Department of Psychology, Unit Catalogue 2007/08 |
PS50117 Perception and communication of risk |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Masters |
| Semester: 1 |
| Assessment: CW100 |
| Requisites: |
| In taking this unit you cannot take PS30110 |
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Aims: This aim of this unit is to provide students with an overview of principal insights into how individuals; groups and the public(s) perceive and react to risks to health, safety and well-being. Key objectives are:
* To explore understandings of the relationship between risk perception, risk decision-making and behaviour - focusing on the contributions from cognitive; social and cultural perspectives. * To familiarise students with approaches to applying insights on perception and decision making to risk communication at micro, process and macro levels. This will include aspects relating to the design of risk messages; the importance of source and context, and approaches to dissemination. * To provide examples of applications from societal concerns /public perceptions of risk; public health and workplace contexts - the implications for practice and approach and the limitations of risk communication interventions. * To engender a critical approach to considering the contributions of the principal perspectives and their applicability to a range real world contexts * To enable students to understand the implications of this work for science policy. Learning Outcomes: On completion of this unit the students will have gained: * A critical appreciation of the historical development of the psychology of (health, safety and well-being) risk and the key contributions of the principal perspectives - cognitive, cultural and socio-cultural. * A critical appreciation of the interplay of cognitive and socio-cultural influences on how risk is perceived and reacted to, including the influence of context and social processes. * A critical appreciation of points of contrast and agreement between the frequently competing perspectives - including their respective strengths and limitations, when applied to a range of real world contexts. A broad and critical perspective on the current practice of principal institutions and stakeholders to the communication and management of risk in public policy and regulatory contexts, e.g. public health interventions; railway safety; food related risks and insurgency. Skills: The student can demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the topics focused on in this unit, in particular of the attitude construct, attitude change, decision making, attitude-behaviour relationships and the influence of social processes and context. (T/F A) The student has detailed knowledge of some specialised areas and/or applications, some of which are at the cutting edge of research in the discipline. (T/F A) The student is able to select relevant paradigms and research methods for answering particular research questions. (T/F A) The student is able to read and understand empirical journal articles and relate these to existing bodies of knowledge. (T/F A) The student is able to apply theoretical notions to practical problems and phenomena. (T/F A) The student can reason scientifically and take a critical view on arguments and research outcomes. (T/F A) The student is computer literate and is able to retrieve scientific articles from the available databases. (T/F A) The student is able to research particular case studies and apply their findings in making a critical appraisal of current practices (T/F A) The student can solve problems by clarifying questions, considering alternative solutions and evaluating outcomes. (T/F A) The student is able to plan and organise the study activities that are required in this unit, take charge of his or her own learning, and can reflect and evaluate personal strengths and weaknesses for the purpose of future learning. (T/F A) Content: The unit will be organised as eleven 2-hour lecture seminars. The following is a brief outline of the topics that will be covered: 1. The emergence of the psychology of risk, its historical underpinnings and development - Definitions of risk and the objective versus subjective risk debate. 2. Risk perceeption - Behavioural decision theory insights. 3. Risk perception - The psychometric approach. 4. Risk perception - Value expectancy approaches. 5. Risk perception - Cultural theory. 6. Risk perception - Social influences. 7. Risk communication - overview - influence on attitude and behavioural change - focusing on barriers to change. 8. Risk communication - micro level - risk message content - including framing effects; use of fear messages; and probabilistic representations 9. Risk communication - process level - who? what? 'how?' and 'how many?' - focusing on insights from mental models work and alternative approaches to message dissemination. 10. Risk communication - macro level - communication is more than content and dissemination - the importance of trust and credibility of source. 11. Applications - examples of applying insights from risk perception and risk communication research to real world contexts, in science and technology. |