Reducing the Bias: How Perspective Taking Affects First- and Third-Person Perceptions of Media Influence

Third- and first-person perceptions (TPPs/FPPs) are considered to be biased judgments of media influence on self and others. Research suggests that perspective taking, i.e., thinking from another person’s position, decreases perceptual gaps between self and others via assimilation. In a two-factorial experiment (n = 431), we test whether this effect of perspective taking (Factor 1) holds true for the presumed influence of desirable and undesirable messages (Factor 2). Results indicate that perspective taking significantly reduces TPPs in the case of an undesirable message but not FPPs that are provoked by the desirable message. The observable effect traces back to a change in presumed message influence on the self. Presumed influence on others was independent of both factors, desirability of message influence and perspective taking. These findings are discussed in the light of cognitive and motivational explanations for FPPs/TPPs.     

The Development of Clustering in Episodic Memory: A Cognitive-Modeling Approach

Younger children’s free recall from episodic memory is typically less organized than recall by older children. To investigate if and how repeated learning opportunities help children use organizational strategies that improve recall, the authors analyzed category clustering across four study-test cycles. Seven-year-olds, 10-year-olds, and young adults (N = 150) studied categorically related words for a free-recall task. The cognitive processes underlying recall and clustering were measured with a multinomial model. The modeling revealed that developmental differences emerged particularly in the rate of learning to encode words as categorical clusters. The learning curves showed a common pattern across age groups, indicating developmental invariance. Memory for individual items also contributed to developmental differences and was the only factor driving 7-year-olds’ moderate improvements in recall.     

Comprehending animations: Effects of spatial cueing versus temporal scaling

In the present experiment the animation of the operating mechanism of a pendulum clock was used in order to compare the effects of spatial cueing with those of temporal scaling on the comprehension of the animation. The presentation speed of the clock mechanism (normal vs. fast) and signalling cues to three different parts of the mechanism (weight, pendulum, and an irrelevant gear as blinking elements) were used in a 2 × 3 between subjects design with 144 participants. It was found that compared to normal speed condition, understanding was improved in the fast speed condition, but was unaffected by any of the cueing conditions. The results indicate that, although guidance of attention to relevant parts of an animation is often seen as a key to effective instructional design, the way temporal manipulations affect understanding is independent from local attention guiding.     

Distance Education in Physics via the Internet

Abstract

This article describes three connected projects in physics: (1) a very successful course at the university level; (2) a collection of several thousand multimedia materials, its status and evaluation, and its dissemination; and (3) Web experiments—experiments that can be operated remotely from a distance via the Internet.     

Selective Exposure to Cable News and Immigration in the U.S.: The Relationship Between FOX News,CNN, and Attitudes Toward Mexican Immigrants

In the past 2 decades, cable television and the Internet have greatly increased the availability of media content. The phenomenon has reinvigorated a longstanding debate about the effects of this media landscape, as people selectively get exposed to specific content. Based on U.S. national survey data, this article advances research in this area by analyzing the interplay between individuals' ideological predispositions, their selective exposure to cable news, and the relationship between selective exposure and their attitudes toward an issue with key policy-making implications: Mexican immigration. Results indicate conservative Republicans are more likely to watch FOX News, which is associated with negative perceptions of Mexican immigrants and higher support for restrictive immigration policies. Findings also suggest that liberals who get exposed to FOX News also show less support for Mexican immigration.     

The development of the concept of atoms and molecules Dalton and beyond

The concept that all matter is made up of atoms was suggested by Dalton in 1803. It was a very useful concept, which could explain many of the experimental observations, but people were sceptical and considered atoms to be hypothetical objects until the beginning of the 20th century. By the end of the 20th century, advances in science and technology led to imaging of atoms and molecules. Now we are in a position to actually ‘see’ them using the scanning probe microscopies.     

Strategies against Architecture: Interactive Media and Transformative Technology at the Cooper Hewitt,Smithsonian Design Museum

After being closed for three years, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum reopened at the end of 2014 a transformed museum in a renovated heritage building: Andrew Carnegie's former home on the Upper East Side of New York City. New galleries, a collection that was being rapidly digitized, a new brand, and a desire for new audiences drove the museum to rethink and reposition its role as a design museum. At the core of the new museum is a digital platform, built in‐house, that connects collection‐ and patron‐management systems to in‐gallery and online experiences. These have allowed the museum to redesign everything from object labels and vitrines to the fundamentals of the “visitor experience.” This paper explores in detail the process, the decisions made—and resulting tradeoffs—during each stage of the process. In so doing, it reveals the challenges of collaborating with internal and external capacities, operating internationally with online collaboration tools, and rapid prototyping.     

Molecular mechanism of heterogeneous catalysis

Gerhard Ertl, the German physical chemist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for the year 2007, for his contributions in the area of surface science. His painstaking work led to a microscopic understanding of heterogeneous catalysis in industrially important chemical reactions. These include the Haber-Bosch process for the production of ammonia, and the catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide. (left) R S Swathi is a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, working with Prof. K L Sebastian. Her research interests include theoretical study of resonance energy transfer involving various donor-acceptor systems. (right) K L Sebastian is a Professor at the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science. His area of interest is theoretical chemistry.