Cognitive and Affective Processing of Risk Information: A Survey Experiment on Risk-Based Decision-Making Related to Crime and Public Safety.

Joel M. Caplan,Colleen M. Berryessa

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02222

Joel M. Caplan, Colleen M. Berryessa

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02222

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Abstract

The current study, using a multi-factorial survey experiment with a sample of the general public (N = 800), investigates if and how types of risk information on crime and public safety, such as maps, graphs, or tables, commonly used and communicated by law enforcement elicit dual-process (affective and cognitive) risk information processing in risk-based decision-making, and if such processing or decision-making differs depending on the risk level, context, or the type or format of risk information communicated. Participants responded to a vignette in which they were asked to choose a ride-share pick-up point within a certain geographic area with varying risk levels of being involved in a pedestrian-automobile crash. Results showed that risk information related to crime and public safety elicits dual-process risk information processing, and that both affective and cognitive processing significantly predicted risk-based decision-making, regardless of the risk level or type of risk information examined. Interestingly, risk information was used to create an almost “black and white” distinction for participants, in which their lowest-risk choice was treated as their comparison point, relative to all other higher levels of risk, in risk processing and decision-making. Further, the risk level or type of risk information examined did affect the nature and level of affective and cognitive processing elicited, suggesting that different types or characteristics of risk information can change modes of processing and their effects on risk-based decisions. Our findings provide first-of-its-kind data that show members of the general public, as consumers of risk information in relation to crime and public safety, process and make decisions surrounding such information using the dual-process approach. Implications for communicating risk information in relation to crime and public safety to both the general public and police, as well as how to extend the current inquiry to future areas of research on police, are discussed.

Highlights

Policing has evolved to play a central and pivotal role in managing and communicating information related to crime and public safety (Cope, 2004)
The current study investigates if and how common types of risk information used to communicate crime and public safety conditions, such as maps, graphs, or tables, elicit dual-process risk information processing in riskbased decisions, and if such processing or decision-making differs depending on the risk level, context, or the type or format of risk information communicated
With regards to risk information processing, we did anticipate that both cognitive and affective processing would be significant predictors of risk-based decision-making, regardless of the risk level or type of risk information examined in the current study, but that affective processing (i.e., “riskas-feelings”) would be more important in risk-based decisionmaking involving high levels of risk and more visual forms of risk information

Summary

Introduction

Policing has evolved to play a central and pivotal role in managing and communicating information related to crime and public safety (Cope, 2004). In the 19th century, Sir Robert Peel called on law enforcement to keep and collect data, both to inform the public of crime and public safety conditions and to target the distribution of resources (Gaines et al, 1999). Since Sir Robert’s time, demands on technology and information have changed; the core mission remains: information on crime and public safety should be collected, organized, analyzed, and distributed to facilitate informed riskbased decision-making by both the police and the public (O’Shea and Nicholls, 2003). In the spirit of Sir Robert, the current study looks to investigate if and how types of risk information on crime and public safety, such as maps, graphs, or tables, influence risk-based decision-making by the public.

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