Children's Media Use and Sleep Problems: Issues and Unanswered Questions

Reviews research on the potential effect of new trends in children's media use on sleep and the effect of inadequate sleep on attention, learning, cognitive development, and psychiatric and physical health. Discusses implications and unanswered questions

Prankvertising – Pranks as a New Form of Brand Advertising Online

A practical joke (i.e. a prank) belongs to a category of disparagement humor, as it is a playful act held to amuse, tease or even mock the victim, and to entertain the audience. Alt-hough humor has been long exploited in broadcast and print advertising, the use of practical jokes is a more recent phenomenon esp. in digital marketing. The development of the Inter-net and social media creates new opportunities for using pranks as disguised adverts embed-ded in online strategies and there is an increasing number of companies which exploit pranks as a creative content solution for their on-line presence. As there is little academic endeavor devoted to this subject, this paper forwards a theoretical and practical framework for pranks. It recognizes pranks as innovative forms of digital advertising and it analyses their potential in terms of branding effectiveness (e.g. in maximizing brand reach, exposure, brand visibility, drawing consumer attention, eliciting strong emotions etc.). Possible prank effects are inferred from the theory of humor and from the secondary data collected by the authors of this paper. Key challenges, risks and limitations are discussed and relevant exam-ples are provided. The paper concludes with several research areas and questions to be ad-dressed in future empirical studies

Optimism as a Mediating Factor in the Relationship between Anxiety and News Media Exposure in College Students

Recently, media research has focused on young people to determine what effect violent media images may have on aggressive behavior, but little research has investigated the kind of psychological distress similar images may cause. What emotional impact does increased exposure to negative and even violent news coverage have on young adults? In this study, the relationship between such news media and anxiety levels is examined, as well as the possible mediating role that an optimistic life orientation may play in that relationship. It is hypothesized that the degree to which these individuals follow news media will positively correlate with their state anxiety levels, but when accounting for an optimistic worldview, this effect will be minimized or eliminated. A survey was administered to a sample of 278 undergraduate students attending Bryant University that measured their anxiety levels, life orientation in terms of optimism, and news media viewing habits. The results showed no significant correlation between news media viewing and state anxiety, and therefore also could not support any mediating role of optimism either. Limitations and mitigating factors regarding this study as well as possible avenues for future research are discussed

The influence of sources in violent news on fright and worry responses of children in the Netherlands

Contains fulltext : 233823.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)Children display fright and worry responses to violent news. Including involved children, non-involved children or experts as sources in children's news is assumed to reduce these negative effects. However, exemplification theory gives reason to question whether particularly the use of involved children indeed has a reassuring effect. To test this, an experiment was conducted among 237 children (8-13 y/o). They were randomly exposed to a news video containing (1) involved children as source, (2) non-involved children, or (3) adult experts. Fright and worry responses were measured both before and after exposure. Results showed that the inclusion of involved children as a source significantly increased worry responses, but did not affect fright responses. Non-involved child sources significantly reduced fright and worry responses. Expert sources reduced children’s fright responses, but did not change feelings of worry. These insights can inform news producers on how to alleviate the effects of covering violent events in news.02 juni 202110 p

Television News Violence and Children’s Fear Reaction

Do parents perceive that exposure to violence on television news programs is a problem for their young children? Although considerable research has shown that media violence in other forms (cartoons, movies, television entertainment programs) has several negative effects on children, almost no research or policy attention has been given to children’s exposure to violent events in television news broadcasts. The purpose of this study was to examine the rates of 4-5 years old children’s exposure and fear reaction to television news violence as it relates to several ecological variables, including parental gender, race, education level, household income, family structure and family composition, parents’ concern and parental behavior regarding television news violence. General perceptions of television news violence and observations of their children’s exposure and fear reaction to television news were collected from 27 parents from 4 childcare centers in Knoxville. This project indicates that an ecological approach is a feasible way to examine children’s television news consumption and their reactions. The findings revealed that television news violence has already become an issue about which some parents express general concern. However, the rates of 4-5 year old children’s exposure to television news and their fear reactions are actually not high. In addition to exploring parental attitudes about and actions in regards to television news viewing by their young children, a second question explored the parents’ comparison between television news and children’s cartoons in term of media violence. On one hand, parents seemed to believe that television news is more concerned about violence in television news than in children’s cartoons; on the other hand, parents’ actual limitation of children’s exposure to these two programs was almost the same, and fewer parents reported their child experienced fear to television news than to children’s cartoons

College Students\u27 Lingering Negative Emotional Reponses to Movies Viewed During College

Although much research has been conducted on children’s negative emotional responses to movies, and even negative emotional responses to the media in general, limited research has been conducted on college students’ lingering negative emotional responses to movies they have viewed during their college years. Through a qualitative analysis using a focus group at a Florida Christian college, this thesis will examine what kinds of disturbing movie content and elements cause these lingering negative emotional responses in college students. The lingering negative emotional responses these students have will also be discussed in detail, as well as what triggers the reemergence of these responses

Performance anxiety in actors: symptoms, explanations and an Indian approach to treatment

