Understanding and correcting misperceptions of energy use

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

Many people misunderstand where the energy comes from and how the bulk of it is used. Previous research on energy perception has not produced a sufficiently clear picture of how people gauge personal and societal energy consumption. The goal of this project is to transform the methodological and theoretical frameworks for characterizing and correcting perception of household and nationwide energy use. The researcher teams collects data from energy experts as well as novices in order to identify differences in how experts versus novices conceptualize energy systems and energy consumption. These differences among conceptual models helps to develop messages to correct the way novices understand energy use and energy systems. In short, this project leads to new understanding of the perception of energy use, of how misperceptions can be corrected, and of the role of good system understanding in shaping public perception of how best to conserve energy in the home and nationwide. There are two main research questions: [A] How do expert and novice mental models of energy use differ? and [B] What methods are effective in correcting misperceptions of energy use? To answer the first question, experiments identify what kinds of expertise that predict accurate perceptions of (1) small- and (2) large-scale energy use, (3) investigate what heuristics or causal reasons are used to make these estimates, and (4) identify the similarity structure among appliance categories. In [B], studies correct misperceptions identified in [A] by creating and testing methods for helping novices construct mental models and heuristics more similar to those used by experts. This project is distinct from most work on scientific explanations in that the primary relevant context (energy use estimation) is highly quantifiable and lies on a single scale. This property allows the researchers uniquely to combine psychophysics, heuristics, and causal explanations--three important but previously largely separate fields of cognitive psychology--and to bring the combination to bear on a complex real-world problem. Project findings contribute to new methods and theories for assessing and correcting energy perception. Based on the research results, the team will create an online open-access training tool that will increase public scientific literacy about energy and will support enhanced public engagement with science and technology.