Media Literacy: Psychology of Media

How Fantasy Becomes Reality by Karen E. Dill-Shackleford From smartphones to social media, from streaming videos to fitness bands, our devices bring us information and entertainment all day long, forming an intimate part of our lives. Their ubiquity represents a major shift in human experience, and although we often hold our devices dear, we do notalways fully appreciate how their nearly constant presence can influence our lives for better and for worse.In this second edition of How Fantasy Becomes Reality, social psychologist Karen E. Dill-Shackleford explains what the latest science tells us about how our devices influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In engaging, conversational prose, she discusses both the benefits and the risks thatcome with our current level of media saturation. The wide-ranging conversation explores Avatar, Mad Men, Grand Theft Auto, and Comic Con to address critical issues such as media violence, portrayals of social groups, political coverage, and fandom. Her conclusions will empower readers to make ourfavorite sources of entertainment and information work for us and not against us.

A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication by Richard Jackson Harris; Fred W. Sanborn [Examines] how our experiences with media affect the way we acquire knowledge about the world, and how this knowledge influences our attitudes and behavior.

The Media Equation by Byron Reeves; Clifford Nass Can human beings relate to computer or television programs in the same way they relate to other human beings? Based on numerous psychological studies, this book concludes that people not only can but do treat computers, televisions, and new media as real people and places. Studies demonstrate that people are "polite" to computers; that they treat computers with female voices differently than "male" ones; that large faces on a screen can invade our personal space; and that on-screen and real-life motion can provoke the same physical responses. Using everyday language to engage readers interested in psychology, communication, and computer technology, Reeves and Nass detail how this knowledge can help in designing a wide range of media.

Media Psychology 101 by Christopher J. Ferguson "This book provides a thoughtful and balanced look at some of the hot topics generating headlines, such as media violence, body image, social representation and sex in the media.Media Psychology 101 will be a valuable addition to introductory courses and the public as a user-friendly overview of much-discussed issues. -Pamela Rutledge, PsycCRITIQUES There are few areas of modern social science that are as fiercely debated as media psychology. Written by one of the foremost experts on the topic, this is a concise overview of what is known√>=and not known√>=about how individuals are affected by and interact with various forms of mass media. The book critically examines research from cognitive, social, developmental, biological, and evolutionary approaches to psychology and addresses the interplay between media consumption and viewer behavior in such realms as advertising, body image, sex, and violence. Distinguished by its examination of research from a scientifically objective position, the book offers students not only current knowledge of media psychology but also the tools to challenge commonly held assumptions from popular advocacy and ideology. This text cuts across different psychological approaches to studying how individuals are affected by mass media and includes research from criminal justice and sociology. It considers critical debates in media psychology and how debates in science themselves can be influenced by processes such as "moral panic." Written in a lively, accessible manner, the book draws upon engaging examples such as Photoshopped model controversies, dubious advertising practices, and attempts to blame violent crimes on media to illustrate scholarly principles. Throughout, data from research studies are related back to real-world phenomena such as violence rates, advertising dollars spent, or changes in the news media. Written for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students studying media psychology, the text will also be of value to professionals in psychology, sociology, and criminal justice as well as individuals involved in public policy as it relates to media effects. Key Features Offers an objective, interdisciplinary approach to understanding media and behavior Draws from cognitive, social, developmental, and biological psychology, as well as criminal justice research and sociology Challenges the conclusions drawn from research to foster critical thinking Written in a lively, accessible writing style with engaging examples

Refiguring Minds in Narrative Media by David Ciccoricco How do writers represent cognition, and what can these representations tell us about how our own minds work? Refiguring Minds in Narrative Media is the first single-author book to explore these questions across media, moving from analyses of literary narratives in print to those found where so much cultural and artistic production occurs today: computer screens. Expanding the domain of literary studies from a focus on representations to the kind of simulations that characterize narratives in digital media, such as those found in interactive, web-based digital fictions and story-driven video games, David Ciccoricco draws on new research in the cognitive sciences to illustrate how the cybernetic and ludic qualities characterizing narratives in new literary media have significant implications for how we understand the workings of actual minds in an increasingly media-saturated culture. Amid continued concern about the impact of digital media on the minds of readers and players today, and the alarming philosophical questions generated by the communion of minds and machines, Ciccoricco provides detailed examples illustrating how stories in virtually any medium can still nourish creative imagination and cultivate critical--and ethical--reflection. Contributing new insights on attention, perception, memory, and emotion, Refiguring Minds in Narrative Media is a book at the forefront of a new wave of media-conscious cognitive literary studies.

Media and Memory by Joanne Garde-Hansen How do we rely on media for remembering? In exploring the complex ways that media converge to support our desire to capture, store and retrieve memories, this textbook offers analyses of representations of memorable events, media tools for remembering and forgetting, media technologies forarchiving and the role of media producers in making memories.Theories of memory and media are covered alongside an accessible range of case studies focusing on memory in relation to radio, television, pop music, celebrity, digital media and mobile phones. Ethnographic and production culture research, including interviews with members of the public andindustry professionals, is also included. Offering a comprehensive introduction to the connections and disconnections in the study of media and memory, this is the perfect textbook for media studies students.