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A Computational Linguistic Paradigm for Assessing the Comprehension and Social Diffusion of Medical Information

Dandignac, Mitchell Edward
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4048-5826
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1626091707909761

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, Psychology.
Background. Cancer is a widespread disease in the United States, with 1.7 million new cases and 600,000 deaths every year. Thus, effectively communicating the risk factors and treatments for cancers to patients and the public is important for improving these outcomes. Medical communicators have frequently used computational linguistic tools, such as Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), to evaluate and improve the comprehensibility of their written medical materials. However, Gist Inference Scores (GIS), guided by Fuzzy-Trace Theory (FTT), may be a more optimal computational measure to assess the likelihood that people will understand medical texts. However, little research has examined how medical information gets socially diffused through communication following reading. Aims. The primary goal of this research was to determine to what extent the psycholinguistic properties of cancer texts predict comprehension and social diffusion. Design. Study 1 used a within-subjects design to assess how 4 cancer texts that varied on GIS (high/low) and credibility (high/low) were communicated through writing. Study 2 used a between-subjects design that attempted to replicate and extend the findings in Study 1 to web-based verbal communication. Study 3 used a between-subjects web-based design to measure how participants communicate about two proposition-matched lung cancer texts that varied on GIS (high/low). Finally, Study 4 used a between-subjects web-based design where participants completed a fill-in-the-blank cloze task on either a high or low GIS text. Results. Study 1 and Study 2 showed that high GIS cancer texts are transmitted at higher GIS levels compared to low GIS cancer texts. Study 1 also showed that the transmission of high GIS texts, regardless of credibility, more strongly emphasized the gist of the information compared to low GIS texts. However, the verbal transmission of the low GIS text in Study 2 emphasized gist propositions more than the high GIS text. Study 3 indicated that reading high GIS texts lead to better performance on a gist comprehension test but greater distortion through social transmission. Study 4 showed that participants had better inferential comprehension on low GIS rather than high GIS texts. Overall, this research shows some evidence that GIS predicts the comprehension and social diffusion of cancer texts. Conclusions. The current research provides some evidence that GIS and other computational linguistic measures of text are promising tools to help health professionals optimize written medical materials to educate patients and the public.
Christopher Wolfe (Committee Chair)
Joseph Johnson (Committee Member)
Allen McConnell (Committee Member)
Rose Marie Ward (Committee Member)
164 p.
Cognitive Psychology; Communication; Linguistics; Psychology
Medical Communication; Gist Inference Scores; Social Diffusion; Fuzzy Trace Theory

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Dandignac, M. E. (2021). A Computational Linguistic Paradigm for Assessing the Comprehension and Social Diffusion of Medical Information [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1626091707909761

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Dandignac, Mitchell. A Computational Linguistic Paradigm for Assessing the Comprehension and Social Diffusion of Medical Information. 2021. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1626091707909761.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Dandignac, Mitchell. "A Computational Linguistic Paradigm for Assessing the Comprehension and Social Diffusion of Medical Information." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1626091707909761

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1626091707909761
487
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This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.