Friday, November 12, 2010
Week 12 Question 1: Discourses of Attention
This article was all about our attention spans and how the media effects it. Because TV, games, and other video forms move very fast getting to the points, it programs people to have short attention spans. One example they used was Sesame Street and how it was made to be fast paced in order to help children to learn at a quicker rate. But it was later studied and found to have had negative effects on how children processed information because of their short attention spans. "TV babies" are effected by this the most because they were/are raised in a media filled society where everyone is moving at a fast pace. I do not find it ironic that as the media is becoming more increasingly popular in our generations, so is ADD and ADHD. Another interesting fact from this article is that even though many people are aware of the detriments caused by TV and other related forms of media, they are still continuing to expand in several different ways. I feel like this is dumbing people down and causing people not to think as in depth. Hopefully this will be further studied and discussed so that it will raise awareness to ours' and the upcoming generations.
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Goldie, I, too, found it interesting that this article found TV detrimental but we keep pushing the technology. I was very much a TV Baby and I've found over the years that my attention span has gotten shorter. Interestingly enough, I don't really limit the amount of TV I let my own children watch and they have great attention spans. They can also play away from TV for a long period of time. So under those circumstances I've never really felt the need to impose limits. I suppose if something changed I would reassess the situation.
ReplyDeleteI can’t honestly agree with all of your review. I don’t necessarily think related forms of media are “dumbing us down”, as you put it, however I can see where you are coming from. To me, I think technology definitely has its positives and negatives, as within anything in life. For instance, without this class I wouldn’t be able to graduate in the time frame I would like to. My work schedule dictates when I am allowed to take classes, so these online classes are extremely helpful. I fell that I still learn the material, and have actually applied some of the material from an on-line class into my life. So, it’s not necessarily the mediums fault. In fact, at the end of the article it explained that children who watch Sesame Street actually had better grades then those that didn’t. At the same time, I totally agree that I would like to see further studies in this area.
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