This essay will explore the concepts of ‘inattentional’ and ‘change’ blindness to explain how someone can fail to see stimuli that they are looking directly at. The main focus is on two famous experiments; "Gorillas in our midst: sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events" by Simons and Chabris, (1999) which will be used to explain inattentional blindness and “Failure to detect changes to people during real-world interaction” by Simons and Levin (1998) which will be used to explain ‘change blindness’. However, the starting point for this discussion is attentional selection.
Active attentional selection occurs over space and time. The ‘spotlight’ has become the favoured metaphor for spatial attention because it captures some of the characteristics of attention - the feeling that attention can be used like a beam of light, to illuminate what is hidden. Cueing experiments have been an important tool for understanding spatial attention as a spotlight (Chun and Wolfe, 2001). In a cueing experiment, subjects are required to respond as quickly as possible to the onset of a light or other simple visual stimulus. This target stimulus is preceded by a “cue” whose function is to draw attention to the occurrence of a target in space. As a general rule, cues facilitate detection of and response to stimuli presented at the cued location. Posner consequently described attention as a "spotlight that enhances the efficiency of the detection of events within its beam" (Posner, 1980, p. 172).
The attentional spotlight theory is not the only metaphor used to describe visual attention. Eriksen and St. James (1986) proposed the zoom-lens metaphor. Rather than a beam of attention of a set size, they argued that we zoom in and out depending on the task. Like many metaphors, though, it is unwise to take them too literally. Subsequent findings examining the details have questioned several aspects of these theories raising two main objections to both: First, some studies suggest that attention can be split between two locations which has difficulty fitting with the idea of a single attentional 'beam' or 'lens' (Pylyshyn and Storm,1988). Second, research has shown that we can actually process visual stimuli outside the spotlight/zoom-lens quite thoroughly. McGlinchey-Berroth et al. (1993) revealed that patients with hemispheric neglect have been found to process visual information presented to their 'neglected' side.
Although there are problems with the attentional spotlight and zoom-lens as metaphors, they still provide a useful insight into how our attention can move independently of the eyes. The evidence also scientifically confirms the everyday experience of fixing the gaze and still being able to 'look around'. (Matlin, 2005)
Accordingly, when attention is not focused onto items in a scene they can go unnoticed. Therefore, Inattentional Blindness is the failure to see unattended items in a scene; literally ‘looking but not seeing’ (Mack and Rock, 1998). The scan path of the eye is therefore very strongly affected by visual attention. There are two general processes, called ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down‘, which determine where humans locate their visual attention (Braisby and Gellatly, 2005). The bottom-up process is entirely stimulus driven, for example, a candle burning in the dark or a pink taxi in a fleet of black cabs. In all these instances, the visual stimulus captures attention automatically without conscious choice. The top-down process, on the other hand, is directed by a voluntary control process which focuses attention on one or more objects which are relevant to the observer’s aim. Such aims may include looking for a street sign or counting the number of passes a team makes. In these scenarios, the conspicuous objects in a scene that would normally attract the viewer’s attention may be ignored if they are irrelevant to the task at hand. This is called ‘Inattentional Blindness‘. Recent psychological investigations have revealed that over half of people failed to detect fairly obvious elements of the environment when instructed to attend to a specific task. It has been discovered that most individuals (55%) fail to detect a man in a gorilla suit pass through a group of people passing a basketball when asked to count the number of times the ball is passed between the players (Simons and Chabris, 1999). Interestingly, in this experiment the ‘Gorilla’ walks in front of the ball on a couple of occasions crossing through the ‘spotlight’ and yet the majority of participants are blind to his existence despite stopping in the middle of the players and distinctively beating his chest. Inattentional blindness is a clear example of ‘looking but not seeing’. The next phenomenon that will be discussed is ‘change blindness’ which will show that even when someone’s attention is engaged they can fail to see an obvious change.
Simons and Levin (1998) approached pedestrians engaging them in conversation before changing the identity of the experimenter/conversationalist during the conversation. To make the change, they had two "workers" carry a door between the subject and experimenter. The results show that fifty percent of subjects failed to notice the change to a new person. The change blindness demonstration is interesting because, unlike inattentional blindness there is no question that observers have attended to the scene and to the objects in the scene. Nevertheless, considerable changes in the scene are missed. The changes are seen when the observer's attention remains with an object while it changes. Prior attention to the object is usually not enough, suggesting that the post-attentive visual representation is relatively vague.
References.
Mack, A. and Rock, I (1998) Inattentional Blindness, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.
James, W. (1890) Principles of Psychology, New York:Holt.
Simons, D. J.; Chabris, C. F. (1999). "Gorillas in our midst: sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events". Perception 28: 1059-1074.
Chun, M. M., Wolfe, J. M. 2001. Visual attention. E. Bruce Goldstein, ed. Blackwell Handbook of Perception. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, U.K. pp272-310
Posner, M. I. (1980). Orienting of attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 32, pp3-25.
Pylyshyn, Z., & Storm, R. W. (1988). Tracking multiple independent
targets:evidence for a parallel tracking mechanism. Spatial Vision, 3, 179-197.
McGlinchey-Berroth, R., Milberg, W.P., Verfaellie, M., Alexander,
M., & Kilduff, P.T. (1993). Semantic processing in the
neglected visual field: Evidence from a lexical decision task.
Cognitive Neuropsychology, 10, 79–108.
Simons, D.J., & Levin D.T. (1998). Failure to detect changes to people during real-world interaction. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 4(5), 644-649.
Braisby, N., Gellatly, A. (2005) Cognitive Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.
Matlin, M.W. (2005) Cognition. USA: John Wiley & Sons. (6th ed.)
Cater, K., Chalmers, A., Ledda, P.(2002) Selective Quality Rendering by Exploiting Human Inattentional Blindness: Looking but not Seeing. Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology. Nov, pp. 17–24.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Primary Source analysis of ‘The best of everything’
I will be analysing an excerpt written by John Reith in 1924 entitled ‘The best of everything’ originally found in Broadcast over Britain (Reith, 1924). I will begin by briefly describing who John Reith was before highlighting important aspects of his upbringing. Next I will describe the general conditions in Britain that would have affected Reith. I will then investigate what is meant by the term ‘Reithian values’ and its legacy within the BBC. I will then consider these points in my analysis of his excerpt. Finally, I will consider criticisms of Reith before concluding this essay. I have sourced a variety of textbooks, journals and websites which consider early BBC history and John Reith directly which I have used to supplement the primary source analysis.
John Reith (1889-1971) was the first general manager when it was founded as the British Broadcasting Company in 1922; and he was its first director general when it became a public corporation in 1927. He created the templates for public service broadcasting in Britain; and for the arms-length public corporations that came later. Reith fought political attempts to influence the BBC, while offering the British people programmes to educate, inform and entertain (Birt, 1998).
Reith was born in Stonehaven. His father was a minister of the United Free Church of Scotland. He wanted to go to university, but his father insisted he become an apprenticed engineer. At the outbreak of the Great War, Reith volunteered for service but was wounded in October 1915, and subsequently transferred to the Royal Engineers. He spent two years in the USA managing armaments contracts and by the end of the war had been promoted to the rank of major (Birt, 1998).
In the early 1920’s, there was no public demand for radio. It was seen simply as a scientific curiosity or an expensive hobby. To drive sales manufacturers realised the need for an appealing radio service. After the end of World War I, restrictions were to be lifted on radio technology creating the possibility of a commercial system like that in America. However, the belief in regulation and corporatism that characterised the British after the Great War led to the formation of a publicly-owned monopoly instead (Black, 2000).
