According to the passage, it is probable that which one of the following will occur when risk communicators attempt t...

Victoria on June 27, 2021

Hi @AllisonJ,

Happy to help!

To start, let's go through the passage.

The first paragraph begins by explaining how many tech developers understand the concept of "risk communication." To those developing technologies which affect public health or the environment, the concept of risk communication involves persuading the public that the potential risks are negligible. This method of persuasion leads many laypeople to believe that "risk communication" is equivalent to expert-led brainwashing.

Why do tech developers do this? Because they seem to believe that people do not understand the nature of technological risks, ignoring significant but mundane hazards and getting upset about negligible but exotic hazards.

The second paragraph tell us that the goal of risk communication is to allow people to make informed decisions about technological risk. Therefore, people communicating risk need to understand how the public perceives risk.

The author tells us that laypeople are more likely to define risk by reference to subjective ethical concerns than experts. However, the author clarifies that laypeople can be quite knowledgeable and, when provided with the necessary information, can make informed decisions about risks.

Finally, the author argues that risk communication should be grounded in the principle that people process new information within the context of their pre-existing beliefs. What does this mean for risk communicators? They need to know the nature and extent of recipients' beliefs to design messages that are comprehensible enough to be accepted and interpreted correctly.

The question stem asks us to select the answer choice which highlights the situation which will likely occur when risk communicators attempt to communicate with laypeople who have mistaken ideas about a particular type of technology.

Answer choices (A) and (B) are incorrect because lines 42 to 43 tell us that, if people have erroneous beliefs about a particular tech, then they are likely to misconstrue the messages communicated to them. Therefore, it is unlikely that laypeople with mistaken beliefs will revise and/or discard them.

Answer choice (D) is incorrect because we cannot conclude this based on the information with which we are provided in the passage. We know that laypeople with erroneous beliefs are likely to misconstrue the messages, but this does not necessarily mean that they will further distort it when they communicate with other laypeople.

Answer choice (E) is incorrect because we cannot conclude this based on the passage. We know that laypeople will not be able to understand communications about tech they do not understand, and are likely to misconstrue messages about tech that they hold erroneous beliefs about; however, this does not necessarily mean they will ignore communications about tech they consider dangerous. The passage actually suggests the opposite when it highlights in the first paragraph that people get upset about certain hazards.

Finally, answer choice (C) is correct because of what we learn in the final paragraph. The author tells us that "people process new information in the context of their existing beliefs" (lines 39 to 40). We learn that, if people have mistaken ideas about a particular tech, then they are likely to misconstrue the messages relayed to them (lines 42 to 43). In other words, they will interpret the communications differently than the risk communicators intended.

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any further questions.

AllisonJ on July 1, 2021

I can see where that I going, I think I may have misinterpreted what the lines were saying, but this is really helpful now. Thank you.