Asheley R. Landrum

Biography

Asheley R. Landrum, PhD, is a psychologist and Associate Professor specializing in strategic science communication. Prior to Texas Tech, she was the Howard Deshong Postdoctoral Fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Landrum's research bridges theory and methodology from educational, social, cognitive, and development psychology as well as communication research and public policy. Her work has appeared in journals such as Nature Climate Change, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Trends in Biotechnology, Developmental Science, Cognition, Advances in Political Psychology, and Journal of Risk Research.

Research

Even when information is credible, empirically-derived, and presented by expert sources, people are not always ready and willing to trust it. For instance, pockets of the general public reject conclusions that are widely accepted by the scientific community such as the advisability of childhood vaccines, the legitimacy of evolution, and the need to address climate change. Yet this behavior has a rational basis. Information sources, including experts and other communicators, are not limited to being truthful; and depending on a communicator's knowledge and motivations, the quality of information presented can vary from reliably accurate to inaccurate, distorted, or even purposefully misleading. Furthermore, even children are not blank slates. When encountering new information, children and adults, alike, engage in motivated cognition; Information is filtered and processed through our 'priors'—e.g., our attitudes, beliefs, identities, knowledge, and values that we hold prior to encountering the communicated information. Knitting together my expertise in developmental psychology with my training in the science underlying science communication, my program of research investigates the development of phenomena that influence public understanding and acceptance of science.

Selected Publications

• Landrum, A. R., Hilgard, J., Lull, R. B., Akin, H., & Jamieson, K. H. (2018). Open and transparent research practices and public perceptions of the trustworthiness of agricultural 27 biotechnology organizations. Journal of Science Communication, 17(02), A04. doi: 10.22323/2.17020204.

 

• Landrum, A. R., Lull, R., Akin, H., Hassel, A. & Jamieson, K. H. (2017). Processing the Papal Encyclical through Perceptual Filters: Pope Francis, Identity-Protective Cognition, and Climate Change Concern. Cognition, 166, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.05.015 *Selected as Editor Choice **Featured in Nature Climate Change

 

• Landrum, A. R., & Hallman, W. K. (2017) Engaging in Effective Science Communication: a Response to Blancke et al. (2017) on Deprobamatizing GMOs. Trends in Biotechnology. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.01.006

 

• Kahan, D. M., Landrum, A. R., Carpenter, K., Helft, L., & Jamieson, K, H. (2017). Science Curiosity and Political Information Processing. Advances in Political Psychology, 38(S1), 179-199. doi: 10.1111/pops.12396

 

• Landrum, A. R., Eaves, B. S., Jr., & Shafto, P. (2015). Learning to trust and trusting to learn: A theoretical framework. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19(3), 109-111. doi: 10.1006/j.tics.2014.12.00

• Landrum, A. R., & Vasquez, R. (in press). U.S. Publics, Pope Francis, and Climate Change: A review of the studies and data collected around the 2015 Papal Encyclical. WIREs Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.674 [Published Open Access]

• Landrum, A. R., & Slater, M. H. (in press). Open Questions in Scientific Consensus Messaging Research. Environmental Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2020.1776746

• Landrum, A. R. & Olshansky, A. (2020). Third-person Perceptions and Calls for Censorship of Flat Earth Videos on YouTube. Media & Communication, 8(2), 387-400. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i2.2853. [Published Open Access]

• Landrum, A. R., Olshansky, A., & Richards, O. (in press). Differential Susceptibility to Misleading Flat Earth Arguments on YouTube. Media Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2019.1669461 [Published Open Access]

Teaching Focus

• Special Topics in Journalism: The Science of Science Communication (JOUR 6315)
• Research Methods (MCOM 5364)
• Principles of Advertising (ADV 3310

Leadership & Awards

• 2020 College Nominee for Chancellor's Council Distinguished Research Award (Notified 9 September 2020)
• 2020 Outstanding Researcher Award, Faculty Distinguished Research Awards, Texas Tech University
• 2019 College Nominee for the Barnie E. Rushing, Jr., Faculty Distinguished Research Awards (Notified 28 October 2019)
• 2019 Billy I. and Avis M. Ross Achievement Award for 2017-2018 (Awarded 12 April 2019)
• 2019 College of Life Sciences Fellowship, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Spring/Summer 2019
• 2018 Celebration of Faculty Excellence in Research, Scholarship, & Creative Activity, Texas Tech University Award

External Funding Awarded

• "COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RAPID: Influencing Young Adults' Science Engagement and Learning with COVID-19 Media Coverage National Science Foundation (EHR, DRL, AISL): #2028469 [2020-2021]
• COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Cracking the Code: Millennial Science Engagement National Science Foundation (EHR, DRL, AISL): #1810990 [2018-2021]"