In 1922 Reith moved to London and despite a lack of experience, he applied to an advert for a General Manager of this planned British Broadcasting Company; Reith got the job. During the 1926 General Strike he struggled to ensure editorial independence for the BBC winning the confidence of the people, and in the following year he became Director-General of the reformulated British Broadcasting Corporation, deriving its authority from a Royal Charter rather than a parliamentary statute. (Black, 2000)
More than 85 years later, the term "Reithian values" has become synonymous with public service broadcasting. When the BBC launched, Reith did it with a mission to "educate, inform and entertain" (Perkin, 1989). He set about convincing the educational establishment of the value of broadcasting. This was no easy feat, because the public was highly sceptical about the benefits of radio at the time. Nevertheless, in 1923 the BBC began broadcasting serious talks for adults, a year later came the first schools broadcast. Almost from the start, education was a core BBC department, along with music and drama. By 1929, as the number of licences approached 3.5 million, schools broadcasts and talks accounted for 80 hours per week. Education programming thus became an accepted and popular part of radio. (BBC, 18/11/1999)
In the excerpt itself, Reith discusses why education has to be included in the programming and why entertainment is not enough. It was written in 1924; when the BBC was still officially a commercial company. Yet, it is clear when reading through his excerpt that he values the educational potential of broadcasting above all else. In response to those who believe that it should be used for entertainment alone he states:
“Entertainment, pure and simple, quickly grows tame; dissatisfaction and boredom result” (Reith, 1924)
He goes on to acknowledge the variety of tastes involved throughout the various regions of Britain. His tone at this point gives the impression that he is already running a public service with a duty to involve all areas of Britain. Remarkably, this is still 3 years in the future. I am therefore left with the impression that the BBC became a public service because of John Reith himself regardless of the 1927 Royal Charter.
The excerpt indicates his religious upbringing. There is a distinctly protestant flavour to his comment that “it would be a sad reflection on human intelligence if it were contented” with entertainment alone. Perhaps it is this protestant notion of self-betterment that stubbornly drove him to the establishment of his values in broadcasting.
It is not all positive for Reith; he has been called a bully, hypocrite, tyrant. During a Commons debate in 1936, the Labour MP George Lansbury said Reith "would have made a very excellent Hitler for his country" (BBC, 11/3/2010). He made things worse for himself by saying he admired Mussolini and talked in 1939 of Hitler's 'magnificent efficiency'. He also had an admiration for the German broadcasters: 'Germany has banned hot jazz and I'm sorry that we should be behind in dealing with this filthy product of modernity.' (BBC, 11/3/2010)
The impartiality image has also been described as smoke and mirrors. It has been claimed that he pandered to the government in the guise of “steadying the nation”; creating an understanding that the Government would not have to censor the BBC because that would be done discreetly by the BBC themselves (Pilger, 2007).
It is difficult to come to a satisfactory conclusion on such a contradictory, complex and controversial character in the scope of this essay. However, with the recent outcry with news that BBC Radio 6 and perhaps other BBC services are to close down. It is interesting to imagine how Reith would have handled this. According to the Times the BBC's current Director-General Mark Thompson conceded that the corporation "has become too large and must shrink to give its commercial rivals room to operate” (Foster, 2010). I am sure that Reith would had the sense to realise that the reason commercial radio cannot compete with the BBC is because people identify the Reithian values to ‘educate, inform and entertain’ in the BBC. While, commercial radio is mindless entertainment containing advert after advert after advert with no public confidence in standards; and he would have had the strength of character tyrannical or otherwise to stand up for what he thought was right.
References
BBC, 18/11/1999, published at 18:27 GMT (accessed – 10/3/2010) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/526855.stm
BBC, 11/3/2010 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/resources/in-depth/reith_6.shtml
Birt, J (1998), New Statesmen, 75 years of the BBC, (127) January supp. pp1-15
Black, J (2000), Modern British History: since 1900. MacMillian Press Ltd: London
Foster, P (2010) BBC signals an end to era of expansion – TimesOnline. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article7041944.ece
Perkin, H (1989) The rise of professional society: England since 1880. Routledge: London
Pilger, J (2007) The Invisible Government - speech cited at - http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18046.htm (accessed – 10/3/2010)
John Reith (1889-1971) was the first general manager when it was founded as the British Broadcasting Company in 1922; and he was its first director general when it became a public corporation in 1927. He created the templates for public service broadcasting in Britain; and for the arms-length public corporations that came later. Reith fought political attempts to influence the BBC, while offering the British people programmes to educate, inform and entertain (Birt, 1998).
Reith was born in Stonehaven. His father was a minister of the United Free Church of Scotland. He wanted to go to university, but his father insisted he become an apprenticed engineer. At the outbreak of the Great War, Reith volunteered for service but was wounded in October 1915, and subsequently transferred to the Royal Engineers. He spent two years in the USA managing armaments contracts and by the end of the war had been promoted to the rank of major (Birt, 1998).
In the early 1920’s, there was no public demand for radio. It was seen simply as a scientific curiosity or an expensive hobby. To drive sales manufacturers realised the need for an appealing radio service. After the end of World War I, restrictions were to be lifted on radio technology creating the possibility of a commercial system like that in America. However, the belief in regulation and corporatism that characterised the British after the Great War led to the formation of a publicly-owned monopoly instead (Black, 2000).
In 1922 Reith moved to London and despite a lack of experience, he applied to an advert for a General Manager of this planned British Broadcasting Company; Reith got the job. During the 1926 General Strike he struggled to ensure editorial independence for the BBC winning the confidence of the people, and in the following year he became Director-General of the reformulated British Broadcasting Corporation, deriving its authority from a Royal Charter rather than a parliamentary statute. (Black, 2000)
More than 85 years later, the term "Reithian values" has become synonymous with public service broadcasting. When the BBC launched, Reith did it with a mission to "educate, inform and entertain" (Perkin, 1989). He set about convincing the educational establishment of the value of broadcasting. This was no easy feat, because the public was highly sceptical about the benefits of radio at the time. Nevertheless, in 1923 the BBC began broadcasting serious talks for adults, a year later came the first schools broadcast. Almost from the start, education was a core BBC department, along with music and drama. By 1929, as the number of licences approached 3.5 million, schools broadcasts and talks accounted for 80 hours per week. Education programming thus became an accepted and popular part of radio. (BBC, 18/11/1999)
In the excerpt itself, Reith discusses why education has to be included in the programming and why entertainment is not enough. It was written in 1924; when the BBC was still officially a commercial company. Yet, it is clear when reading through his excerpt that he values the educational potential of broadcasting above all else. In response to those who believe that it should be used for entertainment alone he states:
“Entertainment, pure and simple, quickly grows tame; dissatisfaction and boredom result” (Reith, 1924)
He goes on to acknowledge the variety of tastes involved throughout the various regions of Britain. His tone at this point gives the impression that he is already running a public service with a duty to involve all areas of Britain. Remarkably, this is still 3 years in the future. I am therefore left with the impression that the BBC became a public service because of John Reith himself regardless of the 1927 Royal Charter.
The excerpt indicates his religious upbringing. There is a distinctly protestant flavour to his comment that “it would be a sad reflection on human intelligence if it were contented” with entertainment alone. Perhaps it is this protestant notion of self-betterment that stubbornly drove him to the establishment of his values in broadcasting.
It is not all positive for Reith; he has been called a bully, hypocrite, tyrant. During a Commons debate in 1936, the Labour MP George Lansbury said Reith "would have made a very excellent Hitler for his country" (BBC, 11/3/2010). He made things worse for himself by saying he admired Mussolini and talked in 1939 of Hitler's 'magnificent efficiency'. He also had an admiration for the German broadcasters: 'Germany has banned hot jazz and I'm sorry that we should be behind in dealing with this filthy product of modernity.' (BBC, 11/3/2010)
The impartiality image has also been described as smoke and mirrors. It has been claimed that he pandered to the government in the guise of “steadying the nation”; creating an understanding that the Government would not have to censor the BBC because that would be done discreetly by the BBC themselves (Pilger, 2007).
It is difficult to come to a satisfactory conclusion on such a contradictory, complex and controversial character in the scope of this essay. However, with the recent outcry with news that BBC Radio 6 and perhaps other BBC services are to close down. It is interesting to imagine how Reith would have handled this. According to the Times the BBC's current Director-General Mark Thompson conceded that the corporation "has become too large and must shrink to give its commercial rivals room to operate” (Foster, 2010). I am sure that Reith would had the sense to realise that the reason commercial radio cannot compete with the BBC is because people identify the Reithian values to ‘educate, inform and entertain’ in the BBC. While, commercial radio is mindless entertainment containing advert after advert after advert with no public confidence in standards; and he would have had the strength of character tyrannical or otherwise to stand up for what he thought was right.
