Psychology curricula rarely include issues concerning the effects of television and other media. In response to this deficiency, the rationale for, and description of, a new undergraduate course, “The Psychology of Mass Communication,” are discussed. The reading materials, course topics, class format, and requirements are described. The course has sustained considerable interest and a large enrollment for several years.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BryantJ.AndersonD. J. (1983). Children's understanding of television: Research on attention and comprehension.New York: Academic.
2.
DavisR. H.DavisJ. A. (1985). TV's image of the elderly: A practical guide for change.Lexington, MA: Lexington.
3.
EsslinM. (1982). The age of television.San Francisco: Freeman.
4.
EysenckH.NiasD. K. B. (1978). Sex, violence, and the media.New York: Harper.
5.
GoldsteinJ. H. (Ed.). (1986). Reporting science: The case of aggression.Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
6.
GumpertG.CathcartR. (1982). Inter/Media: Interpersonal communication in a media world.New York: Oxford University Press.
7.
HoweM. J. A. (1983). Learning from television: Psychological and educational research.London: Academic.
8.
HowittD. (1982). Mass media and social problems.Oxford, UK: Pergamon.
9.
JamiesonK. H.CampbellK. K. (1983). The interplay of influence: Mass media and their publics in news, advertising, politics.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
10.
LiebertL. M.SprafkinJ. N.DavidsonE. S. (1982). The early window: Effects of television on children and youth (2nd ed.). New York: Pergamon.
11.
LoganB.MoodyK. (Eds.). (1979). Television awareness training.New York: Media Action Research Council.
12.
MalamuthN. M.DonnersteinE. (Eds.). (1984). Pornography and sexual aggression.Orlando, FL: Academic.
13.
McGuireW. J. (1986). The myth of massive media impact. In ComstockG. (Ed.), Public communication and behavior (pp. 173–257). New York: Academic.
14.
McKennaG. (1982). Media voices.Guilford, CT: Dushkin.
15.
MeyrowitzJ. (1985). No sense of place: The impact of electronic media on social behavior.New York: Oxford.
16.
MooreT. E. (1982). Subliminal advertising: What you see is what you get. Journal of Marketing, 46(2), 38–47.
17.
PalmerE. L.DorrA. (1980). Children and the faces of television: Teaching, violence, selling.New York: Academic.
18.
PostmanN. (1984). Amusing ourselves to death.New York: Viking.
19.
RobertsD. F.BachenC. M. (1981). Mass communication effects. Annual Review of Psychology, 32, 307–356.
20.
SchwartzT. (1981). Media, the second god.New York: Random House.
21.
ShaheenJ. G. (1984). The TV Arab.Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green University Popular Press.
22.
TannenbaumP. (1980). The entertainment functions of television.Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
23.
VokeyJ. R.ReadJ. D. (1985). Subliminal messages: Between the devil and the media. American Psychologist, 40, 1231–1239.
24.
WilliamsT. M. (Ed.). (1986). The impact of television: A natural experiment in three communities.Orlando, FL: Academic.
25.
WitheyS. B.AbelesR. P. (Eds.). (1980). Television and social behavior.Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.