Developmental Psychology and Media: Questions 1-3 by Marcela Wallace

1. How has media effected you in different stages of life?

marcelaawallace — 2024-05-04 18:16:15 UTC

For this question, I will separate your childhood into four stages based off of Piagetian cognitive development. You don't need to know the details of the stages for this question, just the ages.

Birth-two years old
Two-seven years old
Seven to twelve years old
Twelve and up

What media (books, television, news, social media, video games) were you consuming at these ages? Did you consume any at all in your younger years? Be specific, citing favorite cartoons or games. Was there anything you weren't allowed to view or play? Did anything scare you?

***Please feel free to add your thoughts about younger children you know today. Do you know a younger child who has been using something like a tablet since they were a baby?

2. influential media

marcelaawallace — 2024-05-04 18:23:53 UTC

Consider the following quote from Piaget and Pokemon; "Pokemon, for example, debuted in the early 1990s as a video game and later as a popular anime TV show featuring Trainers who control pocket monsters with special powers. Its media franchise now includes more than 800 Pokemon characters appearing on trading cards, feature films, children's books, fandom sites, YouTube videos, Macy's day parade floats and popular apps like Pokemon Go!." (Sheibe 75).

What media that you consumed as a younger person (and maybe still today) dominantly influenced you in a multi-modal way? Think about the product of the media, were there role models in there? Why do you think this piece of media spoke to you?

***Please feel free to add your thoughts about younger children you know today. Do you know a child whose identity revolves around a current media franchise?

3. Influential Media continued, and childhood behavior

marcelaawallace — 2024-05-04 21:06:09 UTC

From this chapter, it has been made clear that a child's behavior is affected by both media and real-world influences.

From my perspective, most important things to consider when thinking about them simultaneously are;

Learning from how media makes you feel. This means considering media as a platform that provides role models, rhetoric's, feeling accomplished or satisfied, and a means of seeing yourself represented.
Learning from how media use is rewarded/discouraged. This means, for children, how screen time is seen and permitted within the family, what you are allowed to watch, what is seen as bad/good media.

Consider this as well: Albert Banduras Social Learning Theory is described in the chapter as so: "Behavior is due to more than just the influence of the environment; it also reflects children's and observations and interpretations of what they see and the individuals (or characters) with whom they identify with most strongly." (Scheibe 78).

How do you think that media versus your environment affected the way you acted, your morals, etc?

Think about question 2 a little more. What was your media role models teaching you? Do you agree with Banduras' statement?

***Please feel free to add your thoughts about younger children you know today. Do you know a child who identifies so strongly with a character, that they act like them or dress like them?

"In 1978 former FCC commissioner Nicholas Johnson said, 'All television is educational television. The question is: what is it teaching?'". (Scheibe 83)

marcelaawallace — 2024-05-04 21:11:12 UTC

This is just food for thought. . .you may want to consider this quote while ruminating on the topic.