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McKendree Researchers' Study of Trigger Warnings to be Published

Lebanon, IL (05/17/2019) — A new study about the use of trigger warnings in education written by McKendree University researchers is in press at the American Psychological Association journal Scholarship of Teaching and Teaching in Psychology. Dr. Guy A. Boysen, Class of 2019 graduates Raina Isaacs and Sydnie Markowski, and senior Lori Tretter conducted three experimental studies in which people learning about sensitive topics either received or did not receive warnings about the material. They found that warnings did not reduce people's negative emotional reactions to the topics, nor did they increase performance on tests of comprehension. However, trigger warnings did significantly increase people's belief that warnings are necessary for sensitive topics.

This is the fifth publication on the topic of trigger warnings by Boysen, professor of psychology. The students conducted the research as part of the PSY 499 Research Practicum course, and they presented the initial results at the 2019 McKendree Academic Excellence Celebration on April 25. A preprint of the study is available online at http://bit.ly/2W8K6IK.

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A study about the use of trigger warnings in education by Lori Tretter, Sydnie Markowski, Raina Isaacs and Dr. Guy Boysen of McKendree University will be published in a journal of the American Psychological Association.

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