Mary Beth Oliver visited my psychology of HCI today. She spoke on individual differences in media effects research. Her research is largly focused on traditional media like tv as opposed to the internet. Consequently, much of the discussion focused on possible ways to to research the effects of individual differences on internet use.

One of the major things I got out of it is the potential to research how individual differences effect the way people interpret information. The classic example of this is a study done on the tv show All in the Family. Unfortunately, I don't have the citation with me at the moment. But the idea is that bigoted people interpret Archie Bunker as the hero while other people see open-minded characters as the heros. The example is so great because it is relatively obvious to anyone who has seen the show that this would occur. What effects does this type of phenomenon have on interactive media?

The way people interact with news on the web is one area where one might examine how individual differences effect interaction. Last semester Kelly Garrett spoke at SILS about his dissertation research in this area. Some of the preliminary data he has collected suggests differences between how liberals and conservatives choose whether to read news articles that contradict or support their views.

"Need for cognition" is another personal differences factor that may prove very important in research on information gathering by different populations.

Next week Dr. S. Shyam Sundar, Director of the Media Effects Lab at Penn. State, will be visiting the class.

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