Investigating the Effects and Persuasive Mechanisms of Expository and Narrative HPV Vaccine Messages

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects and persuasive mechanisms of expository and narrative HPV vaccine messages targeted toward young men. The researcher used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s HPV facts for men as a framework for the expository message condition. He also created two similar but distinct narratives that focused on HPV and men. The first narrative was informed by narrative persuasion studies in the social sciences and was labeled the academic narrative. The second narrative incorporated important elements of storytelling from literary theory and was labeled the classic narrative. A comparison condition, which presented a testimonial from a testicular cancer survivor, was also employed to compare against the effectiveness of the three experimental conditions. In the experiment, 258 men ages 18-26 were assigned randomly to the expository, academic narrative, classic narrative, or comparison conditions. Outcome measures related to the persuasive effects of the messages were attitudes toward talking to healthcare providers about the HPV vaccine and receptiveness to the HPV vaccine. Outcome measures related to the persuasive mechanisms of expository messages were argument strength, source credibility, and emotional arousal. Outcome measures related to the persuasive mechanisms of narrative messages were perceived realism, transportation, identification, and emotional arousal. Hypotheses predicted that argument strength and source credibility would predict changes in knowledge, attitudes, and vaccine receptiveness in the expository condition, whereas perceived realism, transportation, and identification would predict similar changes in the narrative conditions. An additional hypothesis predicted that emotional arousal would affect the persuasion process differently in the expository and narrative conditions. Results indicated that transportation, identification, and emotional arousal were stronger in the narrative conditions, but these variables did not predict persuasive outcomes. Conversely, perceived realism and source credibility had unexpected persuasive effects in both expository and narrative conditions. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed

From Hoax as Crisis to Crisis as Hoax: Fake News and Information Disorder as Disruptions to the Discourse of Renewal

Hoaxes have long been a reputational threat to organizations. For example, false claims that syringes had been found in bottles of Pepsi-Cola products, that a portion of a finger had been found in Wendy’s chili, and that Domino’s employees had intentionally served contaminated food to customers have topped the media’s agenda. More recently, the hoax phenomenon has been tactically reversed. Heavily trafficked Internet sites and controversial television personalities frequently argue that well-documented crises themselves are hoaxes. The potential for claims of crisis as hoax to disrupt the discourse of crisis renewal is examined through an analysis of three cases. We argue that overcoming such disruptions requires corporate social responsibility, a focus on the issues rather than the hoaxers, and continued efforts to improve media literacy for all audiences

Locomotory mimicry in ant-like jumping spiders (Salticidae)

The jumping spider genus Myrmarachne (Salticidae) contains many different morphological ant mimics that resemble a wide variety of ant species. This mimicry enables Myrmarachne to evade ant-averse predators that confuse the spiders with ants. A conspicuous trait of Myrmarachne, which is frequently mentioned in the literature but has been overlooked experimentally, is locomotory mimicry. In this thesis, I quantified, for the first time, the locomotory pattern of non-ant-like salticids, Myrmarachne, and their presumed models. Indeed, I found that the locomotion of the mimics resembles that of ants, but not of other salticids. I then attempted to identify whether this behavioural mimicry enhances the morphological component of the mimicry signal. The locomotion component was tested by modelling a 3D computer animation based on the morphology of Myrmarachne, and then applying either non-ant-like salticid motion characteristics or ant-like locomotion to the models. These animations were presented to ant-eating salticid predators, which are known to have acute vision, in order to identify any differences in how the predators reacted to each virtual prey type based solely on differences in locomotory behaviour. No significant effect was identified for enhancing the deception, but there was a non-significant trend that hinted at an enhancement of the mimicry signal, suggesting that a more robust finding would be found with a larger sample size. Additionally, ant mimics are unusual in their relationship to their model organism, as the ant models are also potential predators of the mimic. Predation by visual ant species may exert selection pressure on Myrmarachne across some aspects of morphological or behavioural mimicry. In turn, this may select for traits that improve Myrmarachne’s survival in close proximity to their highly aggressive models. Consequently, I investigated whether ant-like locomotion is salient to a visual ant species, Oecophylla smaragdina. I found that the locomotion typical of ants and Myrmarachne is more attractive to ants than non-ant-like salticid locomotion. This suggests that the trade-off of increased resemblance to ants is not just towards being categorised as prey by ant-eating species, but also by being more attractive to ant species. This may place them at greater risk of predation by the model. As a whole, these results suggest that there is selection pressure on Myrmarachne for increased resemblance to a model by locomotory mimicry, despite associated costs when faced with ant-eating predators and when living in proximity to models that are both aggressive and visual

Some like it hot: using citizen science to identify marine bird hotspots in Puget Sound

Puget Sound, situated in the southern portion of the Salish Sea, supports approximately 172 marine bird species that face a multitude of threats, ranging from chronic oiling to entanglement in derelict fishing gear. As local population numbers shift due to both intrinsic and extrinsic forcing (e.g., on the breeding grounds), understanding the pattern of species\u27 use of habitats and locations across the Sound can inform conservation planning. Using data collected by the Puget Sound Seabird Survey (PSSS) - a citizen science program that collects information on the abundance and distribution of marine birds in the nearshore environment throughout Puget Sound - we developed and applied hotspot detection methods to 15 marine bird species that utilize the nearshore waters of the Sound. We found that species distributions ranged from ubiquitous/uniform (e.g., Glaucous-winged Gulls Larus glaucescens, Double-crested Cormorants Phalacrocorax auritus and Horned Grebes Podiceps auritus), to highly location specific (e.g., Pigeon Guillemots Cepphus columba, Harlequin Ducks Histrionicus histrionicus and White-winged Scoters Melanitta fusca). We identified three different types of hotspot behavior: “seasonal contraction” in density or occupancy location(s), “hotspots in abundance” but not occupancy, and “hotspots in both occupancy and abundance.” Hotspot locations were species-group specific, probably resulting from differences in nearshore depth profile among locations. These depth associations likely correspond to feeding behavior and availability of foraging habitat. Hotspot detection can be a useful tool for delineating priority areas for conservation and management. The tools developed in this study can be used to identify both hot and cold spots and, if seasonality is included, to determine if the hotspots are stable or seasonally intermittent