Before tackling this capstone essay, I went back to our Week 2 materials to revisit Dr. Richard Paul’s “Critical Thinking in Everyday Life: 9 Strategies.” When I started this class, I made it a personal goal to try and incorporate many of these strategies into my daily life in order to hone my critical thinking skills and bring them up to a level that is appropriate to a doctoral scholar.

Out of curiosity, I decided to click on the link that gave me a biography on Dr. Richard Paul. Something that I noticed now that I did not notice before I started taking this class was that the information page on Dr. Paul was quite vague. It stated that he has received “four degrees”  but it failed to go into detail about what the degrees were in, where he got them from, or when (what year) he got them. A few weeks ago, I decided to blindly follow the strategies of someone whose expertise I never decided to question or investigate. 

Now, that being said, I do believe that Dr. Richard Paul is legitimate, and I will continue to incorporate these nine strategies into my daily life. However, something that I have learned from this class is that you must ALWAYS verify the credibility of the information that you read, take in, and quote. Furthermore, this goes beyond the internet. This rule of thumb applies to any sort of media or medium that one procures information from. Anyone can write a book. Anyone can write a blog or start a website. Anyone can be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, which I think is something that everyone learned from viewing the Martin Luther King Jr. website. The age of self production of information is both a blessing and a curse- we all become our own gate keepers and news makers, but not everyone who opens the gate or writes the news is free from bias, and this is an issue that we need to address through critical thinking skills.

How it has changed my own professional practice…

Because I am not yet a full fledged Media Psychologist, I can only imagine how it will change my professional practice. However, I do know that it will and already as changed how I encourage my friends, family, and fellow scholars to engage with media. My usual reply of “well, just Google it” has now become “Well, you could just Google it, but make sure that it is valid information. Who wrote the site? Is it legitimate? Do you have all of the information? Did you verify it with a secondary credible source? Make sure you check a couple different sites, and just because it’s at the top of the search page doesn’t mean that it’s a good source!”

In my last blog, I made reference to the “tepid romance between social media and critical thinking.” I believe that this will be a theme for me in my future practice as a Media Psychologist. Being connected is wonderful, but part of what I want to accomplish is helping people understand the difference between being connected and being too connected. I believe that it is a complicated game of give and take that requires critical thinking skills.

As human beings, we want to be connected to those around us, and we want new and advanced ways to make our crazy and complicated lives much simpler. New advances are great, but at what point do we rely upon technology so much that it acts as the third element in our human communications? In our eternal quest to become more connected, can we actually push ourselves further away from human interaction? As a Media Psychologist, I want to help people understand that there is a fine line, and we can learn how to approach it carefully by way of critical thinking skills. Before we adapt a new technology we must carefully evaluate it from a critical perspective to judge if this particular technology will actually help us- or will it add yet another task to our complicated daily to do list? Will it actually accomplish what I want it to do? Will it make my life simpler or will adding that extra step make my life more complicated? Before people wholeheartedly adapt, I want to help them react.

How critical thinking will inform my ongoing research and scholarly development during this Media Psychology doctoral program…

First and foremost, I will put everything that I read or take in under a scholarly microscope. I will always verify the credibility of the information that I incorporate into my research and writing. This is important on both a scholarly and personal level. On the scholarly level, I want the work that I produce to be credible. I want my peers to take me and my work seriously, so I owe it to myself and the scholarly community to make sure that I use valid and credible information and sources. On a personal level, much like on the scholarly level, I owe it to myself to do my best with this program, and part of doing my best includes producing the best work that I am able to produce.

I want what I do to become a drop in the pool. When I produce scholarly work, it is placed into the scholastic universe, and who knows who will read what I write. Who knows who will quote what I wrote. Another topic that we discussed in this class was the dissemination of truth on the internet. If I am going to produce scholarly work and “put it out in the world” I want it to be truthful.

If anything, this class has taught me that I need to have the highest standards for my work. I need to utilize critical thinking in not only my scholarly work, but my day to day life.

And, for a final thought, digest this…

All cartoons from www.cartoonstock.com, a paid subscription service.

There is an old saying that “no man is an island.” In 2009, that saying has never been more true. Social media has put us (as human beings) in the position of being connected to the tEcosystem virtually everywhere we go. I think that it goes without saying that social media is going to, or really, has already changed our lives. However, I think the bigger question that we have to ask ourselves is, “Is social media going to change our lives for the better?”

