FRHD 2280 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Windsor, Ontario, Adolescent Sex, Information Overload
18 Oct 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Week 10: Media
Tuesday, March 22nd 2016
Review Question: _____ Consist(s) of not just biological sexual development, but also sexual
values, beliefs, thoughts, feelings, relationships and behaviours
Answer: Sexuality
Review Question: Countries with permissive cultures that accept adolescent sex and countries
with restrictive cultures that adamantly forbid sex share which of the following in common?
Answer: Low rates of teenage pregnancy
Media Use in Adolescence
➔ The typical American adolescent:
◆ Listens to music 4 hours per day
◆ Watches tv for 2 hours per day
◆ 50% go to a movie at least once a month
◆ 70% of girls read popular magazines
◆ 90% have access to computers and the internet
◆ 75% own a digital device
◆ In Canada, boys watch tv more than girls
◆ In grade 6, tv watching decreases
◆ Low SES watch tv more than teens who are high SES
◆ Canadian girls tend to use the computer more, Canadian boys lay computer
games more
◆ In North America and Europe, Adolescents tend to spend 6-7 hours a day using
media
◆ Canadian teens use media over 8 hours a day (2008 before cell phone increase)
Media Influence
➔ Worries about the effects of new communication methods on adolescents existed
throughout history
◆ Tracing these effects are very difficult
◆ Plato worried about storytellers in ancient Greece
● Novels, comics, music lyrics, tv shows
➔ What are some of the positive and negative effects of media?
◆ Positive: Information readily available,
◆ Negative: Information overload,
Theories of Media Influence
➔ 1. Cultivation Theory
◆ Watching tv gradually shapes of cultivates a person’s worldview so it becomes
like the worldview frequently depicted on tv
◆ Mean world syndrome
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
● This idea that the more people watch tv, the more likely people are to
believe the world is a dangerous place
● Ex. Crime rates are high, more likely to be a victim of a crime etc.
◆ Some research evidence
● Suggests that high amounts of tv viewing can have negative psychosocial
effects
● Heavy tv users (<4 hrs) experienced shyness, loneliness than those who
didn’t watch tv, or viewed less of it
● Cross sectional research - how many hours do you watch tv, complete a
survey about your personality and mental health - not causal
◆ Heavy tv users compared to low tv users start to see the world’s shown in tv as if
they were part of the real world
◆ Video: After Columbine
● Sarnia, Ontario
○ Asking students about gun violence and murders
● Windsor, Ontario
○ Asking about murders
● New York, New York
○ “Canadian’s don’t watch as gory movies as the U.S”
○ “Canada doesn’t have poverty like us” False
○ “Canada is full of white people” False
○ “Because we have less guns” False
○ “Canadians don’t lock their doors”
● Canadian Politicians talk differently - about health care and wellbeing
compared to gun violence
● Asked Detroit residents about what it is like to come to Canada - a lot less
segregated, and very welcoming
● The more violence shown on the news, produces more fear which causes
more violence
➔ 2. Social Learning Theory
◆ People are more likely to imitate behaviour they see frequently modeled in the
media, and that is rewarded or not punished
◆ Bandura’s “Bobo Doll” study
● Children watched an adult hit a doll and then the kid was brought into the
room and left with the doll; the child usually imitated the adult and hit the
doll as well
◆ Video: News Clip in Seattle
● Child was buried in a sandbox head first
● Naruta - Cartoon shows somebody being buried in sand
◆ Higher exposure to sexual content in the media leads to earlier sexual activity
● Teens model their behaviour based on what is shown in the media
◆ Dexter Copycat
➔ 3. Schematic Information Processing Theory
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Review question: _____ consist(s) of not just biological sexual development, but also sexual values, beliefs, thoughts, feelings, relationships and behaviours. Listens to music 4 hours per day. Watches tv for 2 hours per day. 50% go to a movie at least once a month. 90% have access to computers and the internet. In canada, boys watch tv more than girls. Low ses watch tv more than teens who are high ses. Canadian girls tend to use the computer more, canadian boys lay computer games more. In north america and europe, adolescents tend to spend 6-7 hours a day using media. Canadian teens use media over 8 hours a day (2008 before cell phone increase) Worries about the effects of new communication methods on adolescents existed throughout history. Plato worried about storytellers in ancient greece. Watching tv gradually shapes of cultivates a person"s worldview so it becomes like the worldview frequently depicted on tv.
