Real-Time Debate Feedback Distorts Democracy | Wired Science | Wired.com
During the 2008 presidential debates, CNN unveiled their latest onscreen gimmick: A real-time graph depicting the averaged reactions of 32 supposedly undecided voters, who expressed favor or disfavor by turning handheld dials as they watched.
At the time, some psychologists wondered whether the graph could unduly influence how other viewers perceived the debate, potentially amplifying feelings in a handful of people across millions in the audience. The hypothesis was plausible, informed by decades of observations on decision-making and influence, but lacking hard data.
Some of that data now exists. In an experiment described March 31 in PLoS One, British psychologists secretly manipulated a similar onscreen graph broadcast during a Prime Ministerial debate. The results confirmed their fears.