Conceptualizing Visual Detail: Message Structure as a Predictor of Preferential Processing

The research reported here integrates traditions of cognitive information processing and visual communication research by offering a new conceptual definition of item centrality and a methodological tool for measuring it. Using developments in information processing research about effects of visual production features on attention and memory, this article advances the proposition that these features influence the perception of some objects as central or peripheral to the information presented in a specific visual scene. These structural features were combined here to develop and test a structural indicator of item centrality. The results show that such elements as size, proximity to other objects, brightness, motion, contrast, and position on screen account for a great deal of judgment-driven evaluations about objects’ centrality. Moreover, the central and peripheral details identified using the structure-based measure replicated the same pattern of results produced in studies using a judgment-based definition. These findings suggest that structural features associated with an object are valid predictors of whether the object is perceived as central or whether it is perceived as peripheral.     

Taking Message-Attitude Congruence as Media Effects: Examining Perceived Influence of Political Talk Radio in Hong Kong

This study examines how people perceive the influence of political talk radio in Hong Kong. Theoretically, the study focuses on the influence of message-attitude congruence, that is, the situation in which a person's opinions or attitudes are consistent with the viewpoints promulgated by media messages, on the third-person perception. It is argued that message-attitude congruence provides a situation in which people may attribute their attitudes partly to media influence. Hence message-attitude congruence is expected to relate to increased levels of perceived media influence on self, and thereby weaken the size of the third-person differential. Moreover, it is hypothesized that attribution of media influence should be more likely when people perceive the media influence as desirable and when there is the absence of alternative sources of influence. These arguments were tested with a telephone survey (N = 800) in Hong Kong, where political talk radio has been a prominent medium in the past decade. The results support the theoretical arguments and contribute to our understanding of the significance of the medium in the city. The broader theoretical implications of the findings are also discussed.     

I Approve This Message: Effects of Sponsorship,Ad Tone,and Reactance in 2008 Presidential Advertising

This experiment (N = 198), conducted just before the 2008 presidential election, set out to examine the effects of tone and sponsorship in current political advertising, the first such study since campaign law began requiring candidates to approve their ads explicitly. In another first, we also examined the role of reactance in responses to political advertising. With regard to tone, positive ads received higher ad evaluation and cognitive response valence scores and less reactance than negative ads, but negative ads led to a greater likelihood of turning out to vote. Moreover, those without a strong candidate preference were more likely to vote for a candidate supported by a negative ad. Sponsorship had little effect on its own, but there were some intriguing interactions with political knowledge such that high-knowledge respondents had less reactance and lower opponent ratings, whereas moderate-knowledge respondents had the opposite reaction. We also found that reactance appears to play a major role in the effects of political advertising. It was associated directly with more negative cognitive responses, ad, and candidate evaluations and indirectly with lower intention to vote for the candidate supported by the ad, but it had no relationship with intent to turn out to vote.     

Relational progression as a dialectic: Examining turning points in communication among friends

This study claims that relationship development can be viewed as a dialectic. Evidence for this hypothesis is obtained by examining friendships of three different intimacy levels: casual, close, and best friends. Over one-half of the friendships examined exhibited patterns of recalled relational development predicted by viewing development as a dialectic. Five trajectories for friendships were found. The most commonly reported turning points consisted of activities that the friends shared. Few differences were found between casual, close, and best friends; however, number of turning points was negatively related to satisfaction for casual friends. Implications for the conceptualization of relational development and interpersonal communication research are discussed.     

Training for the Unthinkable: Examining Message Characteristics on Motivations to Engage in an Active-Shooter Response Video

Campus safety is becoming an increasing concern for academic institutions due to numerous recent tragedies. To prepare students, staff, and faculty for these events, schools are beginning to use active shooter response training videos such as Run, Hide, Fight—a 5-minute video created by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Framed in protection motivation theory, this study employs a 3 x 2 factorial design to test the influence of message medium (email, text, or tweet) and frame (direct or fear-based message) on students' completion of the safety training video. The findings suggest that the combination of message frame and message medium influence training completion. Additionally, the video itself led to a significant increase in participants’ self-efficacy, safety knowledge, and campus safety salience.     

