1. In class we did an exercise wherein half the class developed a plan for communicating the risk of methylmercury from the viewpoint of the coal companies, while the other half communicated this risk from the viewpoint of environmentalists. This exercise provided an opportunity to apply several of the general principles from Slovic, describing which types of risks people perceive as being most serious.

What follows are several factors that Slovic found makes a risk perceived as being serious. For each factor, in one sentence explain how the environmentalists could exploit this factor to make the risk of methylmercury appear as large as possible. Then explain how the coal industry could expoit the converse of this factor to make the risk of methylmercury appear minimal. (one paragraph answer for each factor. If I use this problem on the exam, it is likely that I will not ask for an answer for all factors.)

Equitable (vs. Inequitable)

Controllable or Voluntary (vs. Uncontrollable or involuntary)

Familiar or Known (vs. Unfamiliar or Unknown)