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Ecology of the Mass Media - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Physical development and health are influenced by physical activity and nutrition. Time spent watching TV is time that potentially could be used for physical activity.
      - Obesity
        There is evidence linking heavy media consumption and obesity (Escober-Chavez & Anderson, 2008; Horgen, Harris, & Brownell, 2012). As children and adolescents consume large amounts of media, they are also exposed to many ads for food. According to the Federal Trade Commission (2008), each day children view an average of 15 food ads on television.
      - Children are exposed to television ads in school, as well as at home. Channel One, a 10-minute news program with 2 minutes of commercials, is broadcast daily into the classrooms of subscribing schools. Ads include fast food, candy, snack chips, soft drinks, and gum. On the other hand, PBS has designed a classroom program called “Play with your Produce Challenge,” which encourages kindergarten through sixth-grade teachers to create classroom activities centered on healthy eating (Horgen et al., 2012).
      - Substance Use and Abuse
        While many factors may influence a young person's tobacco and/or alcohol use, such as parents, peers, and media, numerous studies (Strasburger, 2012) have linked tobacco and alcoholic beverage ads with increased use among young people. Like food advertising, tobacco and alcoholic beverage companies employ direct as well as indirect marketing strategies, such as product placement, celebrity role models, and pop music accompaniment. How children's cognitive development affects their susceptibility to advertising will be discussed later.
      - Psychological Development and Behavior
        
        Psychology refers to the mind, including perception, emotions, attitudes, motives, and consequent behavior.
        
        Perception
        The way screen media presents information affects an individual's perception of reality. The form, style, and content of a show may influence how one perceives it (Bickham, Schmidt, & Huston, 2012). Also, perception of a particular thing may vary among individuals due to their biology and experiences. The forms in which television presents information include animation, live, and scripted; the styles include action, drama, and news. The forms generally used in children's programming are perceptually salient (high action, special visual and auditory effects) as opposed to less striking ones (dialogue, moderate action).
        
        “Producers use film and video conventions as implicit cues to appeal to particular audiences to convey particular connotations. For example, the advertisements for girls' and boys' toys differ in form. Commercials for boys' toys are made with rapid action, quick cuts, and scene changes, and local sound effects; commercials for girls' toys are made with dreamy or tinkling music, scene changes marked by dissolves, and quiet sounds” (Huston et al., 2007, p. 52).
        
        Children recognize these sex-typed cues. Formal features are not only cues for sex-typing, but for fiction and reality, too. Perceptions of reality fall into two categories: factuality (Did it happen in the real and unrehearsed world, or was it constructed and scripted for TV?) and social realism (How similar is the TV portrayal to an actual event?). According to Huston et al. (2007), judgments about factuality occur in a developmental sequence (7-year-olds understand better than 5-year-olds that fictional characters do not retain their TV roles in their off-TV lives). Generally, children over the age of 8 also understand that fictional shows are made up, scripted, and rehearsed.
        
        Because children have not experienced much of the real world, they accept what TV portrays as the truth and neglect to test it against reality. According to cultivation theory, TV fosters the growth of preferences, attitudes, behaviors, and fears engendered by what is portrayed, especially among heavy viewers (Comstock & Scharrer, 2007, 2012; Gerbner et al., 2002).
        
        Emotions about Aggression and Violence
        “Television, movies, and other media provide a multitude of images that have the capacity to worry, frighten, or even traumatize children. Moreover, the intensity and variety of these images have grown over the last generation” (Cantor, 2012, p. 215). Also, “movies, by their very nature, have the ability to introduce children to frightening images, events, and ideas, many of which they would not encounter in their entire lives without the mass media” (Cantor, 1998, p.
        
        Effects of TV Viewing on Attitudes and Motives
        In psychological theory, attitudes include attributions, rules, and explanations that people gradually learn from observations of behavior. Therefore, for individuals who watch a great deal of television, attitudes will be built on the basis of what they see, and the attitudes will, in turn, have an effect on their motives and behavior.
        
        Attitudes about Aggression and Motives to Behave Aggressively
        Apparently young children are more willing to accept the aggressive behavior of other children after viewing violent scenes (Paik & Comstock, 1994). However, studies have shown that children's attitudes are changed if adults discuss the program (Huston & Wright, 1998). In an experimental study (Huesmann et al., 1983), one group of children who regularly watched violent programs were shown excerpts from violent shows.
        