References
BBC, 18/11/1999, published at 18:27 GMT (accessed – 10/3/2010) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/526855.stm
BBC, 11/3/2010 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/resources/in-depth/reith_6.shtml
Birt, J (1998), New Statesmen, 75 years of the BBC, (127) January supp. pp1-15
Black, J (2000), Modern British History: since 1900. MacMillian Press Ltd: London
Foster, P (2010) BBC signals an end to era of expansion – TimesOnline. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article7041944.ece
Perkin, H (1989) The rise of professional society: England since 1880. Routledge: London
Pilger, J (2007) The Invisible Government - speech cited at - http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18046.htm (accessed – 10/3/2010)
“Violence in the media causes violence in society!”
In this essay I will explain this ‘common-sense’ assumption. First I will discuss what is meant by ‘common-sense’ and explain how the above assumption has become categorised as this. I will then look at the politics that has become entangled in this statement as certain policies are pushed through based on the ‘scientific proof’ backing this view. In order to assess this from a sociological perspective I have sourced a variety of websites and journal articles in the fields of sociology, criminology, health & welfare and journalism.
A common-sense assumption is a logical deduction based on ordinary experience or on facts known to many people but not acquired through specialised knowledge. It is an assumption made through ‘street wisdom’, not formal education. For the case of violence in the media causing violence in society the ‘common-sense’ comes from looking at the issue from the perspective of observational learning. We all know that we can learn by observing and mimicking others therefore if we observe violence in the media we may learn and mimic that; it is just common-sense!
Professor Elizabeth Newson used this common-sense approach in her report Video Violence and the Protection of Children (1994); commissioned to support a proposed amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill. Initially it attracted huge media interest by claiming it had definitively established the link between media violence and real-world violence. However, following the hype it became apparent that no definitive link had been established, with Newson merely drawing inferences from individual case studies such as the Bulger case and the torture of teenager Suzanne Capper by her classmates. Although lacking credibility, the Newson report was influential in that it introduced the concept of psychological harm into government policy about video censorship (www.screenonline.org.uk).
Researchers and professionals have argued for decades about whether or not the depiction of violence in the various media actually causes violence in society. Some studies suggest a direct causal relationship (Newson, 1994; Huesmann, 2007), and others have concluded that there is no association whatsoever (Savage & Yancey, 2008; Barker, 2001). Most studies have focused on television violence and have concluded that there are some negative effects related to watching violent or aggressive behaviour on TV (Felson, 1996). They do not necessarily indicate a direct cause-and-effect relationship; they suggest that exposure to media depictions of violence increases the risk of the viewer engaging in subsequent aggressive behaviour. However, similar patterns of behaviour have been documented following the viewing of non-violent comedy films (Cumberbatch, cited in Barker, 2001). The effects of exposure to violence in the media are by no means inevitable and may be amplified or reduced by a variety of other factors. Research into the effects of violent computer games, has begun to draw similar conclusions (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). However, from a sociological perspective it is clear that the relationship between media portrayal of violence and subsequent violent behaviour is extremely complex. There are a number of interacting variables which play an important role in determining who will be affected, by what material, and in what way. Several factors such as the context in which the violence is portrayed, the age of the player/viewer combined with a number of other social and psychological variables are important for determining the potential impact and effect of media violence. Also significant is the participant’s ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality, and justified or unjustified use of force (Brown, 1996).
Despite the complexity of the issue, Huesmann (2007) stated that violence in film, television and computer games raises the risk of aggressive behaviour in viewers and poses a serious threat to public health. “The only effect slightly larger than the effect of media violence on aggression is that of cigarette smoking on lung cancer,"(p11)
In his article Huesmann breaks down the short-term effects of exposure to media violence to.
1) Priming processes,
2) Arousal processes,
3) Immediate mimicking of specific behaviours
In dealing with the long-term content effects, he describes
1) More lasting observational learning of cognitions and behaviours (i.e., imitation of behaviours),
2) Activation and desensitization of emotional processes.
In tackling this Huesmann has clearly looked at it through the lens of observational learning and in doing so has contributed nothing to back-up his incredible claims. Instead he has simply answered the question: ‘Can the media be used to educate?’ which we already know the answer is ‘yes’, and completely by-passes the real questions of ‘what are these young people being taught?’ and, ‘does that ‘education’ lead them to commit acts of violence?’
Barker (2001) in his response to Newson points out that research in advertising has brought about some important information in the area of media influence. First, researchers found that advertising has to be ‘targeted’ to be valuable; advertising depending on ‘vicarious contact’ –seeing an advert not aimed at us- is ineffective. That means that we would already have to closely identify with the character perpetrating the violence to have any effect. He points out that the many of the demonized films such as Childs Play 3 actually have a moral message; the story is told from the perspective of the young hero who the audience is guided to identify with against the ‘violent’ villain that is hunting him.
The other important discovery by the advertising industry is that products associated with negative images or feelings are not successful. Thus, the films the campaigners attack are the ones least likely to be influential because they are associated with feelings of fear, anxiety, shock and general negativity. In fact, the only advertising that reports success with negative images are those “intended to make us think critically” (2001, p38), such as educational videos and health & safety advertisements.
Pro-censorship lobbyists generally ignore these facts and instead claim that it is proven that violence in the media causes real-world violence. Of course, this is intended to foster a belief that the solution to violence in society is to ban depictions of that violence and gloss over the real factors that contribute to violence. Similarly, the mainstream media generally only reports on new research findings that facilitate sensational headlines implying that depictions of violence in entertainment films and computer games are the cause of violence (Cumberbatch, 1994). This serves to again reinforce the ‘common-sense’ of the tabloid-reading population.
It is not clear what lesson the media teaches about the legitimacy of violence. However, that message is usually redundant with lessons learned from other peers or sources of influence (Barker, 2001). The message is probably ambiguous and is likely to have different effects on different viewers. Young children may imitate illegitimate violence, but their imitative behaviour is likely to have trivial consequences as it is explored and contextualised through play (Savage & Yancey, 2008). Out of millions of viewers, there may be some with highly idiosyncratic understanding of television content who merge their own lives with the fantasy, and as a result have an increased probability of engaging in violent behaviour (Felson, 1996). However, there is no evidence indicating that any violent behaviour would not have occurred otherwise in these exceptional individuals.
In researching this essay I was surprised to find that an internet search for ‘causes for violence in society’ found all sites pointing the finger at the media as the main culprit as though we lived in a peaceful utopia before we had broadcasting. Throughout time sensationalised single-issues have been blamed for the degradation of civilized standards. Some generations are inevitably missing from archives, but it seems that contemporary concerns of out-of-control children have been shared by adults for the last few thousand years. Possibly every generation since has thought that things were getting worse and that children were a new problem in the alleged escalation of crime and violence (Cumberbatch, 1994). Consequently, I believe any proposals to address the ‘media violence problem’ under the guise of reducing violent crime in our society are not likely to succeed. I would recommend moving beyond the censorship inspired media ‘witch-hunt’ and explore other policies for reducing violent crime.
Words – 1,495
References
Anderson, C.A., Bushman, B.J., (2001) ‘Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature’. Psychological Science;12:353–9.
Barker, M., (2001) The Newson Report. A Case Study in ‘common-sense’ In Barker, M. and Petley, J. (eds) III Effects. The media/violence debate London: Routledge, 27-46
Brown, M. (1996) ‘The Portrayal of Violence in the Media: Impacts & Implications for Policy’, Australian Institute of Criminology, June: 1-7
Cumberbatch, G., (1994) ‘Legislating mythology: Video violence and children’, Journal of Mental Health; Dec94, Vol. 3 Issue 4, 485-95
Felson, R. B., (1996). Mass media effects on violent behavior. Annual Review of Sociology, 22, 103-128.
Huesmann, L. R., (2007). ‘The Impact of Electronic Media Violence: Scientific Theory and Research’. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41 S6–S13
Newson, E., (1994). ‘Video Violence and the Protection of Children’, Report of the Home Affairs Committee, London: HMSO, June, 45-9
Savage, J. and Yancey, C., (2008) ‘The Effects of Media Violence Exposure On Criminal Aggression: A Meta-Analysis’, Criminal Justice and Behavior; 35; 772
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/591456/ - website accessed on 15/4/2010
A common-sense assumption is a logical deduction based on ordinary experience or on facts known to many people but not acquired through specialised knowledge. It is an assumption made through ‘street wisdom’, not formal education. For the case of violence in the media causing violence in society the ‘common-sense’ comes from looking at the issue from the perspective of observational learning. We all know that we can learn by observing and mimicking others therefore if we observe violence in the media we may learn and mimic that; it is just common-sense!
