1. Ecology of the Mass Media
Chapter 9
Ecology of the Mass Media

2. Do media shape culture, reflect it, or transform it?
Prologue:
Do media shape culture, reflect it, or transform it?

3. What messages are being received via curious media and what are their effects on children?
Do media stimulate critical thinking or inhibit it?
Is media access to information a cultural equalizer or a cultural divider (segregating the information-rich and the information-poor)?

4. Fig. 9-1, p. 351 Figure 9.1: An Ecological Model of Human Development.
The media contribute to the socialization of the child.
Fig. 9-1, p. 351

5. Understanding the mass media
“Media”: the plural of medium refers to a type of communication.
Mass media: shapers and spreaders of culture

6. Chronosystem influences on the mass media
Even though media technology has changed, concerns regarding its influences on children remain the same

7. Macrosystem influences on mass media
The mass communication system in the U.S. is characterized by private ownership and the drive for cooperate profits
As long as the broadcast media in the U.S. are designed to attract audiences to whom to sell products, they will convey messages that are likely to influence attitudes and behavior

8. Screen media: Concerns about television and movies
How have TV and movies affected our lives
Effects on social and physical activities
Family rituals and interactions
Physical activity
Effects on the perception of reality
Effects on imagination

9. Screen media: Effects on the prevalence of violence
Observational learning
Attitudes
Arousal
Effects of advertising
Gullibility

10. Screen media:
Perpetuation of values
Behavior
Sexuality
Stereotypes

11. Screen media: Effects on children’s cognitive development
Reading and communication skills
Information processing
Academic achievement

12. Figure 9.2: Mediating Influences Affecting the Outcomes of Media Messages on the Viewer.
Fig. 9-2, p. 372

13. Screen media: Mediating influences on socialization outcomes
Selective attention
Adult involvement

14. Mesosystem influences
Community-media linkages
The Public Broadcasting System (PBS)
Cable and Satellite television
Recording devices
Public Interest Groups

15. Mesosystem influences
School-media linkages
Peer-media linkages
Family-media linkages

16. Print Media: How do print media influence children’s development
Cognitive development
Language and reading development
Psychosocial development

17. Books, socialization, and development levels of children
Pre-operational stage (about age 2 to 7)
Concrete operational stage (about age 7 to 11 or 15)
Formal operational stage (about age 11 to 15)

18. Audio media: popular music
Today’s popular music vs television and books: expression of the youth culture and also that it alienates many adults.
Popular music often illustrates social values of that time.
The question that remains is whether the songs reflect the values of a particular generation or whether they influence that generation’s values

19. Interactive and multimedia
Computers and the Internet
Computerized video/CD games