        Research shows that repetition of violence in the media results in classical desensitization (Comstock & Scharrer, 2007; Bushman & Huesmann, 2012). Desensitization—the gradual reduction in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure—is used in behavior therapy to overcome fears.
- - - - Selective attention involves choosing stimuli from one's environment to notice, observe, and consider. Our senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell) are equipped to respond to stimuli in the environment. However, it is impossible to pay attention to everything going on about us; thus we select, or consciously attend to, only some of the available stimuli. Selective attention is crucial to learning because children's perceptions and concepts of the world depend on which aspects of it get their attention.
      - Infants/toddlers show elevated attention to loud noises, bright colors, and movement. Preschool children show elevated attention to animation, strange voices, lively music, auditory changes, and rhyming, repetition, and alliteration.
      - Older children pay attention to more complexities as they gain in cognitive development. They are now able to understand story plots and characters. They are attracted to action, adventure, and family situation comedies. School-age children need to attend to visual techniques more than adolescents to understand the story line (Comstock & Scharrer, 2007). In general, media cues that attract attention are “outstandingness,” novelty, contrast, and how closely the cue is related to the viewer's frame of reference.
      - Influence of Adult Coviewing
        Parents, in particular, can mediate the amount and level of attention given to TV by their children by being the primary socializers in their children's frames of reference. Children are more likely to attend to messages on TV that conform to their family's interests, attitudes, beliefs, and values. Parents, teachers, and older siblings are probably most important in determining television programming effects on children (Comstock & Scharrer, 2007; Roberts & Foehr, 2004).
      - Parents can mediate television viewing by (AACAP, 2011a):
        
        controlling the number of hours of television exposure
        
        checking ratings and evaluating what kinds of programs may be viewed
        
        viewing television with their children and discussing the programs
        
        arranging family activities other than television viewing.
- - - - Many teachers use educational TV as part of their curriculum, and millions of school-age children receive a portion of their regular instruction through television. When PBS was founded in 1969 it took over many of the functions of its predecessor, National Educational Television. It airs a variety of programs specifically developed for the classroom; some are national, others are local. Digitization has enabled PBS to provide interactive activities such as educational games.
      - Educational institutions that were granted airwave licenses can broadcast their own programs. Some institutions are leasing their airwave licenses to wireless companies to provide them with multimedia services (TV and Internet). Schools that subscribe to cable TV can get educational programs from “Cable in the Classroom,” which offers numerous multimedia services (http://www.ciconline.org). Supporters of television in the classroom suggest that it provides memorability, concreteness, and emotional involvement, and also stimulates reading, encourages class discussion, and promotes student interactions (Greenfield, 1984)
      - Peer Group-Media Linkages
        
        Although research demonstrates that parents can mediate the effects of TV, according to a study by Nathanson (2001) parental influence may wane when children reach adolescence and face pressure from peers. Nathanson studied peer mediation of antisocial television and found that it occurs frequently and promotes more positive orientation toward violent programs, leading to greater aggression.
        
        The peer group can exert influence via the digital devices that allow individuals to keep connected. Cell phones with instant text messaging, cameras, MP3 players, and Internet connections enable users to interact 24/7. The ability to connect with friends is a significant factor in being part of a peer group (KFF, 2010; Roberts & Foehr, 2004). Children believe that if they don't talk online with people, they might miss something that happened and won't know what the kids at school are talking about.
        
        Social networking websites, such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube, as well as instant messaging (IM), e-mail, texting, and chat rooms, enable kids to connect with groups of people. In addition to being a source of social engagement, such technology can be a way for youth to experiment with different “personas.”
- - - - According to Roberts and Foehr (2004), children's and adolescents' exposure to print media is influenced by the socioeconomic status of the family and the educational level of the parents—more income means more resources for printed material; greater education means a higher value placed on books and reading.
      - The role that print media are known to play in socialization is that of passing on culture to the next generation, as illustrated by the prologues to each chapter in this book. The print media teach history, values, morals, ideals, and attitudes. Print-based culture is still the primary basis for information about education, religion, and government (Gerbner et al., 2002). The core of an educated person is literacy, being able to communicate through reading and writing.
      - Different media elicit different thinking skills (Healy, 1990; Strasburger et al., 2012). Meringoff (1980) and colleagues (Char & Meringoff 1981) compared young children's abilities to comprehend and reproduce narratives presented in different media (stories in print versus stories on television and radio). They found that even when the same soundtracks were used, television focused children's attention on the actions of characters, whereas radio or book format directed attention to the quality of the language.
      - Language and Socialization
        Books are written language. Language, as was discussed in Chapter 2, enables socialization to take place. Language makes ideas and communication of these ideas possible; language also makes it possible to replace action with thoughts. Language is a vehicle by which individuals can express emotions (Rovenger, 2000). Language enables humans to internalize attitudes of others. Language is the means of passing on the cultural heritage from one generation to the next.
      - Caldecott Medal award given yearly for the most distinguished picture book for children
      - Language, Reading, and Cognitive Development
        Books enhance language, reading skills, and comprehension, as well as overall cognitive development. The relationship of children's language to the amount of reading they do and the amount that is read aloud to them has been examined in numerous studies. Many studies have found that children who are read to often and who read a lot on their own are more advanced in their language development than children who are rarely read to and do not read very much on their own (Dickinson & Smith, 1994; McLane & McNamee, 1990; Senechal & LeFevre, 2002; Zuckerman & Khandekar, 2010).
      - Books also enhance reading development (Desmond, 2001). Research indicates that children who are read to learn to read earlier and more easily than children who are not read to. According to a study of mother-child book reading in low-income families (Raikes et al., 2006), book reading to children during the preschool years is reliably linked to language and cognitive development.
- - - - Throughout time and across cultures, people have always created and listened to music. It is a form of communication, emotional expression, art, celebration, tradition, and enjoyment. Music expresses aspects of the culture as it changes through history; for example, popular music through the years has ranged from patriotic “Yankee Doodle” to jazz to rock (Sklaroff, 2002).
      - For most young people, music use is driven primarily by the motivation to control mood and enhance emotional states (Strasburger et al., 2012). Music's ability to communicate emotion and influence mood has been widely noted. Even preschoolers and infants as young as 8 months can reliably discriminate “happy” and “sad” music (Roberts, Christenson, & Gentile, 2003).
      - Music preferences become more specific as children get older. Boys generally prefer the louder forms of rock; girls generally prefer softer, more romantic forms. Cultural background and socioeconomic status also play a role in music choice. African Americans report a preference for soul, rap, and rhythm and blues; Latino Americans lean toward salsa; European Americans say they like all types of rock (Roberts 6 Foehr, 2004).
    - - The medium of vocal music is a socializing influence in that it engages one's attention and emotions with the sound while espousing certain values with the lyrics (AACAP, 2008). However, motivation, experience, knowledge, and self-concept are factors in the interpretation of the lyrics (Strasburger et al., 2012).
      - The question that remains is whether the songs reflect the values of a particular generation or influence that generation's values. Concern centers on the issue of contagion. Contagion is the phenomenon in which an individual exposed to a suggestion will act on it.
      - What about Music Videos?
        MTV, or Music Television, first introduced in 1983, is a highly controversial provider of entertainment because of its ability to captivate young audiences. MTV is a 24-hour rock music, cable television channel that promotes new songs by accompanying them with visual dramatization. For example, Miley Cyrus, formerly Disney's Hannah Montana, was one of MTV's 2013 artists of the year. Her album Bangerz taught America how to “twerk,” while her videos broke all records. MTV declared her “the new Queen of Pop.”
      - Children and Digital Media: The Internet
        
