It has been widely shown that misconceptions related to traumatic brain injury (TBI) are held among both family members of people with TBI and the general public. These misconceptions have the potential to increase the distress of people with TBI and negatively impact rehabilitation processes. Although increased education has often been suggested to reduce misconceptions, few studies have examined which methods are most effective in providing information to the public. In the current study, I investigated the effects of existing education materials – either a TBI factsheet or personal stories of people with TBI. These materials are currently easily accessible online, but the effect they have on those who read them has not been studied. I explored the influence of these tools on both misconceptions of TBI and misattributions of behavior resulting from injury to life stage (i.e., adolescence). Results suggest that, on average, factsheets may be more effective for increasing knowledge about TBI than personal stories or a control group. Personal stories may be more useful, on average, for decreasing misattributions, as compared to a control group.
","abstract_html":"<p>It has been widely shown that misconceptions related to traumatic brain injury (TBI) are held among both family members of people with TBI and the general public. These misconceptions have the potential to increase the distress of people with TBI and negatively impact rehabilitation processes. Although increased education has often been suggested to reduce misconceptions, few studies have examined which methods are most effective in providing information to the public. In the current study, I investigated the effects of existing education materials – either a TBI factsheet or personal stories of people with TBI. These materials are currently easily accessible online, but the effect they have on those who read them has not been studied. I explored the influence of these tools on both misconceptions of TBI and misattributions of behavior resulting from injury to life stage (i.e., adolescence). Results suggest that, on average, factsheets may be more effective for increasing knowledge about TBI than personal stories or a control group. Personal stories may be more useful, on average, for decreasing misattributions, as compared to a control group.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["De Iorio, Monica"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS Experimental Psychology","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Susan A. Nolan, PhD","Kelly M. Goedert, PhD","Susan M. Teague, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-05-18T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-05-18T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:32:59Z","subjects":["traumatic brain injury","education","misconception","attribution","factsheet","personal stories","Clinical Psychology","Cognitive Psychology","Social Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2052","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Susan A. Nolan, PhD","Kelly M. Goedert, PhD","Susan M. Teague, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["De Iorio, Monica"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-04-24T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS Experimental Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["traumatic brain injury","education","misconception","attribution","factsheet","personal stories","Clinical Psychology","Cognitive Psychology","Social Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2052"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["It has been widely shown that misconceptions related to traumatic brain injury (TBI) are held among both family members of people with TBI and the general public. These misconceptions have the potential to increase the distress of people with TBI and negatively impact rehabilitation processes. Although increased education has often been suggested to reduce misconceptions, few studies have examined which methods are most effective in providing information to the public. In the current study, I investigated the effects of existing education materials – either a TBI factsheet or personal stories of people with TBI. These materials are currently easily accessible online, but the effect they have on those who read them has not been studied. I explored the influence of these tools on both misconceptions of TBI and misattributions of behavior resulting from injury to life stage (i.e., adolescence). Results suggest that, on average, factsheets may be more effective for increasing knowledge about TBI than personal stories or a control group. Personal stories may be more useful, on average, for decreasing misattributions, as compared to a control group.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Examining the Effect of Education Type on Common Misconceptions of Traumatic Brain Injury"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Susan A. Nolan, PhD","Kelly M. Goedert, PhD","Susan M. Teague, PhD"],"dc:creator":["De Iorio, Monica"],"dc:date.available":["2015-04-24T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["It has been widely shown that misconceptions related to traumatic brain injury (TBI) are held among both family members of people with TBI and the general public. These misconceptions have the potential to increase the distress of people with TBI and negatively impact rehabilitation processes. Although increased education has often been suggested to reduce misconceptions, few studies have examined which methods are most effective in providing information to the public. In the current study, I investigated the effects of existing education materials – either a TBI factsheet or personal stories of people with TBI. These materials are currently easily accessible online, but the effect they have on those who read them has not been studied. I explored the influence of these tools on both misconceptions of TBI and misattributions of behavior resulting from injury to life stage (i.e., adolescence). Results suggest that, on average, factsheets may be more effective for increasing knowledge about TBI than personal stories or a control group. Personal stories may be more useful, on average, for decreasing misattributions, as compared to a control group.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2052"],"dc:subject":["traumatic brain injury","education","misconception","attribution","factsheet","personal stories","Clinical Psychology","Cognitive Psychology","Social Psychology"],"dc:title":["Examining the Effect of Education Type on Common Misconceptions of Traumatic Brain Injury"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS Experimental Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:32:59Z"}