Potter Chap. 5 (and lecture): Cognitive development: Interaction of skills & knowledge; stages (be able to relate to cog. Dev. In Ruben Ch. 6). Emotional development: emotions vs. emotional literacy; relation to cognitive development; interpretation & emotional effects. Moral development: stages.

Potter Chap. 13 (and lecture): Be able to explain the concept of the timing of media effects in terms of immediate vs. long term. Be able to explain the differences/relationships between the five levels of effects: cognitive, attitudinal, emotional, physiological & behavioral. Be prepared to give examples of immediate and long-term effects for each of the five levels. Know what each of the following terms mean and where Potter classifies them in terms of immediate/long-term and the five levels: generalization, exposing secrets, framing life, opinion creation/change, sleeper effect (boomerang effect, from lecture), internalization, desensitization, temporary arousal, imitation, habit formation, disinhibition.

Potter Chap. 14 (and lecture): Be able to explain the difference between deterministic and probabilistic theories of causation. Third variable problems in determining causation (from lecture). The many possible factors involved in probabilistic causation of media effects: developmental level; motivations; personal information; message content; context; identification; arousal; sociological factors; existing value structure; lifestyle. Understand ideas of thresholds, non-linear relationships; contingent, necessary & sufficient conditions.

Potter Chap. 15 (and lecture): Media influences on family, politics, religion, sports & society. Family issues: decline of traditional family; TV content, exposure, parental control. Politics: shift from conventions to primaries; spending issues; ad content; type of news coverage; agenda setting. Religion: who watches? Foci which shape religious programming; appeal ofeligious programming. Sports: money; rules; endorsements.

Potter Chap. 7 (and lecture): Know structure of ad industry. What does Potter mean when saying advertising is pervasive? What are the top two media for advertising expenditures? Examples of ad research industry findings. Be prepared to discuss criticism that advertising is deceptive. Be prepared to discuss negative & positive effects of ads; especially effects on individuals. Know subliminal suggestion.

Potter Chap. 6 (and lecture): News as reflection vs. construction. Influences on the news construction process: commercialism, formulae, sources, etc. Bias, objectivity, balance, context. News perspective.

Potter Chap. 8 (and lecture): TV characters: demographics, stereotypes. Plot elements: sex, violence, health. Themes: material consumption, mean world, male power, etc. Marketing perspective: genre conventions; sequels, spin-offs & clones. Paradox: conservative yet controversial.

Ruben Chap. 13 (and lecture): Cultures and Societies Culture defined from the point of view of communication research. Relationships of communication (and other practices) & culture: does culture determine communication? Does communication determine culture? Cultures as "complex and multifaceted"; Culture(s) as "invisible": when do they become visible? Cultures as "subjective"--or better, arbitrary & conventional. How does change come about in cultures? Mediated communication & culture--effects of media on culture generally; concerns specifically about mass media--socialization, etc. Cultural adaptation; Intercultural Communication--what is it, how does it work? Societies as complex cultural and communication systems; Information society ( we also talked about this when discussing mediated communication)--characteristics? Economics and gaps of info society. Concept of " Global Village"; "cultural Imperialism" and risks to diversity

Pre midterm materials: Ruben’s & Richter’s definitions of communication. Go back to models: think about how a model or models can be related to inter-cultural or cross cultural communication. Be prepared to contextualize verbal & non-verbal codes in terms of culture.

Other: Be prepared to discuss important findings from your group project.