line of investigation. The present research turns to psychological reactance theory for a means of enhancing the core mechanisms of inoculation--threat and refutational preemption. Findings from a multisite study indicate reactance enhances key resistance outcomes, including: threat, anger at attack message source, negative cognitions, negative affect, anticipated threat to freedom, anticipated attack message source derogation, perceived threat to freedom, perceived attack message source derogation, and counterarguing. Most importantly, reactance-enhanced inoculations result in lesser attitude change--the ultimate measure of resistance. (Contains 8 tables, 2 figures, and 6 notes.)

The Evidence at Large, published in 1805, is a publication of transcripts of testimony offered before Parliament regarding Edward Jenner's role and legal rights in developing vaccination protocol, with a preface penned by Rev. G. C. Jenner—Edward Jenner's nephew. This current project engages in a rhetorical analysis of Jenner's preface, using inoculation theory as an interpretative framework. Key features of inoculation theory are revealed in Jenner's rhetoric, including threat and refutational preemption. Additionally, this analysis reveals un- and underexplored processes of resistance to influence, including source derogation, attitude confidence, and affect-based resistance that should be explored in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In May 2021, the Toronto Maple Leafs National Hockey League team lost a seventh and final playoff game—again. The day after their loss, Toronto Mayor John Tory took the unusual step of penning an open letter to Maple Leaf fans in response. His two-page letter was a unique mix of communication genres, including sport communication, political communication, and, with multiple references to COVID-19, health communication. It was also, as we argue here, a unique example of image repair rhetoric in general and sport image repair rhetoric in particular. In this rhetorical analysis, we build on a growing body of sport image repair in the form of open letters, revealing how the interaction of these contexts with Tory's main focus on the team reveals how his open letter is at a crossroads of intersecting image repair efforts in politic, health, and sport. We draw three primary findings from our analysis, including the possibility that Tory's letter functioned as an inoculation message, preparing fans to resist discouragement and a dampening of support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Lecturer of Speech in the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric at Dartmouth College, I have joined an ongoing conversation about speech that spans disciplines. This article takes a step back from looking at communication across the curriculum as a program and instead looks at one of the earliest stages of the process--conversations about speech with the disciplines. Exploring our meta-communication--our speaking with the disciplines about speech--highlights some of the discoveries we have made about speech through our conversations.

Student plagiarism continues to threaten academic integrity. This investigation assessed whether an inoculation message strategy could combat university plagiarism by protecting student attitudes against pro-plagiarism justification arguments. Additionally, we sought theoretical confirmation of previous findings on involvement and accessibility in inoculation, examined the effects on vested interest, and evaluated matching and mismatching strategies in terms of affect- and rationality-based inoculation treatment messages and subsequent attack messages. A total of 225 students participated in three sessions spanning six weeks. Results indicated that none of the inoculation treatments conferred resistance as measured in attitude toward plagiarism, but all treatments enhanced involvement and attitude accessibility, and the fear- and rationality-based treatments enhanced vested interest. Additionally, fear-based treatments derogated the source of the message. Results also suggest that a matching strategy is superior with both affect- and rationality-based attack messages, such that inoculation treatments are most effective when using the same argument bases (e.g., affective or rational) as the attack message. These results offer guidance for crafting communication campaign strategies to reduce the occurrence of student plagiarism offenses. (Contains 3 tables.)

The article focuses on understanding individual differences in attitudes toward the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Midwestern populations during the early stages of the pandemic. Topics include the impact of emerging infectious diseases, the use of the extended parallel processing model in health communication scholarship, and an exploration of vestedness or stake in attitudes toward COVID-19 in the U.S. Midwest.

