Communicaton 411--Media Effects: April 2012

Welcome to Comms 411

Welcome to Comms 411, Spring Term 2012. During the course of this term our goal will be to explore the effects of mass media on institutions and individuals within modern society. In this class, we will explore the effects literature and relevant effects theories by answering questions about how the media influence our lives. The goal of this class is to create an ongoing dialogue among class members that will give us the opportunity to engage in lively debates and discussions.

I will use this blog space to communicate with you and to initiate our discussions. Please log on to this blog to obtain your class preparation assignments several days in advance of our class meetings. I will pose a series of questions that will require you to engage in some fieldwork and then write about your experiences. Please post your response (which should be in the form of a short essay of about 300 words or so) as a comment to my posting. You will have the opportunity to read what your classmates are writing and I would encourage you to respond to their comments as well. Please post your comment no later than 3 p.m. on the afternoon of the day prior to our class meeting. All of this is explained in the Course Syllabus, which is available through the BYU Learning Suite.

I'm looking forward to learning with you this term.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Are Children Vulnerable to Media? Blog #2

Please select one of the following options:

Option 1) For 30 minutes, observe a child (under the age of 12) as he or she watches television. Answer the following questions: 1) How did the child actually interact with the television? In other words, how would you describe the actual process of “watching” and the impact it had on the child? 2) Describe what was being watched and then provide an assessment of what you think the child understood or did not understand?Why did you arrive at these conclusions? Explain.

Option 2) Reflect on and describe an experience from your childhood or from the childhood of one of your siblings in which you (or he or she) were traumatized or confused by something you saw in the media. You may also interview a roommate for this. What did you learn from this experience? Why do you think television (even though it is just fantasy) can have such profound effects on our perceptions of reality and experience? Finally, do you think we learn more from observation or direct experience? Why?

This is due Tuesday, May 01 at 3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Media violence: Does TV kill? Blog #1

For your first blogs, please select one of the following options and post your response as a comment. Remember, you must respond by Sunday, April 29, at 3 p.m. to receive credit.

Option 1): Select and view a drama/action/adventure/horror film (that you have never seen before) and watch it. Every 10 minutes have someone take and record your pulse. Answer the following questions: a) How does your pulse change during the movie? b) Can you indicate at what points (and why) you had a strong or weak physiological reaction to what you were watching? c) What does our body tell us about media effects? Be sure and tell me the name of the movie and incude all your pulse measure in your essay/comments.

Option 2): Observe an individual (someone you know) who is engaged in playing an aggressive, high action (or violent) video game for at least 1 hour (you must not be a participant, only an outside observer--this is important). Make notes on how the game influences his or her behavior and answer the following questions: a) How did his or her demeanor change during the course of the hour? b) How was their behavior different while playing than under normal circumstances (did they say things or act in ways that are not typical)? c) After making the observations, interview the individual to assess his or her thoughts on how he or she may have been physically or emotionally affected. d) Was their an effect?