Children's journeys through the information age / Sandra L. Calvert.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Calvert, Sandra L.

Series:

McGraw-Hill series in developmental psychology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Television and children--United States.

Television and children.

Violence in mass media.

Sex role in mass media.

Computers and children.

United States.

Computers and children--United States.

Internet and children--United States.

Internet and children.

Mass media and children--United States.

Mass media and children.

Sex role in mass media--United States.

Violence in mass media--United States.

Physical Description:

xxii, 298 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Boston : McGraw-Hill College, [1999]

Summary:

Children's Journeys Through the Information Age by Sandra Calvert addresses many of the issues surrounding our culture's continuing immersion into technology, looking particularly at the current and emerging information technologies influencing children. Calvert poses questions about the effects of these technologies and discusses their meaning for parents, teachers, and policymakers. For instance, Calvert looks at specific software designs and mediums (i.e. TV, Diskette, CD-ROM) to explore how gender role, ethnic, and racial stereotypes are carried to intended audiences through implicit messages in these programs.

Contents:

1 The Medium as the Messenger 1

What Are the Information Technologies? 3

Mass Media: Television and Radio 3

Computer Technologies: Personal Computers, CD-ROM, Video Games, Virtual Reality, and the Internet 3

Children's Access to Information Technologies 6

Ownership Patterns 7

Gender and Ethnic Issues 7

Selective Exposure 8

Uses and Gratification Theory 8

Active Versus Passive Exposure 9

What Is Television Viewing? 10

Impact of New Technologies on Viewing 16

Displacement Effects: What Activities Do Information Technologies Replace? 16

The Introduction of Television 17

The Introduction of New Technologies 18

Impact of Television on Reading Skills 22

The Symbol Systems of Radios, Books, Televisions, and Computers 24

2 Media Violence 27

The Action-and-Violence Formula 28

Violent Television Content 29

Violent Content in the New Technologies: Video Games and Virtual Reality Games 32

Technological Interfaces: From Observation to Interaction 35

The Observational Television Experience 35

The Interactive Experience 36

How Does Violence Affect Children? 36

Arousal Theory 37

Social Cognitive Theory: Violent Characters as Social Models 41

Cultivating Aggressive Beliefs and Scripts 44

Psychoanalytic Theory 46

Is There a Causal Link Between Media Violence and Real-life Aggression? 48

Censorship or V-Chip? 52

3 Pink and Blue Media Images 55

Pink and Blue Messages on the Information Highway 57

Television Content: Content Analyses 57

Video Game and Computer Content 61

Gender as an Organizer of Human Experience 63

Gender Schema Theory 63

Television Effects on Gender Schemas: Activation versus Differentiation 65

Computers and Children's Gender Schemas 71

Altering Children's Gender Schemas about Computers 74

Summary on Gender Schemas and Computers 77

Cognitive Developmental Theory: From Gender Identity to Gender Constancy 77

Gender Constancy and Television Content 78

Gender Constancy and Computer Content 79

Summary on Gender Constancy 80

Social Cognitive Theory 80

Gender Roles and Television Content 81

Social Cognitive Theory and Computer Interactions 83

4 Black and White Media Images 85

Content Analyses of Minority Portrayals 86

The Number of Ethnic Minority Television Characters 87

Television Roles of Ethnic Minority Characters 89

A Theoretical Lens for Predicting Ethnic Portrayal Effects 91

Effects of Racial Television Portrayals on Children 93

Schema Theory: Constructing Beliefs about the Races 93

Social Cognitive Theory: Role Models for Children 99

The Drench Hypothesis: Assessing the Value of a Few Nonstereotyped Media Images 100