Young Voter Perceptions of Political Satire as Persuasion: A Focus on Perceived Influence,Persuasive Intent,and Message Strength

This study focuses on the perceived effectiveness of political satire. A pair of experimental studies using original satirical works offer findings for audience perceptions regarding two types of satire, juvenalian and horatian, compared to traditional opinion-editorial argumentation. The two studies produced replicable findings that indicate clear perceptions of persuasive intent associated with both types of satire, and horatian satire ranking lower than traditional opinion-editorials in perceived message strength and perceived influence on self.     

Crafting Courses as Game Spaces: Examining Video Games Classes in Communication

The sudden rise in the number of games courses in Communication departments necessitates examination about how those courses operate, not only to define best practices but also to describe the phenomenon as grounded in communication. Through a series of interviews with games professors primarily located in Communication departments at various institutions, the study delineates the commonalities between game courses and discusses issues of course design, materials, and classroom facilities. The article examines these courses as game spaces to identify how games courses operate in fundamentally different ways than other courses in Communication. The article then outlines how games classes might improve by capitalizing on the strengths—as well as mitigating the weaknesses—of game spaces.     

LMFAO! Humor as a Response to Fear: Decomposing Fear Control within the Extended Parallel Process Model

This study seeks to analyze fear control responses to the 2012 Tips from Former Smokers campaign using the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM). The goal is to examine the occurrence of ancillary fear control responses, like humor. In order to explore individuals’ responses in an organic setting, we use Twitter data—tweets—collected via the Firehose. Content analysis of relevant fear control tweets (N = 14,281) validated the existence of boomerang responses within the EPPM: denial, defensive avoidance, and reactance. More importantly, results showed that humor tweets were not only a significant occurrence but constituted the majority of fear control responses.     

The Partisan Child: Developmental Provocation as a Model of Political Socialization

While recent research highlights the child’s active rolein her own political socialization, this study represents thefirst test of the premise that political identification proceedsas adolescents prompt feedback from parents. I propose a modelof developmental provocation in which adolescents’ interestin an election campaign, once stimulated by news media use,motivates them to engage parents in political conversations.By initiating discussion, adolescents can generate informationfrom parents as a basis for comparison, contrast, reflection,and debate—all of these activities might foster partyand ideological identity. Results from survey panel data supportthe model. The field setting is Lubbock, Texas, during the finalweeks of the 2000 presidential campaign. The stunning aftermathof the election, including the dispute over ballot recountsin Florida, provided a unique opportunity to examine politicalsocialization. Child-initiated discussion generated both parentalencouragement and defensive admonitions, reflecting structuralchanges in family communication patterns. Despite controls fordemographics and parent-initiated discussion, child-initiatedconversation and the resulting feedback predicted an increasein the likelihood that an adolescent would adopt a politicalidentity.     

Living in the Smartphone Age: Examining the Conditional Indirect Effects of Mobile Phone Use on Political Participation

Employing original survey data, this study examined how mobile phone communication is associated with political participation. Findings revealed that informational use of mobile phone and mobile-based political talk are positively associated with political participation. Specifically, using a mobile smartphone for news and information leads to increased levels of political participation through mobile-mediated political discussion. More importantly, we found gaps in political participation between individuals with higher and lower education levels: education significantly moderates the mediating relationship, with more educated individuals showing a stronger effect of mobile phone use for news/information on political participation through mobile-mediated political discussion.     

BIRGing,CORFing, and Twitter Activity Following a Political Referendum: Examining Social Media Activity Concerning the 2014 Scottish Independence Vote

A sizable body of research has examined BIRG, or Basking in Reflected Glory, as the psychological process of associating with the successes of others. A sample of 253,188 tweets related to the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum were collected leading up to and following the vote. Results support BIRG processes on the part of anti-independence tweeters, and Cutting Off Reflected Failure (CORF) responses by those favoring independence. Evidence does not support the notion that CORF was attenuated by high involvement.     

Sent from My iPhone: The Medium and Message as Cues of Sender Professionalism in Mobile Telephony

The growing ubiquity of mobile telephony able to send e-mail raises new questions, and renews old issues, about the effect of the medium on a message. This article reports experimental results testing effects of user- and medium-generated cues on perceptions of message senders. Grounded in warranting theory, we assess the interaction of low- and high-warrant cues on perceptions of the sender's professionalism, hypothesizing senders of grammatically accurate messages are perceived as more credible. However, we also hypothesize an interaction between grammatical accuracy and the system-generated high-warrant cues from the mobile device used to send the message. Responses from 111 students assessing the credibility of an e-mail sender indicate that, although a message's user-generated content (grammatically accurate vs. erred) influences receiver's perceptions, negative attributions are attenuated by cues reflecting the transmission medium (i.e., a message's mobile signature block). Findings offer theoretical implications for warranting theory. Additionally, results suggest practitioners need to craft a message and indicate the transmission medium strategically to mitigate any impacts on attributions of professionalism to message receivers.     