Professor Elizabeth Newson used this common-sense approach in her report Video Violence and the Protection of Children (1994); commissioned to support a proposed amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill. Initially it attracted huge media interest by claiming it had definitively established the link between media violence and real-world violence. However, following the hype it became apparent that no definitive link had been established, with Newson merely drawing inferences from individual case studies such as the Bulger case and the torture of teenager Suzanne Capper by her classmates. Although lacking credibility, the Newson report was influential in that it introduced the concept of psychological harm into government policy about video censorship (www.screenonline.org.uk).
Researchers and professionals have argued for decades about whether or not the depiction of violence in the various media actually causes violence in society. Some studies suggest a direct causal relationship (Newson, 1994; Huesmann, 2007), and others have concluded that there is no association whatsoever (Savage & Yancey, 2008; Barker, 2001). Most studies have focused on television violence and have concluded that there are some negative effects related to watching violent or aggressive behaviour on TV (Felson, 1996). They do not necessarily indicate a direct cause-and-effect relationship; they suggest that exposure to media depictions of violence increases the risk of the viewer engaging in subsequent aggressive behaviour. However, similar patterns of behaviour have been documented following the viewing of non-violent comedy films (Cumberbatch, cited in Barker, 2001). The effects of exposure to violence in the media are by no means inevitable and may be amplified or reduced by a variety of other factors. Research into the effects of violent computer games, has begun to draw similar conclusions (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). However, from a sociological perspective it is clear that the relationship between media portrayal of violence and subsequent violent behaviour is extremely complex. There are a number of interacting variables which play an important role in determining who will be affected, by what material, and in what way. Several factors such as the context in which the violence is portrayed, the age of the player/viewer combined with a number of other social and psychological variables are important for determining the potential impact and effect of media violence. Also significant is the participant’s ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality, and justified or unjustified use of force (Brown, 1996).
Despite the complexity of the issue, Huesmann (2007) stated that violence in film, television and computer games raises the risk of aggressive behaviour in viewers and poses a serious threat to public health. “The only effect slightly larger than the effect of media violence on aggression is that of cigarette smoking on lung cancer,"(p11)
In his article Huesmann breaks down the short-term effects of exposure to media violence to.
1) Priming processes,
2) Arousal processes,
3) Immediate mimicking of specific behaviours
In dealing with the long-term content effects, he describes
1) More lasting observational learning of cognitions and behaviours (i.e., imitation of behaviours),
2) Activation and desensitization of emotional processes.
In tackling this Huesmann has clearly looked at it through the lens of observational learning and in doing so has contributed nothing to back-up his incredible claims. Instead he has simply answered the question: ‘Can the media be used to educate?’ which we already know the answer is ‘yes’, and completely by-passes the real questions of ‘what are these young people being taught?’ and, ‘does that ‘education’ lead them to commit acts of violence?’
Barker (2001) in his response to Newson points out that research in advertising has brought about some important information in the area of media influence. First, researchers found that advertising has to be ‘targeted’ to be valuable; advertising depending on ‘vicarious contact’ –seeing an advert not aimed at us- is ineffective. That means that we would already have to closely identify with the character perpetrating the violence to have any effect. He points out that the many of the demonized films such as Childs Play 3 actually have a moral message; the story is told from the perspective of the young hero who the audience is guided to identify with against the ‘violent’ villain that is hunting him.
The other important discovery by the advertising industry is that products associated with negative images or feelings are not successful. Thus, the films the campaigners attack are the ones least likely to be influential because they are associated with feelings of fear, anxiety, shock and general negativity. In fact, the only advertising that reports success with negative images are those “intended to make us think critically” (2001, p38), such as educational videos and health & safety advertisements.
Pro-censorship lobbyists generally ignore these facts and instead claim that it is proven that violence in the media causes real-world violence. Of course, this is intended to foster a belief that the solution to violence in society is to ban depictions of that violence and gloss over the real factors that contribute to violence. Similarly, the mainstream media generally only reports on new research findings that facilitate sensational headlines implying that depictions of violence in entertainment films and computer games are the cause of violence (Cumberbatch, 1994). This serves to again reinforce the ‘common-sense’ of the tabloid-reading population.
It is not clear what lesson the media teaches about the legitimacy of violence. However, that message is usually redundant with lessons learned from other peers or sources of influence (Barker, 2001). The message is probably ambiguous and is likely to have different effects on different viewers. Young children may imitate illegitimate violence, but their imitative behaviour is likely to have trivial consequences as it is explored and contextualised through play (Savage & Yancey, 2008). Out of millions of viewers, there may be some with highly idiosyncratic understanding of television content who merge their own lives with the fantasy, and as a result have an increased probability of engaging in violent behaviour (Felson, 1996). However, there is no evidence indicating that any violent behaviour would not have occurred otherwise in these exceptional individuals.
In researching this essay I was surprised to find that an internet search for ‘causes for violence in society’ found all sites pointing the finger at the media as the main culprit as though we lived in a peaceful utopia before we had broadcasting. Throughout time sensationalised single-issues have been blamed for the degradation of civilized standards. Some generations are inevitably missing from archives, but it seems that contemporary concerns of out-of-control children have been shared by adults for the last few thousand years. Possibly every generation since has thought that things were getting worse and that children were a new problem in the alleged escalation of crime and violence (Cumberbatch, 1994). Consequently, I believe any proposals to address the ‘media violence problem’ under the guise of reducing violent crime in our society are not likely to succeed. I would recommend moving beyond the censorship inspired media ‘witch-hunt’ and explore other policies for reducing violent crime.
Words – 1,495
References
Anderson, C.A., Bushman, B.J., (2001) ‘Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature’. Psychological Science;12:353–9.
Barker, M., (2001) The Newson Report. A Case Study in ‘common-sense’ In Barker, M. and Petley, J. (eds) III Effects. The media/violence debate London: Routledge, 27-46
Brown, M. (1996) ‘The Portrayal of Violence in the Media: Impacts & Implications for Policy’, Australian Institute of Criminology, June: 1-7
Cumberbatch, G., (1994) ‘Legislating mythology: Video violence and children’, Journal of Mental Health; Dec94, Vol. 3 Issue 4, 485-95
Felson, R. B., (1996). Mass media effects on violent behavior. Annual Review of Sociology, 22, 103-128.
Huesmann, L. R., (2007). ‘The Impact of Electronic Media Violence: Scientific Theory and Research’. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41 S6–S13
Newson, E., (1994). ‘Video Violence and the Protection of Children’, Report of the Home Affairs Committee, London: HMSO, June, 45-9
Savage, J. and Yancey, C., (2008) ‘The Effects of Media Violence Exposure On Criminal Aggression: A Meta-Analysis’, Criminal Justice and Behavior; 35; 772
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/591456/ - website accessed on 15/4/2010
Sunday, April 26, 2009
References
Investigation into the physiological and psychological differences between developing boys and girls.
[ARNOLD and BURGOYNE, “Are XX and XY Brain cells Intrinsically Different?” Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2004]
[CAINE, “The Effects of Music on the Selected Stress Behaviors in a Newborn I.C.U.” Journal of Music Therapy, 1991]
[CASSIDY and DITTY, “Gender Differences among Newborns on a Transient Otoacoustic Emissions Test for Hearing,” Journal of Music Therapy, 2001.]
[CONNELLAN and BARON-COHEN, “Sex Differences in Human Neonatal Social Perception,” Infant Behavior & Development, 2000.]
[KAPLAN and BENARDETE, “The Dynamics of Primate Retinal Ganglion Cells,” Progress in Brain Research, 2001.]
The Needs and Interests of Boys.
www.ep.liu.se/ecp/021/vol1/010/ecp2107010.pdf – 24/3/2009.
missing...
