Critical evaluation ability and relation with high level theory of mind and cognitive cost

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25590178
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Educational psychology
• Research Institution: Kyoto University (2014-2016); Waseda University (2013)
• Principal Investigator: Manalo Emmanuel 京都大学, 教育学研究科, 教授 (30580386)
• Research Collaborator: SCHARRER Lisa ミュンスター大学 ; SCHARRER Lisa University of Munster ; DRYER Rachel チャールズスタート大学 ; DRYER Rachel Charles Sturt University
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 批判的評価 / 高次の思考スキル / 高次の心の理論 / 認知処理コスト / 科学的情報 / 健康関連情報 / メディア教育 / メディア・リテラシー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In modern societies, information has become ubiquitous and much of it is unvetted. Thus, it is crucial to understand how people make judgements about information they receive. In this research, we examined the link between critical evaluation performance, advanced Theory of Mind ability (ToM), and presentation format of information. In three survey studies, we collected data from undergraduate university students in Japan and Australia to elucidate how critical evaluation and ToM are related, and how variation of the format of information affect critical evaluation performance. Our findings revealed that people tend to make decisions away from biased information, and we obtained some evidence connecting ToM to critical evaluation performance. We also found that asking participants to consider qualities of each item of information they were presented prompted them to be more cautious in decisions they made. These findings have important implications for media education.

Free Research Field

教育心理学