Cultivation Theory: Cultivating Racial Beliefs 101

Summary of the Theoretical Findings 101

The Influence of New Technologies 102

5 Green Media Images: The Color of Money 105

Content Analyses of Children's Advertisements 106

Commercial Selling Techniques 109

Theoretical Models in Relation to Advertising 110

Impact of Advertising on Children 111

Attention to Advertisements 111

Product Recognition 112

Comprehension of Commercial Intent 112

Behavioral Effects: Product Requests and Purchasing Patterns 115

Deceptive Practices in Children's Advertisements 116

Consumer Education Programs 117

Commercial Advertising Practices on the Internet 121

Violating Children's Right to Privacy 121

Unfair and Deceptive Advertising Practices 121

Solutions to Internet Commercial Issues 123

6 Media, Public Policy, and Government Regulation 125

Structural Aspects of the Television Industry 128

The Financial Base of Television Programs 129

Government Regulation of Television Content and Advertisements 130

Impact of the Children's Television Act on Children's Programs 133

Educational and Informational Programming 134

The Three-Hour Rule 135

Advertising Regulations 137

Parent Advisories and Program Ratings 140

Roadblocks to Quality Television Programs 140

Creating A Market for Quality Television Programs 141

Implications for the Interactive Technologies 145

7 The Form of the Information Highway 147

What are Formal Production Features? 149

Macro Formal Features 149

Visual Micro Features 151

Auditory Micro Features 151

Children's Cognitive Skills: Theoretical Underpinnings 152

Perception: The Intake of Information 153

Attention: Passing through the Gatekeeper 154

Representation and Memory of Information 155

Action as Output 156

Summary of Cognitive Skills 156

Empirical Inquiries in the Television and Computer Areas 157

Children's Attention to, and Memory of, Television Content 157

Summary of the Empirical Evidence 165

Production Features and the New Technologies 165

Motivational Aspects of Features 166

Action Superiority in Computer Interactions 167

Interactive Experiences: Will the Medium Become the Message? 171

Video Games and the Cultivation of Visual Spatial Skills 171

Creating Video and Computer Programs: Windows to the Mind 174

Virtual Reality Experiences: Enactive Representations of the Future 176

8 Educational Media 178

What is an Educational Television or Computer Program? 179

History of Educational Television Programs 180

Characteristics of Effective Educational Television and Computer Programs 184

Age-Appropriate Content 184

Gender- and Ethnic-Appropriate Content 188

Perceptually Salient Production Techniques 188

Comprehensible Language 188

Interactivity 189

Repetition 189

Familiar Host and Cast 190

Familiar Setting 190

Themes 190

Learning Is Fun! 191

Multimedia Learning Environments 191

Effectiveness of Educational Television Programs 192

Evaluations of Sesame Street 193

The Comprehensibility Hypothesis 196

Evaluations of School House Rock 199

Evaluations of Other Educational Programs 201

Summary of Educational Television Programs 202

Effectiveness of Educational Computer Programs 203

Educational Pathways on the Internet 205

9 Prosocial and Imaginative Media 208

What is Prosocial Behavior? 209

Content Analyses of Television Programs 210

Can Television Viewing Increase Children's Prosocial Behaviors? 212

Verbal Labeling and Role Playing as Aids for Prosocial Activity 213

Previewing and Reviewing Content to Aid Comprehension 217

Mixing the Message: Combining Prosocial and Aggressive Content 218

Effective Formats for Presenting Prosocial Television Programs 220

Influences of Television Content on Children's Imagination 221

Summary of Prosocial Effects 226

The New Technologies and Children's Prosocial Behaviors 227

Cooperative and Collaborative Computer Activities 227

Summary of the New Technologies 231

Imaginative Activities on the Computer 231

Communicating on the Internet 232

10 The Convergence of Information Technologies 235

The Content 237

Regulation and Deregulation 239

Technological Changes in Information Delivery 239

High-Definition Television 240

Interactive Television 241

Virtual Reality Interfaces 242

Summary on Changes in Delivery 242

Ubiquitous Access 243

Educational and Prosocial Content 244

Implications for the Form of Thought 246.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 258-282) and indexes.

ISBN:

0070116644

OCLC:

39334782