People are, by nature, social human beings. We naturally build social circles and possess family heirarchies. There is an inherant desire to be connected to those that we love and care for. In the past we stayed in touch with family and friends by way of postal mail and telephone. People have a need to live within a constant conversation of friends and family- both talking and listening through the tEcosystem. Social media affords individuals to function as a constantly connected island, a place where we don’t need a common space to connect, but we create our own spaces and reach out to those around us. Will Richardson said it best when he spoke about this island becoming the new way that we approach technology. We will no longer be on a physical island- we will be able to go anywhere, talk to anyone, and learn almost anything through social media.

However, we also have to consider the other side of the story. In our desire to become completely connected, can we become too connected? Can we depend so much upon social media that we have no real need or desire to interact with human beings? Lore Sjoberg (video above) makes a vaild point- after a while, using social media just produces a mash up of human communication which gets output as a synthetic bit of communication.

It seems now that we as Media Psychologists are charged with a large task. Part of what we do will be to help individuals learn how they can connect to the limitless world around them. However, another part of our task will be to help individuals stay personally connected in an increasingly digital world.

(Video courtesy of Wired Magazine, embedded through YouTube.)

I tend not to think too long and hard about what is happening when I watch a commercial on television, or hear an ad on the radio. Perhaps this is how advertisers want it to happen- If I hear an advertisement for Crest toothpaste, the jingle or hook line is tucked away in my subconscious level and it will be the first thing that I recall while standing in the toothpaste isle in Target.

Or maybe not.

Like many other industries, the advertising industry is struggling with the ideas from and the boundaries of modern technology. It is not possible for every single toothpaste company to make an advertisement that will stay lodged in my brain, so they all try harder and work faster to be the stand out advertisement in a sea of advertisement clutter. As a result of wanting to be the one stand out advertisement, the advertising industry is depending more and more on the psychology of consumers, and making us want something more than we think we want it. Putting a model in a Crest commercial amongst a smiling group of friends and family is a design to make us look for the bigger picture. People will want to be friends with me if I have white teeth and a nice smile, and if I’m happy, my family will be happy. Crest toothpaste gives me white teeth and a nice smile, so I need to buy Crest so I can have more friends and a happy family!

Crest toothpaste is a pretty tame example, but it is happening all across the board with many different products. Advertisers are appealing to consumers on a deeper level- you have a desire for this product because it will fill a need that you do not yet know you have, or know why you have it.

The Frontline episode “Merchants of Cool” was particularly enlightening to me. The advertising industry is putting forth a great deal in cracking the code of an up and coming group of consumers: teenagers. Group think mentality combined with lack of responsibility and great amounts of disposable income means that advertisers are fighting fast and hard to get their hands on the money of teenagers- simply because they have the money to spend and getting them young will (hopefully) ensure brand loyalty.

(All cartoons/images used with permission.)

It’s a simple piece of advice, and something we’ve all heard from our mothers, fathers, teachers, and friends. Yet in the digital age that we now find ourselves in, it is more important than ever that we heed this advice.

In a time where anyone can publish, and anyone can write the news, where can you find a credible information source without bias? Who is telling the truth?  Is there one, central source that we can rely on?

The short answer is no. The long answer is that there are virtually millions of news sources, web sites, and information portals that are ready and waiting to give us their spin on the news- most of the time with bias.

Bias can be a dangerous thing. Political bias, education bias, gender bias, religious bias- it is all out there. It all affects the information that ends up at our fingertips. The most frightening thing is that most of the time, bias is a very sneaky creature.

It would be nice to believe that a news organization would be regarded as credible without bias. We have several news channels to chose from and they all report the same news, right?

Our popular news media often skews with a political bias and has an impact on how the news is presented to us. Information comes to us based on how the gate keepers want us to get it.

A simple and non-political example…do peanuts really kill? Well, yes, peanut allergies have killed SOME people. But not everyone is allergic to peanuts, and peanuts are actually good for you (in moderation). Peanut allergies are serious but we don’t need to get rid of peanuts all together.

Another example is Detroit and the Detroit metro area. Are we in bad shape right now? Yes. Are the big three car companies struggling to stay above water? Absolutely. Did the (ex) mayor of Detroit get thrown in jail for purgery? Sure did- and you heard about all of that through the national news media. But did you hear that the Chinese company who bought Hummer from GM is going to invest millions of dollars in Detroit opening up a new world headquarters, which will provide taxes and jobs for the city of Detroit? Or did you hear that the abandoned Ford plant in Detroit suburb Wixom was recently purchased by a Texas energy firm, and the firm is going to invest millions of dollars in renovating the plant as a green energy compound, which will raise the status and property values for the metro Detroit area as well as provide thousands of jobs? Bet you didn’t hear that either. Why? Because the gatekeepers want Detroit to stay as the underdog. It’s much more exciting that way (take a look at  http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n8/htdocs/something-something-something-detroit-994.php)

The point is- there is a lot of information on the web. Some of it is controlled by gatekeepers, some of it is skewed by bias. It is now more than ever that we need to utilize our critical thinking skills to focus in on credible information. It will take a little time and effort- but it is worth it in order to become well informed scholars.

