What is Media Psychology

BSD322 – MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY Task brief & rubrics

Task

This is an individual assignment.

Answer all four questions (500 – 700 words each)

Q1: Media Psychology is defined as

1) “the scientific study of human behavior, thoughts, and feelings experienced in the context of media use and creation” (Karen, E. 2012)

2) understanding how consumption/usage of and interactions with media affect human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

How do these definitions differ? Give at least two examples to illustrate the difference/s.

Q2: Media engineers (and politicians through media) use FIVE Persuasion Techniques to help the consumer of media form an opinion, change attitudes and behavior.: 1) Reframing 2) Repeated Affirmations 3) Vicarious/imitative Learning 4) Distraction and Denial  5) Classical and Operant Conditioning

a) Define and give examples of three of these techniques from media in your country.

b) Describe how you would examine, study and evaluate one of these three techniques

Q3: According to a study by Internet Matters, young children are accessing pornography as early as the age of eight and by the age of fourteen more than 50% have consumed pornography and at this age it becomes a ‘normal thing to do’. (internetmatters.org, 2017) In Galicia, Spain a recent study of 2500 people under 30 showed that 70% consumed pornography via the internet. (ibid 2018)

Use Gerbner’s Cultivation theory and/or Uses and Gratification theory (Levy; Katz, Blumer and Gurevitch) to analyse either the reason for this consumption and/or the results of such consumption.

Q4: List and give 3-5 clear examples of some positive psychological effects of 21st century media. Back up your list with theory and credible research.

Formalities:

· Wordcount: Total Word-count 2500-3000 words

· Font: Arial 12,5 pts.

· Text alignment: Justified.

· The in-text References and the Bibliography have to be in Harvard citation style.

Submission: Sunday 23 May 2021, 23:59 Barcelona time.

Weight: Re-sit assignment.

Learning Outcomes addressed:

LO1 To get an overview of mass media theory and media psychology theory

LO2 To be up-to-date with research on the impact media use and exposure can have on the brain.

LO3 To understand the potential new technologies and applications can have on human psychology and experience

LO4 To develop a critical eye for and critical analytical skills when appraising the impact media use can have on attitudes, behavior and mental and physical health.

LO5 To understand aspects to research when making decisions about media use, exposure and applications.

Rubrics

	Exceptional 90-100	Good 80-89	Fair 70-79	Marginal fail 60-69
Knowledge & Understanding (20%)	Student demonstrates excellent understanding of key concepts and theory, using terminology in an entirely appropriate manner.	Student demonstrates good understanding of the task and mentions some relevant concepts and theory, demonstrating use of the relevant terminology.	Student understands the task and provides minimum theory and/or some use of terminology.	Student understands the task and attempts to answer the question but does not mention key concepts or uses minimum amount of relevant terminology.
Application (30%)	Student applies fully relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in the course.	Student applies mostly relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in the course.	Student applies some relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in the course. Misunderstanding may be evident.	Student applies little relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in the course. Misunderstandings are evident.
Critical Thinking (30%)	Excellent critical thinking, the student has excellent insights and draws outstanding conclusions from relevant examples and/or authors.	Student shows good critical analysis and insights, drawing conclusions from relevant examples, authors and references.	Student provides some insights but stays on the surface of the topic. References may not be relevant.	Student offers little or no critical thinking and/or insights, does not quote appropriate authors, and does not provide valid sources.
Communication (20%)	Student communicates ideas extremely clearly, respecting word count, grammar and spellcheck. Well-organized and easy-to-read	Student communicates ideas quite clearly, respecting word count, grammar and spellcheck. Mostly well-organized and easy-to-read.	Student communicates ideas with some clarity. The text may be slightly over or under the word-count limit. Some misspelling errors may be evident. Acceptable organization of ideas	Student communicates ideas in a somewhat unclear way. Does not reach or does exceed word-count excessively. Misspelling errors are evident. Not always easy to read