Fake News and Editing: Marketing Techniques used to Spin Controversies in Video Mediums

This thesis explores the topic of fake news in today\u27s digital landscape by analyzing how young adults (18-2) form and change prior opinions based on the media they consume. I measured this by showing respondents one of two bias montages in response to Google\u27s Project Owl initiative. Project Owl is Google\u27s controversial attempt to regulate false or abusive news by launching new feedback forms in addition to altering their algorithm in a way the company has not yet disclosed to the public (Sullivan). Each self-edited montage is two minutes in length and together they cover two radically different responses to Project Owl: one is positioned critically against the principles behind this move by Google, and one is clearly in support of the company\u27s project. To test the effects of spinning each video to change viewers\u27 perception of Project Owl, I developed a survey and designed a study to collect data from one-hundred people. Of the hundred people surveyed, half were randomly assigned to watch video A and half were randomly assigned to watch video B. Each participant was asked to answer a set of questions before and after watching their assigned video. The survey was designed to provide data on how their responses to Project Owl change after watching their assigned video. By using surveys that target the effects on audiences of informative video compilations that spin Project Owl, the thesis shows the manipulation of editing and short-form informational social media videos have on society more broadly. The intricate project is especially relevant because, while President Donald Trump regularly reprimands the promotion of fake news through Twitter, left-wing activists argue that false information spread across the Internet contributed to the outcome of the 2016 election. These arguments from opposing sides are intensified in the 21st century age of New Media and information overload, a period in media history when the fact that the production and circulation of news can come from anyone, anywhere, and at any time means that the difficulty of assessing the authenticity and reliability of that information is increasing exponentially

Growth Potential in Relationships: A Promotion-Focus Perspective

Relationship research has long emphasized the importance of felt security for interpersonal wellbeing, but has focused less on how opportunities for growth influence relationship well-being. The present research investigates whether people’s motivational states may influence the extent to which people value growth in their romantic relationships. Drawing on regulatory focus theory, which distinguishes between promotion (concerned with advancement) and prevention (concerned with security) self-regulatory orientations, it was hypothesized that promotion-focused individuals would be more satisfied with relationships that offered greater opportunity for growth than with those that offered greater opportunity for security. In three experimental studies, participants evaluated others’ (Study 1; N = 110) and their own (Study 2; N =141 and 3: N = 103) relationships after we manipulated beliefs about whether those relationships had high or low potential for future growth. Results revealed that promotion-focused participants rated theirs and another person’s relationship more positively when the relationship portrayed high growth potential rather than when it portrayed low growth potential. These results have meaningful implications for marriage courses and in clinical settings for defense against reinforcement erosion

More order with less law: on contract enforcement, trust, and crowding

Most contracts, whether between voters and politicians or between house owners and contractors, are incomplete. “More law,” it typically is assumed, increases the likelihood of contract performance by increasing the probability of enforcement and/or the cost of breach. We examine a contractual relationship in which the first mover has to decide whether she wants to enter a contract without knowing whether the second mover will perform. We analyze how contract enforceability affects individual performance for exogenous preferences. Then we apply a dynamic model of preference adaptation and find that economic incentives have a nonmonotonic effect on behavior. Individuals perform a contract when enforcement is strong or weak but not with medium enforcement probabilities: Trustworthiness is “crowded in” with weak and “crowded out” with medium enforcement. In a laboratory experiment we test our model’s implications and find support for the crowding prediction. Our finding is in line with the recent work on the role of contract enforcement and trust in formerly Communist countries

PERCEPTION OF RURAL GENERAL EDUCATORS ON THE INCLUSION AND PARTICIPATION OF STUDENTS WITH SIGNIFICANT DISABILITIES

The purpose of the study was to question rural general education teachers’ perceptions and attitudes on the inclusion of students with significant disabilities. The investigator surveyed rural general education teachers on their perceptions of what should be occurring in terms of inclusion and on what they saw as occurring in terms of inclusion of students with significant disabilities. The results yielded mixed perceptions and were generally positive in terms of the inclusion occurring within that school district

Disseminating research results to research participants and their communities

No abstractMalawi Medical Journal Vol. 20 (2) 2008: pp. 64-6

The Effect of Music Therapy versus General Classroom Instruction on the Social Skills of a Preschooler on the Autism Spectrum in an Inclusive Setting

The purpose of this case study was to examine the effects of music therapy on the development of the social skills of a preschooler on the autism spectrum in an inclusive setting. The study was performed in an inclusive preschool classroom at the Ben Samuels Children’s Center on the campus of Montclair State University. A literature review related to this topic included information on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the etiology of the disorder and the use of music therapy in the inclusive school setting with students on the autism spectrum. The review also covered the effect music therapy has on the social communicative goals with students on the autism spectrum, comparing music and non-music conditions. The participant observed in the case study is diagnosed on the autism spectrum and was observed in an inclusive music therapy group and an inclusive non-music classroom group at the Ben Samuels Children’s Center on the Montclair State University campus. Qualitative session notes based on the developmental milestones established by Greenspan & Wieder (1997) were written after observation of both the music therapy and classroom groups in order to study the student’s social and communicative skills in his inclusive setting with and without the direct influence of music therapy. Further, relationship and expressive language (constituting social and communication) goals were observed in each group and quantified by reviewing videotapes of the sessions. These social communication goals were tracked by counting the number of times certain goals were achieved on an “Evidence of Progress Towards Goals” form, developed by the Ben Samuels Children’s Center, Montclair State University. Comparative data at the conclusion of the study indicated that a higher number of social and communicative goals were achieved during the music therapy sessions than in the classroom sessions. Session notes also describe behaviors and musical elements that were influential to create positive results towards attaining social goals. Results indicate that music therapy is a positive factor that helps the student on the autism spectrum attain his relationship and expressive language goals within the inclusive school setting. Discussion sections follow that describe the musical and classroom behaviors that counted toward achievement of the social goals. Conclusion and Consideration for future study are recommended

Walmart Training Research Study

This essay was created for Megen Boyett\u27s English 102 course