Recall of Fatalities in USA Mass Shooting Events
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Description
The aim of the current study was to investigate recall of mass shooting events among American college students and assess if general opinions held influenced how participants remembered these events. The study utilized a survey collected at the University of San Diego about the following mass shootings: Aurora Dark Knight Movie Theater (2012), Sandy Hook Elementary (2012), Orlando Pulse Nightclub (2016), Route 91 Concert Las Vegas (2017), and Parkland Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS (2018). The students were accurate at recalling the number of casualties of the Sandy Hook, Aurora Dark Knight Movie Theater, and Parkland HS mass shootings, with casualty counts in the teens. However, when the killings were in the medium/high double digits range as in Route 91 Concert Las Vegas (mean casualties estimate=44.8, SD= 34.44) and Orlando Pulse Nightclub shootings (mean casualties estimate=19.17, SD= 13.55), students depressed the number of fatalities, possibly because they could not fathom the scale of the carnage. The results showed no evidence to indicate that religious beliefs, support for NRA activities, gun ownership, or political affiliation affected their recall of fatalities in these mass shooting events.
Recall of Fatalities in USA Mass Shooting Events
The aim of the current study was to investigate recall of mass shooting events among American college students and assess if general opinions held influenced how participants remembered these events. The study utilized a survey collected at the University of San Diego about the following mass shootings: Aurora Dark Knight Movie Theater (2012), Sandy Hook Elementary (2012), Orlando Pulse Nightclub (2016), Route 91 Concert Las Vegas (2017), and Parkland Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS (2018). The students were accurate at recalling the number of casualties of the Sandy Hook, Aurora Dark Knight Movie Theater, and Parkland HS mass shootings, with casualty counts in the teens. However, when the killings were in the medium/high double digits range as in Route 91 Concert Las Vegas (mean casualties estimate=44.8, SD= 34.44) and Orlando Pulse Nightclub shootings (mean casualties estimate=19.17, SD= 13.55), students depressed the number of fatalities, possibly because they could not fathom the scale of the carnage. The results showed no evidence to indicate that religious beliefs, support for NRA activities, gun ownership, or political affiliation affected their recall of fatalities in these mass shooting events.