The Effect of Television Viewing on Adolescents' Civic Participation: Political Efficacy as a Mediating Mechanism

Pundits, parents, and scholars express concern about youth attention to late-night political comedy shows, such as The Daily Show, suggesting that such viewing is deleterious for an active, efficacious citizenry. Yet as civic participation declines among adults, it appears to be growing among adolescents. This study assessed the effects of television viewing on high school students' civic participation. Results demonstrate that viewing late-night TV and local TV news had a positive, significant effect on civic participation, and this relationship was mediated by political efficacy. Implications for the study of late-night TV and applications to research on political socialization are discussed.     

When the Gates Swing Open: Examining Network Gatekeeping in a Social Media Setting

This study draws on the concept of network gatekeeping to examine the ways in which organizations have adapted the processes of gatekeeping to respond to the collaborative, communicative power of users upon which they are exercising their gatekeeping authority. Through a case study of the unprecedented “Social Suite” provided for social media-using fans of Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians, this article explores the methods the gatekeeper has used to both subvert and reinforce its traditional role. Gatekeepers are found to extend their authority into networked realms by allowing for greater access, freedom, and relationship while applying more subtle gatekeeping filters, and the Social Suite's users play a role as active, though gated, participants in the gatekeeping process. The findings of this article expand on current gatekeeping research to address the fluid, emerging roles of gatekeepers and gated communities within networked environments.     

微信:提升高校档案服务的关键助力

微信不仅是信息交流的工具,更是政府、企事业单位业务推广与宣传的利器,高校档案馆要利用微信提升档案服务。文章对微信对高校档案服务的影响进行了分析,探讨了微信在高校档案服务中的应用,设想了高校档案馆利用微信服务的发展方向。     

Examining the Library as a Site for Intervention: A Mixed-Methods Case Study Evaluation of the “Innovative Solutions to Homelessness” Project

Abstract

This study examined a project that delivered social work services to homeless individuals. A mixed-methods case study was conducted using quantitative and qualitative data from 93 library employees and the project’s Homelessness Prevention Outreach Worker (HPOW). There was an increase in the number of clients accessing community supports during the project, and the HPOW was integral to the provision of support and resources to homeless individuals. Staff training was associated with significantly greater knowledge, comfort, and skills in working with homeless individuals. These findings can inform the delivery and implementation of similar programs for homeless individuals.     

传统图书馆、门户网站和数字图书馆中信息组织方式的比较

文章论述了传统图书馆、门户网站、数字图书馆信息组织方式的特点,并对其进行了分析和比较。     

Xerox Makes Everybody a Publisher: Problems of Book Photocopying and Ways to Control it in Malaysia

Photocopying of reading materials, especially from holdings in libraries is common practice among Malaysian university students. It is unusual to find a student not making photocopies from books or journals. Photocopying machines are easily found in the campus, especially in the libraries with full cooperation from the machine operators. This article will discuss the copyright law in Malaysia with regard to photocopying practices, especially on the controversial term of “fair use” or “fair dealing” as stated in the act. The second part relates to the main findings from a survey conducted in 2009 about photocopying among university students, and the last part provide alternatives available to publishers on ways to control and to overcome this problem.     

Library Technical Services: Key Ingredients in the Recipe for a Successful Institutional Repository

For years, academic institutions have established and maintained institutional repositories (IRs) to collect, preserve, and showcase their institution's research and scholarly output. Tammy Sugarman, Associate Dean for Collections at Georgia State University Library, presented “Library Technical Services: Key Ingredients in the Recipe for a Successful Institutional Repository” at the Mississippi State University Libraries eResource & Emerging Technologies Summit held at Mississippi State University, Mitchell Memorial Library on August 3, 2012. Sugarman provided historical background on IRs and explored the professional and organizational changes taking place in academic libraries to support IR programs, focusing on contributions of technical services units.