JARMAC Editor's Choice: June 2019

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Nonprobative Photos Increase Truth, Like, and Share Judgments in a Simulated Social Media Environment

AUTHORS: ELISE FENN, NICHOLAS RAMSAY, JUNTIN KANTNERA, KATHY PEZDEK, AND ERICA ABED

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Although online content contains information from both credible and dubious sources, most Americans use online platforms as a news source. What psychological factors increase the endorsement and spread of information online, both true and false? Given that related but nonprobative photos increase belief in information in laboratory tasks (the “truthiness effect”), such photos may have a related impact on processing information encountered online. Participants rated their belief in, liking of, and desire to share true and false general knowledge statements in a simulated, online social media environment to assess qualities that affect liking and sharing of true and false information. Compared with information presented alone, a nonprobative photo was associated with an increase in belief, liking, and sharing of both true and false information. Photos may increase the processing fluency of statements, affecting belief in and liking of statements, and consequently increasing the likelihood that statements are shared online.



The Current Status of Students’ Note-Taking: Why and How Do Students Take Notes?

AUTHORS: AMBER WITHERBY AND SARAH TAUBER

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Numerous researchers have investigated the factors that influence students’ note-taking. In the present study, we explored whether recent advances in technology are associated with changes in students’ self-reported note-taking and classroom experiences. We administered a survey to a sample of current and former university students to investigate why students take notes, how students take notes, students’ classroom experiences, and whether students’ note-taking and classroom experiences have changed in recent years. Students reported taking notes for a variety of reasons, including to enhance encoding and external storage. Students also reported high confidence in their note-taking ability. The two cohorts provided similar responses regarding why they take notes. Relative to former students, current students reported using technology to take notes more frequently and reported receiving PowerPoint slides from their professors more frequently. Understanding how technology impacts students’ note-taking and learning is an important goal for researchers.