Check into who published the information. Look at the “about us” page. Dig into sources- does the author back the information with scholarly sources? At the very least- does the information sound like it even fits in to the normal scope of things. There’s a lot of information out there- protect yourself.

1. Media is a powerful force. Even a short 2 minute presentation provided insight into the drive and “educational makeup” of my cohorts.
2. Gate keeping is a powerful tool when it comes to media psychology. Technology has enabled us to become our own gate keepers.
3. While we need to work hard to keep our bias out of research, our bias can sometimes be a powerful driving force in urging us towards research.

Two Things I Will Share

1. It’s ok to unplug yourself from the tEcosystem on occasion. Technology is wonderful, but so is the scenery in California.
2. It is very easy for bias to prevail, but in order to be more well rounded media psychologists, we need to keep our bias in check.

One Thing I Would Change

1. It was sheer torture to sit inside all day, facing a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean. Maybe have a session or two outside on the patio?

The idea of gate keeping is a very important concept to us as Media Psychologists. Much like the definition of Media Psychology, the definition of gate keeping is constantly being formulated and reformulated due to advancements in technology and media.  Some say that gate keeping is dead, but arguably, it does exist.

Gate keeping has always existed in some form, and will likely always exist in some form. When the only source of news was the television, newspaper, and radio, large corporations served as the gate keepers of media and news. These days, technology enables individuals to act as their own gate keepers. Thanks to the internet, we are the designers of what we want to consume. We have access to an unlimited amount of websites, feeds, internet video, internet radio, on demand television and just about any other medium one can imagine. There will always be some form of gate keeping. Often times models or musicians presented to us in the media are “touched up” by some standard.

While there are many positive aspects to a lack of gate keeping, there are also some negative aspects. The new digital age means that anyone with any writing ability can publish a blog or news story. This type of open access publishing allows for a lack of fact checking, leading to a proliferation of false information. Also, in self publishing, it is easy for one’s bias to show through, therefore leading the information presented to skew towards one particular side or opinion.

Persuasive Role of Music

The concepts of music and psychology have long been an interest of mine, so this presentation was of particular interest to me. For me, it is unthinkable to have media without music. A close examination of almost any television show or movie would indeed point to the fact that music is almost always used in some capacity. Music is used as a method of building anticipation, fear, foreshadowing a big moment in the script, celebrating a happy moment, or mourning a loss.

Within television and movies, music is essential in moving a plotline forward. The music used in any particular scene gives us auditory clues as to how we as viewers should be interpreting the emotional context of what we are “visually consuming.”

Music touches us on a subconscious level. Sometimes, when we get emotionally drawn into a scene or movie, we sometimes do not even realize that it is music that is facilitating this emotional draw. Outside of a television or movie use, music also elevates our state of emotion when we hear a particular song or band that we love. Sometimes there is an emotional attachment to a band, and sometimes there is an emotional parallel between a song and an event. Either way, music is a very powerful manipulator of emotions.

The tEcosystem

As Media Psychologists, I believe that it is very important that we understand the technological landscape of the world that we live in. In the past decade, the dependence on digital media and the tEcosystem has become so great that we often go into “withdrawal” if we are separated from our tEcosystem either by means of physical removal or technological failure. Technology enables us to plug in to people all over the globe, but at the same time, technology can create a huge disconnect in human communications.

Being “plugged in” has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of being plugged in are that we tend to be better informed as to what is going on in the world around us. We are better able to keep in touch with, and in some cases tabs on, people we care about. We have almost unlimited access to information and knowledge bases. With the help of technology, I am able to communicate with my friends in England instantly, instead of waiting weeks for post mail.

The disadvantages of being plugged in are that we can become too dependent on technology to the point where we do not know how to function without it. For example, someone as geographically hard pressed as I am would have a very difficult time getting from point A to point B without the aid of a GPS or Map Quest. Also, when individuals get too connected with a virtual way of life, they can become disconnected from real life. It is easy to be “wooed” by a world where one can be and do what they want to be or do. There is a fine line between using technology for good and becoming too involved.

