ABSTRACT
People who were fundamentally skeptical and un wil l ing to jump at conclusions would presumably be likely to examine the evidence in this case before accept ing the announcer's reports. Such people who habitually scrutinize interpretations before accepting them would be apt to know how to go about the self-imposed task of verifying the information heard on this program. Other people might judge the program to be a play because they had certain special knowledge or training which they were able to relate to the broadcast and to use as a frame of reference for their own orientation. Psycho logically, persons who for either of these reasons de tected that something was wrong can be said to have had "critical ability." By this we mean that they had a capacity to evaluate the stimulus in such a way that they
were able to understand its inherent characteristics so they could judge and act appropriately.
