In this report two experiments are described which were conducted with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). The experiments were set up to receive answers to five questions, originated from a previous study on the recall of weather reports. A sample of 189 subjects, representative of the Dutch population, listened to 15 weather reports in four different phrasings. Subjects were requested to reproduce the contents, either wholly or partially. The results showed that recall of the weather information was quite difficult; the score did not surpass five information-units, or 50% of the information presented. Also, making decisions on the basis of the presented information appeared to be a difficult task; about 75% of the decisions was correct (with a guessing level of 50%). The conclusion is that weather reports should be as short as possible, containing essential information only. Presenting weather information whitin a logical framework did not improve recall or decision scores.
Samenvatting