[TANNAN, DEBORAH. “You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation”, rev ed. New York: HarperCollins, 2001]
[BISHOP, JOHN H. BISHOP, MATTHEW. GELBWASSER, LARA. GREEN, SHANNA. ZUCKERMAN, ANDREW. “Nerds and Freaks: A Theory of Student Culture and Norms”
Brookings Papers on Education Policy - 2003]
[HANLON, THATCHER and CLINE, “Gender Differences in the Development of EEG Coherence in Normal Children,” Developmental Neuropsychology, 1999]
[SIMPSON, A. “Facts and Fiction: An investigation of the Reading Practices of Girls and Boys”, English Education 1991]
[DeROCHE, EDWARD. “Read all about it: The Case for Newspapers in the Classroom, Education Week, 29/1/2003]
Investigation into the most appropriate curriculum for boys.
National Curriculum website
HNC textbook
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/curriculumoverview/index.asp
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article721863.ece
Wagner, T. (2001). Leadership for learning: An action theory of school change.
Barbara J. Bank, Sara Delamont, Catherine Marshall, Gender and Education: Gendered theories of education, South Carolina Press, 2007.
Bibliography.
McNAUGHTON, GLENDA. “Rethinking Gender in Early Childhood” Allan and Unwin 2000
SAX, LEONARD. “Why Gender Matters” Doubleday, Random House 2005
Key:
DF50 34 - Children and young people's rights: provision, protection and participation.
DF52 34 - Theoretical approaches to development and learning.
DF51 34 - Curriculum and assessment in an early education and childcare setting.
DF4Y 34 - Working in an early education and childcare setting.
DF58 34 - Promoting language, literacy and numeracy in early education and
childcare.
DF55 34 - Children and young people with additional support needs.
DF54 34 - Understanding and supporting children's behaviour.
DF56 34 - Contemporary issues for children and families.
[ARNOLD and BURGOYNE, “Are XX and XY Brain cells Intrinsically Different?” Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2004]
[CAINE, “The Effects of Music on the Selected Stress Behaviors in a Newborn I.C.U.” Journal of Music Therapy, 1991]
[CASSIDY and DITTY, “Gender Differences among Newborns on a Transient Otoacoustic Emissions Test for Hearing,” Journal of Music Therapy, 2001.]
[CONNELLAN and BARON-COHEN, “Sex Differences in Human Neonatal Social Perception,” Infant Behavior & Development, 2000.]
[KAPLAN and BENARDETE, “The Dynamics of Primate Retinal Ganglion Cells,” Progress in Brain Research, 2001.]
The Needs and Interests of Boys.
www.ep.liu.se/ecp/021/vol1/010/ecp2107010.pdf – 24/3/2009.
missing...
[TANNAN, DEBORAH. “You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation”, rev ed. New York: HarperCollins, 2001]
[BISHOP, JOHN H. BISHOP, MATTHEW. GELBWASSER, LARA. GREEN, SHANNA. ZUCKERMAN, ANDREW. “Nerds and Freaks: A Theory of Student Culture and Norms”
Brookings Papers on Education Policy - 2003]
[HANLON, THATCHER and CLINE, “Gender Differences in the Development of EEG Coherence in Normal Children,” Developmental Neuropsychology, 1999]
[SIMPSON, A. “Facts and Fiction: An investigation of the Reading Practices of Girls and Boys”, English Education 1991]
[DeROCHE, EDWARD. “Read all about it: The Case for Newspapers in the Classroom, Education Week, 29/1/2003]
Investigation into the most appropriate curriculum for boys.
National Curriculum website
HNC textbook
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/curriculumoverview/index.asp
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article721863.ece
Wagner, T. (2001). Leadership for learning: An action theory of school change.
Barbara J. Bank, Sara Delamont, Catherine Marshall, Gender and Education: Gendered theories of education, South Carolina Press, 2007.
Bibliography.
McNAUGHTON, GLENDA. “Rethinking Gender in Early Childhood” Allan and Unwin 2000
SAX, LEONARD. “Why Gender Matters” Doubleday, Random House 2005
Key:
DF50 34 - Children and young people's rights: provision, protection and participation.
DF52 34 - Theoretical approaches to development and learning.
DF51 34 - Curriculum and assessment in an early education and childcare setting.
DF4Y 34 - Working in an early education and childcare setting.
DF58 34 - Promoting language, literacy and numeracy in early education and
childcare.
DF55 34 - Children and young people with additional support needs.
DF54 34 - Understanding and supporting children's behaviour.
DF56 34 - Contemporary issues for children and families.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
An investigation into the most appropriate curriculum and instruction for boys.
National Curriculum.
What changes have impacted on the curriculum?
ADVANCES IN WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TEACHING AND LEARNING
Multiple intelligence theory
Multiple intelligence theory: a now-familiar notion that there are at least eight different ways to measure human potential, rendering traditional I.Q. testing far too limited — has been extended by many researchers to offer direct applications in the classroom. Gardner asserts that schools (and our culture) heavily prioritize linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences, and fail to recognize or reinforce other aptitudes and gifts in children. Multiple intelligence theory has extended our understanding of what "success" in school means — and the classroom applications of the theory present a mandate for educators to rethink assessment in light of the many ways children can excel (or be slighted) in schools. Teachers need training in ways to present learning in a wider variety, incorporating cooperative learning, music, role play, project- and problem-based activities, and more, and many schools are re-evaluating how to do this; but many schools and teachers in practice are still delivering and assessing instruction in largely traditional ways. (Gardner, 2002; Armstrong, 1994).
Latest initiatives - even more boy inappropriate nonsense
As well as cutting out subjects, Sir Jim proposes a greater emphasis on life skills, including making lessons about emotional well-being and social skills a compulsory part of the curriculum.
Pupils should have the "personal, social and emotional qualities essential to their health, well-being and life as a responsible citizen in the 21st Century".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7770469.stm
Politics.
The Conservatives' Children's Secretary, Michael Gove, said the shift away from subjects meant a dilution of learning.
"The government’s changes to the primary curriculum will lead to children learning less not more. The move away from traditional subject areas will lead to a further erosion of standards," said Mr Gove.
Liberal Democrat Children's spokesman David Laws said schools needed greater freedom to set their own teaching priorities, not a new set of government directives.
"While IT skills are extremely important, they must not come at the expense of giving children a good grounding in the basics of literacy and numeracy."
The National Association of Head Teachers welcomed the emphasis on well-being, saying that such an "ethos of holistic education" was one of most important aspects of primary school.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7770469.stm
Curriculum for Excellence
The two broad aims for the school curriculum are reflected in section 351 of the Education Act 1996, which requires that all maintained schools provide a balanced and broadly based curriculum that:
promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society
prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.
The Act requires the Secretary of State, local authorities and the governing body and headteacher to take steps to achieve these requirements. The Secretary of State meets his responsibilities in this area by providing a national framework which incorporates the National Curriculum, religious education and other statutory requirements. This framework is designed to enable all schools to respond effectively to national and local priorities, to meet the individual learning needs of all pupils and to develop a distinctive character and ethos rooted in their local communities.
The four main purposes of the National Curriculum
To establish an entitlement
The National Curriculum secures for all pupils, irrespective of social background, culture, race, gender, differences in ability and disabilities, an entitlement to a number of areas of learning and to develop knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes necessary for their self-fulfilment and development as active and responsible citizens.
To establish standards
The National Curriculum makes expectations for learning and attainment explicit to pupils, parents, teachers, governors, employers and the public, and establishes national standards for the performance of all pupils in the subjects it includes. These standards can be used to set targets for improvement, measure progress towards those targets, and monitor and compare performance between individuals, groups and schools.
To promote continuity and coherence
The National Curriculum contributes to a coherent national framework that promotes curriculum continuity and is sufficiently flexible to ensure progression in pupils' learning. It facilitates the transition of pupils between schools and phases of education and provides a foundation for lifelong learning.
To promote public understanding
The National Curriculum increases public understanding of, and confidence in, the work of schools and in the learning and achievements resulting from compulsory education. It provides a common basis for discussion of educational issues among lay and professional groups, including pupils, parents, teachers, governors and employers.
