Knowledge-deficit models highlight that providing novel information increases knowledge and acceptance of empirical facts. Motivated cognition models, however, highlight that people often discount new attitude-conflicting facts. Thereby, according to motivated cognition models, people's levels of global warming knowledge and anthropogenic climate change acceptance markedly reflect their preexisting environmental attitude. In four studies (N = 845), we tested the efficacy of new information to foster knowledge and alter acceptance while simultaneously controlling for environmental attitude. Despite corroborating the association of knowledge and acceptance (Study 1), providing information about the physical-chemical mechanism behind global warming did not always promote the acceptance of anthropogenic climate change (Study 2 vs. Studies 3 and 4). Moreover, acceptance increases induced with mechanistic information did not exceed acceptance gains induced with information about global warming's consequences (Study 3). By contrast, our findings corroborate environmental attitude's relevance for two central remnants of learning: knowledge (Studies 1, 3, and 4) and behavior (e.g., information seeking: Study 4).

知识赤字模型强调，提供新颖的信息可以增加知识和对经验事实的接受。但是，动机性的认知模型强调，人们经常轻视与态度冲突的新事实。因此，根据动机的认知模型，人们对全球变暖知识和人为气候变化的接受程度显着反映了他们先前已存在的环境态度。在四项研究（ñ = 845），我们测试了新信息在培养知识和改变接受度的同时控制环境态度的功效。尽管证实了知识与接受之间的联系（研究1），但提供有关全球变暖背后的物理化学机制的信息并不能总是促进对人为气候变化的接受（研究2与研究3和4）。此外，由机械信息引起的验收增加没有超过因全球变暖后果信息引起的验收增加（研究3）。相比之下，我们的研究结果证实了环境态度与两个主要学习残余物的相关性：知识（研究1、3和4）和行为（例如，寻求信息：研究4）。