IMS
Global: How do you define media psychology? And why does it
make sense as a new field of study and research?
BL:
Media psychology is really the application of psychology to media. It's
as simple as that. It's the application of psychology to the human
experience. The field actually has quite a long history, but the use of
the term is more recent. In my own case, I've been working in media
psychology for more than 40 years. And yet, the term didn't come into
common usage until recently. The definition is much broader today than
it was in the early 90s when the media psychology division of the APA
(American Psychological Association) was formed. At that time, it was
mostly talk-show hosts, the Tony Grants, and the Dr. Ruth Westheimers,
who were either on television or were radio psychologists, talking
about media psychology. In the 90s, we began to realize that psychology
was relevant to software design, to tele-medicine, to public policy,
and government-related issues, to all facets of education,
entertainment, and software games simulation. All of those areas
became, in the current vernacular, silos. In 1997, the media psychology
division of APA decided to do a study of psychology and new
technologies and I co-directed the study. It identified about a dozen
areas where psychologists had the professional opportunity to work in
the areas of media. That broadened out the whole division. Following
that, I started teaching a course in media psychology at Fielding
Graduate University and now we offer a Ph.D program in media psychology
and an Ed.D concentration in media studies.
In the media psychology program,
the field of study is really media studies. It's the study of media
effects. What effect does this convergence of iPods, television, and
the like have on learning? In learning, you have to look at nature and
nurture, but you have to also look at the physical technologies, the
psychology and the physiology of learning. With magnetic resonance
imaging, we can now track the learning experience much more effectively
than ever before. We know the brain centers used in learning. We've
learned that the emotional response is different from the cognitive
response in different places in the brain. We now know more than we
understand, which is one of the learning challenges before us.
IMS
Global: What have been some of the most profound changes in
teaching and learning as a result of the introduction of some of these
new technologies?
BL:
Early on, in the 60s, I taught what was called data processing and my
dissertation was on computer-assisted instruction, which is really
media psychology today. In the latter part of the 60s, I worked with
Carl Rogers at the Center for the Study of the Self in San Diego. In
1972, we created a television series called As Man Behaves. We
did it when I was at Coastline Community College. It applied psychology
and media through the medium of television. My point is that the
aspects of media psychology as it relates to teaching and learning have
long historical roots. If you go back to the tele-courses, you can go
back to Sunrise Semester
in 1959 when they were offering the talking-head courses on television.
Through the 80s, they had auto-tutors and computers were beginning to
be used in different ways. Even slides were a big thing in those days.
By the late 70s, the Adult Learning Service at PBS got set up. Sesame Street had
been created and was having some success. As we got into the 80s, we
shifted from analog to digital media and the boom took off. Cable
television grew dramatically, and they perfected devices, including the
laptop computer and audio-visual kinds of things. The 80s was really
kind of a decade of spreadsheets and limited audio-visual impact in the
learning environment.
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