Developing the school curriculum
While these four purposes do not change over time, the curriculum itself cannot remain static. It must be responsive to changes in society and the economy, and changes in the nature of schooling itself. Teachers, individually and collectively, have to reappraise their teaching in response to the changing needs of their pupils and the impact of economic, social and cultural change. Education only flourishes if it successfully adapts to the demands and needs of the time.What changes have impacted on the curriculum?
ADVANCES IN WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TEACHING AND LEARNING
As Tony Wagner (2001) observes, teachers are like craftspersons: the profession "attracts people who enjoy working alone and take great pride in developing a degree of expertise and perfecting 'handcrafted products'" — their special units and courses — whose identity may be threatened by attempts to impose structure on what they love to do. "The educational 'fads of the month' that have swept through schools for the past 30 years have served to reinforce the belief of many teachers that innovations are the fleeting fancy of leaders who are here today and gone tomorrow — and so are not to be believed" (Wagner, 2001, 378).
But research on teaching and learning has advanced in the last decade perhaps more than in the previous half-century combined, and the resulting discoveries contribute to a growing foundation for "best practices of instruction," most of which find their way into teacher certification programs for public school educators and eventually into the national education conference circuit. However, unless veteran educators actively pursue innovative advances in the profession, they may be unaware of an array of research-based "best practice" methods that are transforming teaching and learning in classrooms nationwide.
Among those research-supported advances in teaching and learning that have proven their value in the classroom are the theory of multiple intelligences, differentiated instruction, formative and "backwards design" assessment, opportunity to learn (OTL), cognitive neuroscience ("brain research"), demographics and learning, and inquiry science methods. This sampling is a fraction of the work completed and underway to assist teachers in better serving children and families in our schools — and it's important to acknowledge that many educators are already employing updated research-based best practices in their work today.
Multiple intelligence theory
Multiple intelligence theory: a now-familiar notion that there are at least eight different ways to measure human potential, rendering traditional I.Q. testing far too limited — has been extended by many researchers to offer direct applications in the classroom. Gardner asserts that schools (and our culture) heavily prioritize linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences, and fail to recognize or reinforce other aptitudes and gifts in children. Multiple intelligence theory has extended our understanding of what "success" in school means — and the classroom applications of the theory present a mandate for educators to rethink assessment in light of the many ways children can excel (or be slighted) in schools. Teachers need training in ways to present learning in a wider variety, incorporating cooperative learning, music, role play, project- and problem-based activities, and more, and many schools are re-evaluating how to do this; but many schools and teachers in practice are still delivering and assessing instruction in largely traditional ways. (Gardner, 2002; Armstrong, 1994).
Latest initiatives - even more boy inappropriate nonsense
As well as cutting out subjects, Sir Jim proposes a greater emphasis on life skills, including making lessons about emotional well-being and social skills a compulsory part of the curriculum.
Pupils should have the "personal, social and emotional qualities essential to their health, well-being and life as a responsible citizen in the 21st Century".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7770469.stm
Politics.
The Conservatives' Children's Secretary, Michael Gove, said the shift away from subjects meant a dilution of learning.
"The government’s changes to the primary curriculum will lead to children learning less not more. The move away from traditional subject areas will lead to a further erosion of standards," said Mr Gove.
Liberal Democrat Children's spokesman David Laws said schools needed greater freedom to set their own teaching priorities, not a new set of government directives.
"While IT skills are extremely important, they must not come at the expense of giving children a good grounding in the basics of literacy and numeracy."
The National Association of Head Teachers welcomed the emphasis on well-being, saying that such an "ethos of holistic education" was one of most important aspects of primary school.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7770469.stm
Curriculum for Excellence
Curriculum for Excellence aims to achieve a transformation in education in Scotland by providing a coherent, more flexible and enriched curriculum from 3 to 18.
The curriculum includes the totality of experiences which are planned for children and young people through their education, wherever they are being educated.
It is underpinned by the values inscribed on the mace of the Scottish Parliament - wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity.
The purpose of Curriculum for Excellence is encapsulated in the four capacities – to enable each child or young person to be a successful learner, a confident individual, a responsible citizen and an effective contributor.
The needs and interests of boys.
Why investigate a new approach to cater for boys?
Even when leaving the proven developmental and biological differences between males and females aside, there is an obvious difference in the way boys and girls think and learn which can be clearly seen in the classroom. Examining the average classroom the difference between the boys and girls engagement and attitude towards school are obvious. Boys, in general, are disinterested and disengaged from the classroom experience compared to their female peers, this difference in engagement is particularly pertinent from the age of 9 before the boys have even reached high school.
This disengagement of many boys has been evident from the data collected in the thirteen schools in the Boys Education Project in the Diocese of Broken Bay.
A Queensland Government Report states that,
“….As a group, boys are at higher risk of failing to achieve at school than girls as a group. Boys on the whole are less likely to complete high school and more likely to be suspended or excluded. Community concerns about boys' engagement and performance at school link with broader social issues for some young men. These include a worrying suicide rate, significant violence and harassment, and alienation from wider society. ..”.
www.ep.liu.se/ecp/021/vol1/010/ecp2107010.pdf - 24/3/2009.
As educators of the future generation of men, it is vital that we focus on adapting the curriculum to cater for boys, to thereby change their attitudes and engagement toward learning and school in order to best prepare and educate
them for their future. We have come to point where the classroom just is not developmentally appropriate for young boys particularly below the age of 7.
What do boys need?
We know that learning is strongest when certain conditions are met:
* Critical tasks are practised at an appropriate frequency and intensity.
* Practice takes place at the right skill level for the individual student—a skill level that continuously adapts to keep the student challenged, but not frustrated.
* Multiple skills are “cross-trained” at the same time for lasting improvement.
* Rewards build as a student progresses, maximizing motivation.
* The learning environment feels “safe,” so students are encouraged to take risks.
* The content is age appropriate and engaging.
It is widely recognised in the educational community that in general, boys below the age of 7 have not yet developed the fine motor skills essential for writing. Additionally, the language centres in their brains mature up to 6 years later than their female counter-parts. With so much societal pressure on achieving literacy over the last 30 years we have seen a pushing down of the curriculum to younger and younger children. Before this time, the nursery curriculum was primarily focused on socialisation and getting the child ready for school, not trying to get a jump start on academics. Literacy and numeracy exposure was in the form of being read a story, chanting rhymes or singing songs only. Now children are expected before entering school to recognise and write the numbers 1-10 and most of the letters of the alphabet. Failing to achieve this standard leads to extra focus groups in school. These children quickly realise that they are in the 'dumb' group. Consequently, their already diminished perception of school drops through the floor. Consequently, the cycle of poor academic achievement continues. The politicians will shout to further increase the focus on literacy at this early age. The fatal flaw in this thinking is that they are failing to see that for most boys literacy before the age of 7 is simply inappropriate the male brain just does not have the language centres to cope with it. Their attempt at a solution only serves to further frustrate and alienate boys especially as it tends to be gym or break time that is sacrificed in favour of extra literacy time.
How do boys relate to each other?
A good source of the needs and interests of boys is to simply watch how they interact with each other. They are quite physical, always pushing and shoving each other
Table of p84 - WGM...sax
The difference may be characterised this way: boys' friendships are shoulder-to-shoulder, a group of boys looking out at some common interest. Girls on the other hand are face-to-face, two or three talking with each other.
[Tannan, Deborah. You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, rev ed. New York: HarperCollins, 2001]
The implications of this are that when working with a boy, sit next to him, shoulder-to-shoulder and spread out the materials in front of you so you are both focusing on the materials. Holding eye contact face-to-face is almost certain to make them uncomfortable.
Status.
For most boys, being friends with a teacher is a sign of being a geek. They recoil at the idea of being the 'Teachers Pet' and will do almost anything to prove that this is not the case. Professor Bishop at Cornell University writes:
"In the eyes of most students, the nerd exemplifies the 'I trust my teachers to help me learn' attitude that prevails in most elementary school classrooms. The dominant middle school crowd is telling them that trusting teachers is baby stuff. It is 'us' [the boys] versus 'them' [the teachers]. Friendship with teachers make you a target for harassment by peers....Boys are not supposed to suck up to teachers. You avoid being perceived as a suck-up by avoiding eye contact with teachers, not raising one's hand in class too frequently, and [by] talking or passing notes to friends during class (this demonstrates that you value relationships with friends more than your reputation with the teacher).