        In the 20th century, “each new media technology brought with it great promise for social and educational benefits, and great concern for children's exposure to inappropriate and harmful content” (Wartella & Jennings, 2000, p. 31).
        
        The Internet is a pool of information (Subrahmanyam & Greenfield, 2012). Whatever may be of interest to you, no matter how major or minor, is potentially there. Information is typically stored on the web pages posted by individuals and content producers. Because websites are not categorized, search engines have emerged as a means to sort and index the sites. Websites sometimes provide means for feedback from visitors, and forums can be created wherein collaboration can take place.
        
        Coping with Internet Information Overload
        
        Reading comprehension via the Internet requires different skills from reading comprehension via traditional book reading, according to Leu and colleagues (2005). Reading online is a process that requires knowledge about how search engines work and how information is organized within websites—knowledge that many students lack. Internet reading also requires a higher level of inferential reasoning and comprehension-monitoring strategies that help readers stay on task.
        
        There is concern regarding the disparities of opportunities for children of different socioeconomic statuses to learn to use computers effectively as tools in their lives and to experience enriched learning in the classroom (Hofferth, 2010; Jackson et al., 2006; Roberts & Foehr, 2008). Some children may lag behind in the very skills needed to succeed in our increasingly computer-dependent society. Are we creating a gap between the information-rich and the information-poor?
        
        Internet Communication: Social Networking
        
        Internet-based social networking occurs through a variety of websites that allow users to share content, interact, and develop communities around similar interests. Examples include Facebook and Twitter. Social networks facilitate communication among large groups because messages, photos, music, YouTube videos, and more can be posted and viewed instantly.
        
        Some fear that children who have home computers will become social isolates and choose solitary activities over interactive ones. So far, this has not been widely proven. One study (Sleek, 1998) over a 2-year time span of people who regularly log on to the Internet found that as use of the Internet increased, the number of social activities engaged in and social support experiences decreased. On the other hand, children often use a computer to attract playmates, as by sharing software and games via e-mail or social networking sites. They also use it to communicate with friends. On the negative side, the computer can be a source of gossip and cyberbullying.
        
        Finding pornography on the Internet is as easy as “googling” the word “sex.” Boys are more likely to seek out pornography than girls and use increases with age (Wolak et al., 2007). However, some exposure to sexually explicit sites is unsought, as in junk e-mails (spam) or pop-up ads.
        
        Children and Multimedia: Devices and Games
        
        Multimedia devices enable the user to participate actively. Often new technologies available for TV, digital video recorders (DVRs), computers, tablets, MP3 players, and cell phones are combined in usage. “DVRs allow TV viewers to pause, rewind, and replay programs in real time, as well as to record programs for future playback. In addition, DVRs are capable of'learning’ their owners' viewing preferences” (Tarpley, 2012, p. 65). The primary impact of this technology is its ability to give the viewer control of the TV viewing experience, for example bypassing commercials.
        
        As texting has become a centerpiece of teen social life, parents and educators have grown increasingly concerned about the role of cell phones in the sexual lives of teens and young adults. According to a survey from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, Lenhart (2009). 4 percent of phone-owning teens ages 12 to 17 say they have sent sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images or videos of themselves to someone else via text messaging, a practice also known as “sexting”; 15 percent say they have received such images of someone they know via text message.