Also, I believe that the tEcosystem has prevailed in making communications between individuals very casual, and more importantly, it is accepted that it is casual. We feel free to say anything we want, any way we want it, and any time we want to say it.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

While I did not agree with everything that Shermer said, I do think he made some valid points.  Putting critical thinking in motion, or “Detecting Baloney” as he likes to call it, rotate around validity and testing of a theory in a way that allows us to prove that it can be validated repeatedly- not just a one off result. Also, and a very important item to consider- is the claim reasonable?

While it has been previously established that these are fundamental elements of critical thinking, it can also be implied that this has a direct connection on how information gets distorted on the internet.  If one is to read most any urban legend on the internet, it is reasonably easy for a critical thinker to see that most of the time the claim is not valid, not easily repeated (or a “one off occurrence” that happened to a friend of a friend), and most importantly- the claim is not really reasonable.  But why is it that these urban legends shape shift over and over again to become folk legend?

There could be several explanations for this. Simply- it could be individuals passing along “bad” information. Sometimes individuals embellish these tales to make them more interesting, and these are the more interesting versions that stay alive and move on through the internet. Sometimes these tales are intended as a more interesting way of presenting advice of warning (like the infamous tale of the Babysitter and the Killer Upstairs), and sometimes information gets twisted inadvertently, like when an individual unintentionally and unwittingly “regurgitates” a piece of information that they have attempted to update or make more interesting. The internet, of course, makes this easier than ever- giving information to an endless audience at lightning speed.

So here is where this gets a little bit ironic.

In my last blog, I ended with a quote by Aristotle that says critical thinking “…is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” At approximately 2:45 in the Alan Shermer video, Mr. Shermer states “The point here is that you want to have a mind open enough to accept radical new ideas, but not so open that your brains fall out.”

Yep. Ironic.

Essentially, Mr. Shermer is attempting to help us become discriminate thinkers regarding “discrepancies of the truth” by using an “exaggerated” version of an Aristotle quote that was around (in a much simpler form) many, many years before Mr. Shermer was trying to get people to become critical thinkers. It was very likely NOT an intentional move by Mr. Shermer to exaggerate a piece of information originally given to us by Aristotle, but it does enforce the fact that we must scrutinize all literature carefully, even the literature that is attempting to teach us to address critical thinking and “discrepancies of the truth.”

Ironic? To the extent that we are all here on an academic basis, and in as much as we have already demonstrated (to gain admittance to the program) that we are able to demonstrate critical thinking, yes. To the extent that critical thinking is an applied discipline, no.

Critical thinking is not an innate skill. Critical thinking is a cultivated process of dissecting and validating information, being open minded, asking questions, making comparisons, and formulating reasonable and logical conclusions. One theme that rang strongly in both the Critical Thinking article on Wikipedia and the website of the Foundation for Critical Thinking is that critical thinking is a character trait or disposition that is cultivated by a series of other developed intellectual traits. We cannot be critical thinkers unless we possess “…intellectual perseverance, autonomy, empathy, courage, humility, etc…” (Paul & Elder, 2001). Being an arrogant, close minded person keeps us from opening our mind enough to allow us to think critically.

In addition to being a intellectual skill, being a critical thinker is a disposition. Wikipedia points out :

                              “The relationship between critical thinking skills and critical thinking
                               dispositions is an empirical question. Some people have both in abundance
                               some have skills but not the disposition to use them, some are disposed
                               but lack strong skills, and some have neither (Critical Thinking, n/d).”
 

(Authors note: At this very moment, I am struggling with the open mindedness trait of critical thinking.
Very early on in my academic studies it was made very clear to us that Wikipedia is the axis of all academic evil, and therefore I am hitting a little bit of a mental road block over quoting Wikipedia while composing scholarly writings.)

It might be said that critical thinking is never settling for what is given. Or, as Aristotle was able to more eloquently put it, critical thinking “…is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

Works Cited:

Critical Thinking. (n.d.). Retrieved 26 August 2009 from Wikipedia:
                http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking

Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2001). Modified from the book by Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2001). Critical Thinking:
                Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life.

Professional Aspirations as a Media Psychologist

Other than…or maybe including…world domination, I aspire to be a college professor. I would like to teach music and media psychology, and or music business. I would love to teach at my Alma Mater Madonna University, or perhaps at the University of Michigan. I would also LOVE to get into doing research on music and the brain.

You can frequently find me on Facebook statusing about the supreme comedy that is my job/life (friend me!). I hate MySpace, and I only have a vague understanding of how to “work” Twitter, even after watching the aptly named “Twitter for Dummies” video.

If there’s anything else you would like to know, don’t hesitate to ask!