JJM374 – Media and Psychology

Instructor: Mehmet A. Orhan, PhD
Email: mehmet.orhan@fsv.cuni.cz
Time/Place: Wednesdays, 3:30 pm. Hollar Building H215 (TBC)
Office Hours: By agreement

Course Description:
This course aims to give an understanding of psychological aspects of human-media interaction. Particularly focusing on the new media and cyber-psychological issues, students are expected to acknowledge and examine the potential impacts of media on human behavior and social interactions.

In this course, we will also touch on controversial topics including violence, prosocial effects, pornography, advertising, youth media use, political memes etc. As an advanced course, students are expected to have some basic knowledge of psychology and human behavior.

Required Textbook:
Media Psychology by David Giles. Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
ISBN: 0805840486 or 085840494

Additional Reading - (Recommended):

Books:

· Everybody Lies: What The Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

· The Happiness Effect: How Social Media is Driving a Generation to Appear Perfect at Any Cost by Donna Freitas

Some Selected Articles:

· Young, K. S. (1998). Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 1(3), 237-244.

· Griffiths, M. (1998). Internet addiction: Does it really exist? In J. Gackenbach (Ed.), Psychology and the Internet: Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal implications (pp. 61-75). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

· Deri, S., Davidai, S., & Gilovich, T. (2017). Home alone: Why people believe others’ social lives are richer than their own. Journal of personality and social psychology, 113(6), 858.

And many others…

Topics To Cover Include (Tentative Weekly Plan):

Week 1
Course Introduction & Expectations

Week 2
Course Introduction & Expectations (Continued; Because We Will Have Freshly Registered Students, So I Have to Repeat Myself)

Week 3
Introduction to Media Psychology

Week 4
Motivation and Learning with Media

Week 5
Group Dynamics and Media Relation
How Social Media Influences Decision Making
Fake News and Political Influences

Week 6
Internet Addiction: Myth or Science?
Game Addiction?

Week 7
Prosocial Effects of Media

Week 8
Erotica and Pornography
Advertising

Week 9
Children’s Media Use

Week 10
Ethical Aspects of Media

Week 11
Psychology in the Media

Week12
Final Exam (Oral Exam)

Evaluation & Grading:
Grading:
Position Paper (20%)
Midterm Exam (30%)
Final Exam - Oral (50%)

Dates and weights are subject to change.