Doctoral Dissertation: An Experimental Exploration of Information Processing Focusing on Attitude Accessibility, Cross-Activation, and Informational Context

本博士论文研究考察了个人处理政治信息的方式。虽然文献清楚地表明，政治态度会影响政治评价和政治行为，但政治态度形成的方式却没有得到很好的理解。这项研究使用了一组实验室实验来解释当受试者接收到政治信息时会发生什么，以及态度是如何形成或更新的。实验设计使用了一种计算机化的调查装置来测量态度反应和受试者回答问题的反应时间。所有的操作都由计算机控制。这项研究对人们处理政治信息的方式以及选民对媒体的看法有着有趣的影响。

This doctoral dissertation research examines the ways in which individuals process political information. While the literature clearly establishes that political attitudes affect political evaluations and behavior, the ways in which political attitudes are formed is not well understood. This research uses a set of laboratory experiments to explain what happens when subjects receive political information and how attitudes are formed or updated. The experimental design uses a computerized survey device that measures both the attitudinal response as well as the subject's reaction time to answering questions. All manipulations are administered by the computer. The research has interesting implications for the ways in which people process political information and for the ways in which the media is perceived by voters.