[Bishop, John H. Bishop, Matthew. Gelbwasser, Lara. Green, Shanna. Zuckerman, Andrew. Nerds and Freaks: A Theory of Student Culture and Norms
Brookings Papers on Education Policy - 2003, pp. 141-199]
Different sequence of maturation.
Researchers at Virginia Tech. examined brain activity in 508 'normal' children - 284 boys and 224 girls - ranging in age from 2 months to 16 years. This study demonstrated that various regions of the brain develop in a different sequence in boys compared with girls. It is incorrect to claim "Boys develop along the same lines as girls, only slower". The truth is invariably more complex, for example, the researchers found that the areas of the brain involved with language and fine motor skills matured around 6 years earlier in girls while the areas involved in targeting and spacial memory mature about 4 years earlier in boys. They concluded that:
"In the areas of the brain involved in language, in spatial memory, in motor coordination, and in getting along with other people develop in a different order, time and rate in girls compared with boys."
Literature.
In my initial investigation I referenced the research done at Harvard University into the brain image of children experiencing emotion. It revealed that boys process those feeling in the primitive nucleus of their brain which has few direct connections to the areas of the brain responsible for language whereas girls emotional centres are located in the same area as those responsible for language. Consequently, females are more able to discuss their feelings whereas when a boy experiences intense emotion, they talk less. Those feelings are locked away never to be spoken about. That is why it is futile to ask a young boy "How would you feel if ...." It is asking the brain to do two unrelated tasks.
We can see how this translates in the appeal of literature for boys. Touchy feely books just aren't appropriate for young boys. They will not enjoy it and again it risks turning them off reading altogether. One of the most consistent findings in education research is that most girls prefer fiction: short stories and novels, where they can be analytical about the character's motives and behaviours. Boys on the other hand prefer non-fiction: descriptions of real events (generally, battles or adventure) or illustrated accounts of the way things work. Stories have to involve action and a strong male protagonist. Hence the attraction of superhero comics to the young male population. [Simpson, A. Facts and Fiction: An investigation of the Reading Practices of Girls and Boys, English Education 1991]
Some educators have found assigning articles from the daily newspaper is a good motivator for boys. Edward DeRoche, a director at the University of San Diego, has reviewed many studies of the effectiveness of newspapers for motivating below-average readers, particularly boys. The studies show that "students in such classes score significantly higher in spelling, vocabulary development, and comprehension than comparable students who did not use the newspapers" [DeRoche, Edward. READ ALL ABOUT IT: THE CASE FOR NEWSPAPERS IN THE CLASSROOM, Education Week,29/1/2003]
Even when leaving the proven developmental and biological differences between males and females aside, there is an obvious difference in the way boys and girls think and learn which can be clearly seen in the classroom. Examining the average classroom the difference between the boys and girls engagement and attitude towards school are obvious. Boys, in general, are disinterested and disengaged from the classroom experience compared to their female peers, this difference in engagement is particularly pertinent from the age of 9 before the boys have even reached high school.
This disengagement of many boys has been evident from the data collected in the thirteen schools in the Boys Education Project in the Diocese of Broken Bay.
A Queensland Government Report states that,
“….As a group, boys are at higher risk of failing to achieve at school than girls as a group. Boys on the whole are less likely to complete high school and more likely to be suspended or excluded. Community concerns about boys' engagement and performance at school link with broader social issues for some young men. These include a worrying suicide rate, significant violence and harassment, and alienation from wider society. ..”.
www.ep.liu.se/ecp/021/vol1/010/ecp2107010.pdf - 24/3/2009.
As educators of the future generation of men, it is vital that we focus on adapting the curriculum to cater for boys, to thereby change their attitudes and engagement toward learning and school in order to best prepare and educate
them for their future. We have come to point where the classroom just is not developmentally appropriate for young boys particularly below the age of 7.
What do boys need?
We know that learning is strongest when certain conditions are met:
* Critical tasks are practised at an appropriate frequency and intensity.
* Practice takes place at the right skill level for the individual student—a skill level that continuously adapts to keep the student challenged, but not frustrated.
* Multiple skills are “cross-trained” at the same time for lasting improvement.
* Rewards build as a student progresses, maximizing motivation.
* The learning environment feels “safe,” so students are encouraged to take risks.
* The content is age appropriate and engaging.
It is widely recognised in the educational community that in general, boys below the age of 7 have not yet developed the fine motor skills essential for writing. Additionally, the language centres in their brains mature up to 6 years later than their female counter-parts. With so much societal pressure on achieving literacy over the last 30 years we have seen a pushing down of the curriculum to younger and younger children. Before this time, the nursery curriculum was primarily focused on socialisation and getting the child ready for school, not trying to get a jump start on academics. Literacy and numeracy exposure was in the form of being read a story, chanting rhymes or singing songs only. Now children are expected before entering school to recognise and write the numbers 1-10 and most of the letters of the alphabet. Failing to achieve this standard leads to extra focus groups in school. These children quickly realise that they are in the 'dumb' group. Consequently, their already diminished perception of school drops through the floor. Consequently, the cycle of poor academic achievement continues. The politicians will shout to further increase the focus on literacy at this early age. The fatal flaw in this thinking is that they are failing to see that for most boys literacy before the age of 7 is simply inappropriate the male brain just does not have the language centres to cope with it. Their attempt at a solution only serves to further frustrate and alienate boys especially as it tends to be gym or break time that is sacrificed in favour of extra literacy time.
How do boys relate to each other?
A good source of the needs and interests of boys is to simply watch how they interact with each other. They are quite physical, always pushing and shoving each other
Table of p84 - WGM...sax
The difference may be characterised this way: boys' friendships are shoulder-to-shoulder, a group of boys looking out at some common interest. Girls on the other hand are face-to-face, two or three talking with each other.
[Tannan, Deborah. You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, rev ed. New York: HarperCollins, 2001]
The implications of this are that when working with a boy, sit next to him, shoulder-to-shoulder and spread out the materials in front of you so you are both focusing on the materials. Holding eye contact face-to-face is almost certain to make them uncomfortable.
Status.
For most boys, being friends with a teacher is a sign of being a geek. They recoil at the idea of being the 'Teachers Pet' and will do almost anything to prove that this is not the case. Professor Bishop at Cornell University writes:
"In the eyes of most students, the nerd exemplifies the 'I trust my teachers to help me learn' attitude that prevails in most elementary school classrooms. The dominant middle school crowd is telling them that trusting teachers is baby stuff. It is 'us' [the boys] versus 'them' [the teachers]. Friendship with teachers make you a target for harassment by peers....Boys are not supposed to suck up to teachers. You avoid being perceived as a suck-up by avoiding eye contact with teachers, not raising one's hand in class too frequently, and [by] talking or passing notes to friends during class (this demonstrates that you value relationships with friends more than your reputation with the teacher).
[Bishop, John H. Bishop, Matthew. Gelbwasser, Lara. Green, Shanna. Zuckerman, Andrew. Nerds and Freaks: A Theory of Student Culture and Norms
Brookings Papers on Education Policy - 2003, pp. 141-199]
Different sequence of maturation.
Researchers at Virginia Tech. examined brain activity in 508 'normal' children - 284 boys and 224 girls - ranging in age from 2 months to 16 years. This study demonstrated that various regions of the brain develop in a different sequence in boys compared with girls. It is incorrect to claim "Boys develop along the same lines as girls, only slower". The truth is invariably more complex, for example, the researchers found that the areas of the brain involved with language and fine motor skills matured around 6 years earlier in girls while the areas involved in targeting and spacial memory mature about 4 years earlier in boys. They concluded that:
"In the areas of the brain involved in language, in spatial memory, in motor coordination, and in getting along with other people develop in a different order, time and rate in girls compared with boys."
Literature.
In my initial investigation I referenced the research done at Harvard University into the brain image of children experiencing emotion. It revealed that boys process those feeling in the primitive nucleus of their brain which has few direct connections to the areas of the brain responsible for language whereas girls emotional centres are located in the same area as those responsible for language. Consequently, females are more able to discuss their feelings whereas when a boy experiences intense emotion, they talk less. Those feelings are locked away never to be spoken about. That is why it is futile to ask a young boy "How would you feel if ...." It is asking the brain to do two unrelated tasks.