There are numerous examples of renowned performers across the arts (actors and musicians) and in sports, which become news items in the media due to their performance anxiety (also called stage fright in English, or Lampenfieber in German). Given the number of celebrity actors suffering from stage fright, the number of those actors who do not make the news headlines in relation to their stage fright but nevertheless suffer from it must be even higher. In t his essay we provide an up to date account of the symptoms of stage fright, possible explanations for it and a range of known approaches to treatment. This is followed by an original approach to treating stage fright, based on Indian performance techniques, using details of a study undertaken in 2005.This multi-author journal article provides an in-depth analysis into the nature and treatment available for performance anxiety. The article offers examples of numerous artists and singers, including Sir Laurence Olivier, who had experienced stage fright for the duration of his performances of the title role in Ibsen’s The Master Builder (1965). The article run a clear analysis of the symptoms of stage fright and explain the nature of this psychophysical anxiety using clinical evidences and therapeutic methods. The key focus of the article is to compare and contrast two therapeutic methods for deducing stage anxiety: NLP, a well-established method, and SIT, which is an emerging method developed by Sreenath Nair using South Indian Bodily traditions. The article is based on a project carried out by Emerita Elizabeth Valentine and Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe in 2005, funded by the British Academy and the University of Wales Aberystwyth. The project compared two distinct methods of reducing stage fright in stage actors (Valentine et.al. 2006), one of them based on Indian approaches (South Indian Techniques, SIT) and the other Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). The SIT approach makes use of a range of psychophysical approaches deriving from the martial and performance traditions of Kerala. The study concludes that although many of the results were not statistically significant, ten of the eleven main effects were in the predicted direction, i.e. a greater effect for SIT than NLP. This multi-author journal article provides an in-depth analysis into the nature and treatment available for performance anxiety. The article offers examples of numerous artists and singers, including Sir Laurence Olivier, who had experienced stage fright for the duration of his performances of the title role in Ibsen’s The Master Builder (1965). The article run a clear analysis of the symptoms of stage fright and explain the nature of this psychophysical anxiety using clinical evidences and therapeutic methods. The key focus of the article is to compare and contrast two therapeutic methods for deducing stage anxiety: NLP, a well-established method, and SIT, which is an emerging method developed by Sreenath Nair using South Indian Bodily traditions. The article is based on a project carried out by Emerita Elizabeth Valentine and Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe in 2005, funded by the British Academy and the University of Wales Aberystwyth. The project compared two distinct methods of reducing stage fright in stage actors (Valentine et.al. 2006), one of them based on Indian approaches (South Indian Techniques, SIT) and the other Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). The SIT approach makes use of a range of psychophysical approaches deriving from the martial and performance traditions of Kerala. The study concludes that although many of the results were not statistically significant, ten of the eleven main effects were in the predicted direction, i.e. a greater effect for SIT than NLP. The study is a practice-based research demonstrating a highly relevant contribution to a therapeutic practice reducing stage fright. The research combines science and humanities indicating direct and wider impact

Spannung / Suspense : eine Auswahlbibliographie

Die folgende Bibliographie basiert auf einer Fassung, die in der Medienwissenschaft: Rezensionen (13,2, 1996, Disk. 1) zugänglich gemacht worden ist. In die vorliegende Auswahlbibliographie wurden vorwiegend film- und fernsehorientierte Beiträge aufgenommen, die das Thema Spannung / Suspense untersuchen. Diese Beiträge beleuchten das Thema vor dem Hintergrund verschiedenster theoretischer und methodischer Perspektiven. Dennoch liegt der Akzent der vorliegenden Auswahlbibliographie auf kognitions- und motivationspsychologisch orientierten Arbeiten, die den überwiegenden Teil der verzeichneten Literatur ausmachen. Verwandte, aber dennoch gegenständlich abgrenzbare Forschungsbereiche wurden mit eigenen Überschriften versehen als Einzellisten aufgenommen. Insgesamt müssen diese Einzellisten unvollständig bleiben, sie enthalten exemplarisch einige zentrale Arbeiten aus diesen Forschungsfeldern. So existiert z.B. zu der Persönlichkeitspsychologie, die sich mit dem Begriff Sensation Seeking verbindet, eine umfangreiche Bibliothek von Beiträgen, die nicht aufgenommen werden konnten. Dies gilt auch für die Dramentheorien und die psychologische Stressforschung, zu der sich ein früher Überblick bei Lazarus (1966) findet. Nicht verfolgt wurden auch die Diskussionen um Informationsästhetik (vgl. Berlyne 1974) sowie um komplexes Problemlösen und Problemlösepsychologie (vgl. Dörner et al. 1983 und Funke 1986). Für Korrekturvorschläge zu den sicher mannigfaltig vorhandenen Irrungen und Wirrungen, Falschzuordnungen und Unordnungen sowie Auslassungen und Unterlassungen sind wir zutiefst dankbar. Die Nachrecherche hat Hans J. Wulff durchgeführt. In die Bibliographie sind Hinweise von Carsten Schneider eingegangen