Comprehension of Socioscientific Controversies Through Multiple Documents: Language as Credibility Cue

语篇-信念一致性效应是一种公认的现象，即读者对与其先前信念一致的语篇信息的理解更好。先前的研究发现，阅读多个文件的读者在一种语言中对有争议的社会科学问题提出相反的观点时，文本信念的一致性效应。然而，当人们在互联网上研究有关社会科学问题的信息时，他们经常阅读多种语言的大量文件，通常是以他们的母语和英语作为当前信息社会的弗兰卡。因此，目前的项目着手调查文本信念一致性的影响，当读者阅读有争议的信息，跨文件在读者的母语和第二语言English.考虑到不同的认知地位的语言在当前的知识社会，该项目进行的假设，文件语言可以作为一个源特性，这可能会影响信息的理解方式。特别是，以英语作为主要科学语言撰写的文件可能比以其他全球重要性较低的语言撰写的文件具有更高的可信度。在此背景下，我们的目标是调查如何文件语言作为一个源特性温和的文本信念一致性的影响时，双语阅读多个有争议的文件在一个单一的主题，在他们的第一和第二语言。我们的目标也是建立感知的可信度作为这种effect.Eight实验的机制，研究这些一般假设在德国和伊朗的学生谁读多个文件的社会科学问题，在他们的第一语言（德语或波斯语），并在他们的第二语言英语。申请人的团队将在德国的维尔茨堡对英德双语者的文本信念一致性效应进行研究。英语-波斯语双语者文本信念一致性效应的研究将在伊朗德黑兰进行，由穆罕默德·纳比·卡里米教授博士作为未来的墨卡托研究员参与该项目。申请人的团队和墨卡托研究员将密切合作，在文本材料和项目的发展。所有材料都将经过彻底的预测试，并着眼于语言难度和内容熟悉度方面的等效性。该项目将为文本信念一致性和来源的研究提供理论贡献，将以往的研究重点扩展到多语言阅读背景下，这一点在这两个领域的实证研究中没有得到关注。

The text-belief consistency effect, i.e. better comprehension of text information consistent with readers’ prior beliefs, is a well-established phenomenon. Previous research has found text-belief consistency effects in readers who read multiple documents that present opposing perspectives on controversial socioscientific issues in a single language. However, when people research information about socioscientific issues on the Internet, they regularly read across a multiplicity of documents in several languages—often in their native language and in English as the lingua franca of the current information society. Therefore, the current project sets out to investigate text-belief consistency effects when readers read controversial information across documents in readers native language and in their second language English.Considering the differential epistemic statuses of languages within the current knowledge society, the project proceeds with the assumption that document language could serve as a source characteristic, which might affect the way the information is comprehended. In particular, documents written in English as the major language of science might be associated with higher credibility than documents written in other languages of lesser global importance. Against this background, we aim to investigate how document language as a source characteristic moderates text-belief consistency effects when bilinguals read multiple controversial documents on a single topic across their first and second languages. We also aim to establish perceived credibility as the mechanism of this effect.Eight experiments are planned that examine these general assumptions in German and Iranian students who read multiple documents about socioscientific issues in their first language (German or Persian) and in their second language English. The study of text-belief consistency effects among English-German bilinguals will be conducted in Würzburg, Germany, by the applicant’s team. The study of text-belief consistency effects in English-Persian bilinguals will be conducted in Tehran, Iran, by Prof. Dr. Mohammad Nabi Karimi who will be involved in the project as prospective Mercator fellow. The applicant’s team and the Mercator fellow will closely collaborate in the development of text materials and items. All materials will be thoroughly pre-tested, with an eye on their equivalence in terms of linguistic difficulty and content familiarity. The project will provide theoretical contributions to the research on text-belief consistency and sourcing by extending the focus of previous research to multilingual reading contexts, a point that has received no attention in the empirical research in the two areas.