Behavioral Adaptation,Confidence, and Heuristic-Based Explanations of the Probing Effect

Researchers have found that asking probing questions of message sources does not enhance deception detection accuracy. Probing does, however, increase recipient and observer perceptions of source honesty, a finding we label the probing effect. This project examined 3 potential explanations for the probing effect: behavioral adaptation, confidence bias, and a probing heuristic. In Study 1, respondents (N = 337) viewed videotaped interviews in which probes were present or not present, and in which message source behaviors were controlled. Inconsistent with the behavioral adaptation explanation, respondents perceived probed sources as more honest than nonprobed sources, despite the fact that source behaviors were constant across conditions. The data also were inconsistent with the confidence bias explanation. Studies 2 and 3 investigated the probing heuristic explanation. The data from Study 2 (N = 136) were ambiguous, but the results of third study (N = 143) were consistent with the heuristic processing explanation of the probing effect.     

Changes in Reporting of Suicide News After the Promotion of the WHO Media Recommendations

Media recommendations on suicide reporting are available in many countries and in different languages. Hong Kong newspapers have been found to be noncompliant with WHO recommendations. A booklet containing WHO media guidelines Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, and an awareness campaign were launched in November 2004 in Hong Kong. Content analysis was then conducted to compare the reporting of suicide news before and after the launch. Results indicate that certain reporting styles were changed in accordance with the recommendations; namely, lessened use of pictorial presentations and headlines mentioning suicides. Most of the changes were attributed to the tabloid‐style newspapers. This study suggests that programs to promote media recommendations tailored for journalists appear to be efficacious in altering their way of reporting.