Risk Communication and Management Concepts

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the key theoretical concepts, heuristics, and frameworks of risk communication and perception based on the lecture notes.

Hazard

A possible source of harm.

Risk

Depends on exposure and the chance or severity of harm; it is the fundamental foundation of the course.

Probability vs. severity

Risk is often characterized by how likely an event is to occur and how serious its consequences are.

Aleatory uncertainty

Uncertainty arising from randomness.

Epistemic uncertainty

Uncertainty arising from a lack of knowledge; important for uncertainty communication.

Risk communication

The interactive exchange of knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, and opinions about risks.

Risk society

A modern society strongly focused on identifying, managing, and communicating risks.

Reflexivity

The process by which society monitors risks and adapts decisions based on new knowledge.

Actual risk vs. perceived risk

The difference between calculated/statistical risk and how risky people feel something is.

Prospect Theory

A theory suggesting people judge gains and losses relative to a reference point.

Loss aversion

The phenomenon where losses feel worse than equal gains feel good.

Framing effect

The principle that the same information can lead to different decisions depending on how it is worded.

Dual Process Theory

A theory dividing cognitive processes into Type 1 (fast/intuitive) and Type 2 (slow/analytical).

Fuzzy-Trace Theory

A theory that people process information simultaneously as exact details (verbatim) and bottom-line meaning (gist).

Gist processing

The tendency for people to decide based on the simple core meaning of information rather than exact numbers.

Construal Level Theory

The idea that psychological distance affects whether people think about a topic concretely or abstractly.

Affect heuristic

The process where people judge risk based on whether something feels good or bad.

Integral vs. incidental affect

Integral affect is the feeling caused by the risk itself, while incidental affect is an unrelated mood influencing judgment.

Appraisal-Tendency Framework

A framework explaining how specific emotions affect risk perception; for example, fear increases perceived risk while anger can reduce it.

Availability heuristic

The tendency to perceive risks as more likely when examples easily come to mind.

Representativeness heuristic

Judging the likelihood of an event based on its similarity to a stereotype.

Base-rate neglect

The tendency for people to ignore general statistical background information.

Conjunction fallacy

The incorrect belief that two events occurring together are more likely than one event occurring alone.

SARF

The Social Amplification of Risk Framework, which explains how risks are amplified or attenuated through communication.

Amplification vs. attenuation

Amplification makes a risk feel bigger to the public, while attenuation makes it feel smaller.

Ripple effects

The wider social, political, or economic consequences that follow risk perception.

Natural frequencies

A way of presenting probability where a value like "7 in 100" is used, which is often clearer than using "$7\%$".

Issue arena

A public debate space where various actors compete to define a risk.

Strategic framing

The use of risk frames to define a problem, its cause, moral responsibility, and the potential solution.

Resonance

Occurs when a risk message gets more attention because it connects to what people or institutions care about.

Common pool dilemma

A situation where a shared resource is at risk, but individual action to save it feels too small to matter.

Media logic / news values

The criteria by which media select stories, often favoring those that are dramatic, negative, new, or conflict-based.

Algorithmic amplification

The process where algorithms prioritize and amplify engaging content over accurate content.

Echo chamber

A social group where similar views are repeatedly shared and reinforced.

Filter bubble

The state of intellectual isolation that can result from algorithmic personalization.

EPPM

The Extended Parallel Process Model, stating that risk response depends on perceived threat and efficacy.

MASRisG

A specific framework for AI risk media frames that differ based on societal threat and societal efficacy.

Relative vs. absolute risk

Relative risk (e.g., "risk doubles") can sound dramatic, while absolute risk shows the actual size of the change.

Survival rate vs. mortality rate

Survival rate refers to being alive after a diagnosis, while mortality rate refers to actual deaths within a population.

Lead-time bias

When earlier diagnosis makes survival time appear longer without actually extending the patient's life.

Evaluability

The extent to which a number needs context to be judged as good, bad, high, or low.

Icon arrays

Visual aids that show affected cases as part of a whole group.

Denominator neglect

Focusing too much on the number of affected individuals while ignoring the total size of the group.

Numeracy / graph literacy

The varying degrees of skill that people have in understanding numbers and graphs.

Ambiguity aversion

The preference for known risks over risks that are unclear or unknown.

Direct vs. indirect uncertainty

Direct uncertainty involves the estimate itself, while indirect uncertainty involves the quality of the evidence behind the estimate.

Objective vs. subjective numeracy

Objective numeracy is actual mathematical skill; subjective numeracy is one's confidence with numbers.

Cultural theory of risk

The theory that risk perception depends on worldviews, categorized as individualist, egalitarian, hierarchist, and fatalist.