Trigger Warnings

Question 1

What is a trigger warning?

Answer 1

Cautionary statement about content that might be disturbing/upsetting.

Question 2

What 4 main arguments did Vatz use to support his position that trigger warnings are destructive?

Answer 2

1 - they compromise academic freedom
2 - the “right to be offended” may restrict the rights of others
3 - they are likely detrimental to mental health (weakest argument)*
4 - they create a self-fulfilling prophecy

*Vatz discourages the use of potential mental health outcomes as an argument either for or against trigger warnings

Question 3

Vatz: Survey of 800+ professors to support his assertion that “the popularity of trigger warnings has increased.” Limitation?

Answer 3

Low response rate (less than 2% completed survey)

Question 4

What are the main points of the argument that trigger warnings compromise academic freedom?

Answer 4

1 - Marketplace of Ideas: ideas should rise and/or fall through debate
2 - no idea should be out of bounds
3 - trigger warnings may establish and anti-right bias

Question 5

What are the main points for the argument that the right to be offended has extended too far?

Answer 5

1 - Microagressions/triggers are created, not self-evident (just because someone is offended doesn’t mean the stimulus is “bad”)
2 - triggers are individual and subjective
3 - might be used to end productive debate
4 - there is no limitation on how trigger warnings might limit academic freedom

Question 6

What are the main points for the argument that trigger warnings are detrimental to mental health (weakest argument)?

Answer 6

1 - CBT indicates exposure to traumatic stimuli might aide recovery
2 - trigger warnings prevent exposure

Question 7

What are the main points to the argument that trigger warnings instigate a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Answer 7

1 - expectations shape experiences

2 - trigger warnings may socialize people to anticipate/seek out discomfort

Question 8

What are Lockhart’s main arguments for the benefits of trigger warnings?

Answer 8

1 - purpose is not to create avoidance, but to prepare students
2 - moral and (potentially) legal responsibility
3 - trigger warnings not analogous to movie ratings
4 - trigger warnings expand academic freedom
5 - classroom is not for therapy

Question 9

Main criteria defining PTSD:

Answer 9

A - exposure to trauma (directly/indirectly)
B - one or more intrusive symptoms
C - avoidance of associated stimuli
D - negative alterations in cognitions/mood
E - alterations in arousal and reactivity associated with event
F - symptoms persist for longer than a month
G - distress impairment in daily functioning
H - not because of substance/medical condition

Question 10

What are the main points for the argument that trigger warnings help prepare students?

Answer 10

1 - purpose is not to facilitate avoidance of traumatizing stimuli
2 - the prepare students to encounter triggering stimuli, free from interference of shock reaction, to focus on learning

Question 11

What are the main points regarding the argument that trigger warnings are a moral and legal responsibility?

Answer 11

1 - obligation to take students’ unknown life circumstances into account when presenting material
2 - Americans with Disabilities Act mandates reasonable accommodations for those with disabilities (Lockhart argues this includes PTSD)
3 - trigger warnings are the least disruptive accommodation

Question 12

What are Lockhart’s main points regarding the argument that trigger warnings are not analogous to movie ratings? (Weakest argument)

Answer 12

1 - moving ratings prevent people from watching content
2 - every movie receives a rating (and not all content receives a trigger warning)
3 - movie ratings are before a movie, trigger warnings might be after a course has already been chosen

Question 13

What are Lockhart’s main points for the argument that trigger warnings expand academic freedom?

Answer 13

1 - trigger warnings might increase the material instructors can show
2 - censoring material is a bad idea and trigger warnings give context

Question 14

What are Lockhart’s main points for the argument that the classroom is not the therapist’s office?

Answer 14

1 - though exposure therapy can treat PTSD, professors aren’t trained therapists
2 - counter argument that dismissing trauma and saying that youth need to toughen up is not helpful

Question 15

What studies provide evidence that trigger warnings are neither meaningfully helpful or harmful?

Answer 15

Sanson, Strange, and Garry (2019):
1 - game some college students trigger warnings, but not others
2 - exposed everyone to negative materials
3 - people in both groups reported similar levels of negative affect, intrusions,avoidance
4 - people in both groups had similar comprehension performance on the following article readings activity
5 - results were similar among people with a history of trauma