Research published by Richards and Banas and Richards et al. demonstrated that an inoculation treatment given to participants prior to their exposure to a series of freedom-threatening persuasive health messages mitigates audiences' freedom-threat perceptions, state psychological reactance, and behavioral intentions. We sought to conceptually replicate the studies by Richards and Banas and Richards et al. with a sample of ever-vapers who were either assigned to an inoculation condition or control condition and then exposed to a series of dogmatic anti-vaping messages while psychophysiological responses were recorded. In doing so, we also sought to replicate the pattern of results observed by Clayton et al. and Clayton who used the same stimuli, methods, and measures. The results from our study provided a successful conceptual replication of each of these studies, with a few exceptions that are discussed. This study provides greater confidence in recent psychological reactance findings and the efficacy of an inoculation treatment for circumventing psychological reactance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Devil and Vaccination," a satirical take on Samuel Coleridge and Robert Southey's poem, "The Devil's Thoughts," appeared in the July 1879 issue of The Vaccination Inquirer and Health Review--a publication that published vaccine-skeptical writings. The poem told the story of the Devil visiting a prison, encountering several people including a father imprisoned for refusing to have one of his children vaccinated. In the present rhetorical analysis, "The Devil and Vaccination" was viewed through the lens of inoculation theory--a theory more commonly used to guide a social scientific approach to the study of resistance to influence (i.e., experimentally tested messaging effects). In this unique conglomeration of religious and health rhetoric, the poem seemed to reject both inoculation as a medical strategy and inoculation as a rhetorical strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2008.01330.x Byline: Josh Compton (1), Michael Pfau (2) Abstract: Although inoculation has established efficacy in conferring resistance to influence for those directly exposed to inoculation pretreatment messages, we argue that inoculation's effects may extend beyond those directly exposed to others via word-of-mouth communication (WOMC) along social networks. Specifically, we argue that inoculation's effects on attitude accessibility, involvement, and threat are particularly conducive to the spread of inoculation content, offering WOMC as a new inoculation modality. Abstract (French) Resume La diffusion de l'inoculation : Inoculation, resistance a l'influence et communication de bouche a oreille Bien que l'efficacite de l'inoculation pour generer de la resistance face a l'influence ait eteetablie chez ceux directement exposes a des messages d'inoculation pre-traitement, nous soumettons que les effets de l'inoculation peuvent s'etendre des personnes directement exposees a d'autres personnes par le biais de la communication de bouche a oreille (CBO) dans les reseaux sociaux. Nommement, nous arguons que les effets de l'inoculation sur l'accessibilite des attitudes, sur l'implication et sur la menace sont particulierement propices a la propagation du contenu d'inoculation et nous proposons la CBO comme une nouvelle modalite d'inoculation. Abstract (German): Abstract Die Verbreitung von Inokulation: Inokulation, Widerstand gegen Beeinflussung und mundliche Kommunikation Auch wenn die Wirksamkeit von Inokulation bezuglich des Widerstand gegen eine Beeinflussung fur diejenigen, die der inokulativ behandelten Botschaft direkt ausgesetzt werden, nachgewiesen wurde, argumentieren wir, dass diese Inokulationseffekte auch auf diejenigen ausgedehnt werden konnen, die uber einen direkten Zugang hinaus, namlich durch mundliche Kommunikation in sozialen Netzwerken, mit diesen in Kontakt kommen. Wir nehmen an, dass insbesondere die Inokulationseinflusse auf Einstellungszuganglichkeit, Involvement und Bedrohung dazu dienen, den Inokulationsinhalt zu verbreiten, und fuhren deshalb die mundliche Kommunikation als neue Inokulationsmodalitat ein. Abstract (Spanish): Resumen Diseminando la Inoculacion: La Inoculacion, La Resistencia a la Influencia, y la Comunicacion Boca a Boca Aun cuando la inoculacion ha establecido eficacia en conferir resistencia a la influencia de aquellos expuestos directamente a los mensajes de pre-tratamiento de inoculacion, sostenemos que los efectos de la inoculacion pueden extenderse mas alla de aquellos directamente expuestos a otros mediante la comunicacion boca a boca (WOMC) en las redes sociales. Mantenemos, especificamente, que los efectos de la inoculacion sobre la actitud de accesibilidad, participacion y amenaza son particularmente propicios para la diseminacion del contenido de la inoculacion, ofreciendo la comunicacion boca a boca (WOMC) como una nueva modalidad de la inoculacion. Author Affiliation: (1)Institute for Writing and Rhetoric, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (2)Department of Communications, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK Article note: Josh Compton; e-mail: Joshua.Compton@Dartmouth.edu

Although affect factors into most theoretical explanations for inoculation-conferred resistance to influence, it has received comparably less attention than its cognitive features. What we do know from extant research, however, is important for our understanding of resistance to influence. This review surveys research in affect and inoculation theory with special attention to how affect can bolster or thwart resistance; how affective messages function in comparison with other approaches; and the role of specific emotions, like anger, in inoculation. It provides an overview of the conventional inoculation theoretical model and a careful reading of what we can learn from research exploring issues of affect in inoculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inoculation theory is a classic theory of resistance to influence, modeling a way to confer resistance to challenges based on biological inoculation processes. This commentary explores inoculation's efficacy in the applied context of sport communication, with special consideration of how inoculation may guide sportmarketing strategies to preemptively bolster existing support for a team in the face of challenges (e.g., a losing season). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented which analyzes health communication on the subject of immunization on the children's television (TV) program "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." Topics discussed include the inoculation theory of resistance observed in the rhetorical framing of the show, the recognition earned by the program in the field of children's entertainment, and the episode which addressed the health impact of immunization.

Open letters offer a unique focus for rhetorical analysis in sport communication, forming a message that is both interpersonal (the attempt to reflect dialogue through a letter writer and its recipients) and public (the "open" part of the open letter). The National Football League (NFL) attempted image repair when it used open letters to respond to accusations that it was not doing enough to protect athletes against devastating effects of concussions. Through the use of Benoit's theory of image repair, the authors found that Commissioner Goodell's open letters relied on 2 main image-repair strategies: reducing offensiveness and corrective action. They consider the implications of these rhetorical choices for the complicated merging areas of sport, communication, and health in the NFL's open letters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For years, scholars of the inoculation theory of resistance to influence have considered threat to be a major part of the resistance process--the motivational force that triggers such responses as counterarguing against future challenges to a position. More recently, scholars have begun to question the conventional explanation for the importance and/or role of threat in inoculation, (re)considering its importance, its conceptualization, and in some cases, its very existence in the process of attitudinal/belief inoculation. This theoretical article synthesizes some of the key arguments advanced about threat in inoculation theory and traces its development from the earliest iterations of the theory to its contemporary development and application. It proposes five avenues for future investigations of threat and/in inoculation theory in the continuing study of persuasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most significant departures from conventional inoculation theory is its intentional application for individuals already "infected"—that is, inoculation not as a preemptive strategy to protect existing positions from future challenges, but instead, inoculation as a means to change a position (e.g. from negative to positive) and to protect the changed position against future challenges. The issue is important for persuasion scholarship in general, as theoretical boundary conditions help at each stage of persuasion research development, serving as a guide for literature review, analysis, synthesis, research design, interpretation, theory building, and so on. It is an important issue for inoculation theory and resistance to influence research, specifically, for it gets at the very heart—and name and foundation—of inoculation theory. This article offers a theoretical analysis of inoculation theory used as both prophylactic and therapeutic interventions and concludes with a set of recommendations for inoculation theory scholarship moving forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]