Psychology and The Media

563 Words2 Pages

It's clear to see the media focuses on various reports, television shows, and even sitcoms regarding all forms of psychology. While watching television one can say media basically relies on psychology. The media of psychology views psychology through means of common sense versus an actual science. Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processed. Behavior is anything you do that can be observed. In the media we can observe people through the television screen. Through our observations we learn from their behavior. For example in a famous experiment conducted by Albert Bandura called, "Bobo Doll Experiment," a preschool child is working on a drawing. An adult in another part of the room is building with Tinkertoys. The child is watching this adult through a television screen and watches as the adult gets up and for nearly ten minutes pounds, kicks, and throws around the room a large inflated Bobo doll, while yelling hurtful sayings such as, "Sock him in the nose" or "Hit him down" and even "Kick him". After the adult was done, the child was taken to another room and demonstrated the same actions as they have seen through the television screen to the Bobo Doll. It's clear to see from the experiment the media teaches society many aspects of psychology. From a psychological aspect we see a child observing violent behavior from what the media has presented. Humans learn through observation and in a world where technology is advancing, the media plays a large role. Psychology overall is known as a social science but while watching television it's clear to see the more logical aspect of it. However it depends on which program an individual is watching. For instance, if an individual is watching CNN they are viewing cases regarding crimes, disasters, political chaos or other news stories. Through these news stories an individual learns anger, hate, being opinionated, shock, and scandals. CNN in particular has good, and bad stories that effects society and how we perceive the world around us. The television is our guide to the outside world and how we depict it. The media presents the many diverse fields of psychology. Another example are game shows such as, The Price is Right, which uses cognitive psychology. The Price Is Right uses cognitive psychology because the contestants on this show uses memory perception and problem solving. Another show called, Anger Management, uses developmental psychology, through this show audience members view individuals suffering from traumatic past events and how they have developed through them to their adult life.

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