ABSTRACT Perhaps one of the most well-established findings stemming from decades of research exploring the effects of televised presidential debates is that exposure to this “information-rich” source of campaign communication enables viewers’ acquisition of issue knowledge. However, certain individuals will benefit more from the debate viewing experience because differences in individual characteristics allow some to learn more than others. In this quasi-experimental study, we test whether those with more pre-debate knowledge, political information efficacy, and need for cognition gain more information from debate viewing. In so doing, we clarify the mechanisms that underlie information acquisition from debates and consider the boundary conditions that constrain debate learning. The findings provide more nuance to our understanding of the mechanisms behind the learning of political knowledge from televised candidate debates. Video Abstract Read the transcript Watch the video on Vimeo

中文翻译：

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从总统辩论中学习：谁学得最多，为什么？

摘要 数十年对电视总统辩论影响的研究得出的最完善的发现之一也许是，接触这种“信息丰富”的竞选传播来源可以使观众获得问题知识。但是，某些人将从观看辩论的体验中受益更多，因为个人特征的差异使某些人比其他人学到的更多。在这项准实验研究中，我们测试那些拥有更多辩论前知识、政治信息效力和认知需求的人是否从辩论观看中获得了更多信息。通过这样做，我们阐明了从辩论中获取信息的基础机制，并考虑了限制辩论学习的边界条件。这些发现为我们理解从电视候选人辩论中学习政治知识背后的机制提供了更多细微差别。视频摘要 阅读成绩单 在 Vimeo 上观看视频