“Even if all the physical barriers to communication were known and removed,” the authors contend, “there would remain many psychological barriers to the free flow of ideas.” For example, interested people acquire more information than the uninterested; people seek the sort of facts which are congenial to their existing attitudes; different groups interpret the same information differently. This study is based on an analysis of national samples of the American people. Both authors are associated with National Opinion Research Center, Dr. Hyman as Research Associate and Mr. Sheatsley as Eastern Representative.