We can see how this translates in the appeal of literature for boys. Touchy feely books just aren't appropriate for young boys. They will not enjoy it and again it risks turning them off reading altogether. One of the most consistent findings in education research is that most girls prefer fiction: short stories and novels, where they can be analytical about the character's motives and behaviours. Boys on the other hand prefer non-fiction: descriptions of real events (generally, battles or adventure) or illustrated accounts of the way things work. Stories have to involve action and a strong male protagonist. Hence the attraction of superhero comics to the young male population. [Simpson, A. Facts and Fiction: An investigation of the Reading Practices of Girls and Boys, English Education 1991]
Some educators have found assigning articles from the daily newspaper is a good motivator for boys. Edward DeRoche, a director at the University of San Diego, has reviewed many studies of the effectiveness of newspapers for motivating below-average readers, particularly boys. The studies show that "students in such classes score significantly higher in spelling, vocabulary development, and comprehension than comparable students who did not use the newspapers" [DeRoche, Edward. READ ALL ABOUT IT: THE CASE FOR NEWSPAPERS IN THE CLASSROOM, Education Week,29/1/2003]
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Investigation into the physiological and psychological differences between developing boys and girls.
There are many clear differences between men and women, however, when we think of young boys and girls we have a tendency to think that there isn't too much that separates them. Since the 70's we've been bombarded with feminist inspired theories that any differences between the sexes are socially constructed. Consequently the advice to parents and teachers as been to switch the traditional gender stereotypes. For example, giving girls the toy cars and getting boys a little pram with a baby-doll in it. There has been a fair amount of research during this same time period indicating that the reason boys like cars and girls like dolls is because of differences at the genetic level and that the difference in the way boys and girls perceive the world is much greater than we had previously guessed.
We have known for some time that mature adult brains differ according to gender. The functions in the male brains are more compartmentalized while in female brains they are more holistic. Up until very recently the scientific community explained these differences as been due to hormonal differences. This belief reinforced the view that differences between the sexes were negligible before puberty.
Different Brains.
In 2004 scientist at UCLA examined a 'lateral gynandromorphic hermaphrodite' bird. Basically, every cell of this birds body was male on the right and female on the left. However, the blood contained a mixture of male and female hormones. If the conventional thought at the time was correct there should have been little difference between the two hemispheres of the brain. But there was, the two sides were dramatically different from each other. The scientists who studied this bird concluded that male and female brain tissue is “intrinsically different” because of the sex chromosome and not sex hormones. The difference is genetic, so young boys and girls brains are already different at day one.
[ARNOLD and BURGOYNE, “Are XX and XY Brain cells Intrinsically Different?” Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2004]
Hearing Ability.
A study done on the effect of music therapy on premature babies in the late 80's revealed more physiological variation between the sexes. The babies were played soft music in their cribs along with a control group that heard no music. An unexpected discovery was made. Girls on average left the hospital nine and a half days earlier than the control group. Whereas, with boys the music had no effect at all. A follow up study done with humming a lullaby revealed a more dramatic difference with the girls leaving hospital around twelve days earlier while the sound still appeared not to have any observable effect on the boys. The researchers concluded that the most “plausible explanation was that the boys simply could not hear the music as well or in the same way as the girls.”
[CAINE, “The Effects of Music on the Selected Stress Behaviors in a Newborn I.C.U.” Journal of Music Therapy, 1991]
With the advances in technology experienced in our time we are now able to see the response of the brain as music is played. A more recent study of 350 newborns used this brain imaging technology to track the 'acoustic brain response' across the full spectrum. Their findings were that girls had substantially more sensitive hearing “especially in the 1000-4000Hz range (soft sounds) which is important for speech discrimination”. Confirming that girls do in fact hear better than boys, further studies on older children and adults reveal that this gap also increases with age.
[CASSIDY and DITTY, “Gender Differences among Newborns on a Transient Otoacoustic Emissions Test for Hearing,” Journal of Music Therapy, 2001.]
This has important implications in the classroom where status for boys is often structured from the back of the class forward. The boys may simply be out of range of the teacher speaking in a soft voice.
Visual Differences.
It has been well documented that females are more adept at interpreting facial expressions and few would dispute it. Scientists at Cambridge University set out to discover if this was innate or a consequence of social factors. They set up an experiment where they dangled a mobile that would slowly turn on the left side of a baby's field of vision and a smiling woman would be on the right. The 102 babies in the study had their eye movements recorded and analysed to determine which they preferred. It turned out that most of the girls favoured the woman's face while the boys were more than twice as likely to prefer the mobile. They concluded that it was “beyond reasonable doubt that sex differences in social interest are, in part, biological in origin”
[CONNELLAN and BARON-COHEN, “Sex Differences in Human Neonatal Social Perception,” Infant Behavior & Development, 2000.]
The answer lies in the anatomy of the eye. The eye is divided into layers, in one of these layers (the ganglion layer) there are two types of cell. Small P – cells and much larger M – cells. P – cells take in information about texture and colour while M – cells compile information about direction and movement. Basically P – cells answer the question “what is it?” and the M – cells are for “where is it and where's it going?” The male retina is considerably thicker than the female because it is made up of of mostly M – cells, whereas females have mostly P – cells.
[KAPLAN and BENARDETE, “The Dynamics of Primate Retinal Ganglion Cells,” Progress in Brain Research, 2001.]
This serves to at least partially explain why the boys preferred to track the mobile; why they like to play with toys that require action and may be the reason why most boys seem to be predisposed to kinaesthetic learning. In light of this we can also understand why girls are more likely to appreciate objects for being colourful and richly textured. However, this difference in the ganglion layer has a knock on effect. The various receptor cells that are wired to the M-cells differ in ratio to the ones that are wired to P-cells so the effect is that boys prefer 'cold' colours such as black, grey, silver, and blue. Girls on the other hand, prefer 'warm' colours like red, orange, green and beige. Simply because they are wired to have an abundance of receptor cells for these respective colours.
I have observed in the classroom that praise for artwork tends to be more enthusiastic from the overwhelmingly female staff if it's colourful while the black scribble of a spaceship crashing into the moon gets an unenthusiastic “Oh, that's nice...how about adding a bit of colour to brighten it up?” It is this lack of understanding that can turn a boy off artistic activities as he quickly comes to realise that he has to change his approach to suit the female eye. To test this theory, I set up an experiment in the class room where I created 2 bunches of coloured crayons – one with the warm colours described above, the other with the cold colours. I then allowed the children to choose a picture to colour in – 3 of the pictures were of some sort of action (verbs) the other 3 were of objects (nouns). According to the research on the anatomy of the eye, we should find that most boys prefer drawing verbs with the cold colours and most girls the nouns with the warm colours. XXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX
Geometry and Navigation.
Scientists have discovered that males and females use different parts of their brain from each other when dealing with tasks involving geometry and navigation. Young men use the primitive nucleus deep inside our brain, the hippocampus. While females use the cerebral cortex for these tasks, the more advanced part at the front of the brain. The result is that when you ask a female for directions the typical response will be filled with landmarks you can see, hear or smell. Whereas a males are more likely to use absolute directions and distance. The opinion of brain experts is that the hippocampus acts somewhat like a G.P.S.
Maturation.
I sure we've all heard this opinion that girls mature on average 2 years faster than boys. And while it's true that certain areas of the brain mature faster in girls, there are also aspects in which boys mature before girls. To study this, Researchers examined brain activity in 508 children from the age 2 months to 16 years to show that the brain develops in a different sequence in boys compared with girls. They found that the areas of the brain involved with language and fine motor skills mature around 6 years earlier in girls. However, the area of the brain used for spatial memory and targeting mature around 4 years earlier in boys. Their conclusion was that it was too simple to claim that girls matured faster than boys and the truth was that while girls are maturing faster in some areas of the brain, the boys are maturing faster in others.
[HANLON, THATCHER and CLINE, “Gender Differences in the Development of EEG Coherence in Normal Children,” Developmental Neuropsychology, 1999]
When applying this to early education which still has its main focus reading and writing. Skills that are more appropriate con with the development of girls
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