Memory and Political Belief Formation

Last registered on September 12, 2021
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Memory and Political Belief Formation
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007730
Initial registration date
September 10, 2021

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
September 12, 2021, 11:55 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Phoebe Cai
Affiliation
Harvard University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-11-22
End date
2022-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Electoral
Additional Keywords
Political beliefs, belief formation
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
I will use online experiments to study the relationship between memory of extreme information and the formation of beliefs about others' political views. The experiment will involve viewing political opinions and performing a calculation. The treatment group will also complete a task that generates interference with memory.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Cai, Phoebe. 2021. "Memory and Political Belief Formation." AEA RCT Registry. September 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7730-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-09-11
Intervention End Date
2022-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1) Estimates of typical political view within a sample drawn from each political party
2) Recall of opinions viewed earlier in experiment
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
I will run online experiments on Prolific (or similar platforms, such as Amazon Mechanical Turk) that study the relationship between memory of extreme information and the formation of political beliefs about others’ political views.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
n/a
Sample size: planned number of observations
1200 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
See attached PDF document
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

Documents

Document Name
Summary of pre-registration and experimental design
Document Type
proposal
Document Description
Summary of pre-registration and experimental design
File
Summary of pre-registration and experimental design

MD5: c338b914dbddaad130e27912d862d37e

SHA1: 5aa829f79d588048117f949115623965be20e5e3

Uploaded At: September 10, 2021

IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Harvard IRB
IRB Approval Date
2020-11-06
IRB Approval Number
IRB20-1742
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials