Boosting understanding

Individuals have a poor grasp of the macro-features of scientific evidence, the misreading of which impairs comprehension of medical information. Among these are the incapacity to distinguish between experimental and observational data, causal and correlational relationships, and absolute and relative risk reductions (e.g., Barrowman, 2014; Bašnáková et al., 2021; Gigerenzer & Edwards, 2003). In order to improve understanding of scientific evidence, this WP will:

• better identify the macro-features that account for many known fallacies in judgement production and belief construction by examining existing literature on the topic and analysing patient-provider professional dialogues (in collaboration with WP3), as well as by running behavioural computer-based experiments to assess individual understanding of these macro-features.
• explore the effectiveness of specific interventions in enabling people to build justified, well-grounded beliefs on health matters to promote more deliberate adherence to health programs.
• develop and test behavioural interventions to boost the ability to compare various medical options by defocusing attention from the current negative emotional states, disclosing the implications of conditions and available treatment options, and by nudging subjects to actively engage in the mental simulation of future events that also include those features typically neglected by non-experts (e.g., logistical aspects of different treatments).