MA in Television Studies

EDM0120 The Active Viewer

Dr Daniel Chandler

Assignment Options

Choose one of the following assignments. Essays should be around 3,500 words.

Assignment 1

What is the evidence that visual perception is an active process of ‘constructing reality’ rather than one of passive assimilation?

Some suggested reading

Abercrombie, M. L. J. (1969): The Anatomy of Judgement. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Arnheim, Rudolf (1970): Visual Thinking. London: Faber
Barlow, Horace, Colin Blakemore & Miranda Weston-Smith (Eds.) (1990): Images and Understanding. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Block, J. Richard & Harold F. Yuker (1992): Can You Believe Your Eyes? London: Robson
Bloomer, Carolyn M. (1976): Principles of Visual Perception. New York: Van Nostrand
Bruce, Vicki & Patrick R. Green (1990): Visual Perception. Hove: Erlbaum
Chandler, Daniel (1998): 'Visual Perception' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MAinTV/visindex.html
Coren, Stanley, Lawrence M. Ward & James T. Emms (1994): Sensation and Perception. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace
Dember, William N. & Joel S. Warm (1979): The Psychology of Perception, 2nd edn. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston
Gregory, Richard L. (1970): The Intelligent Eye. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Gregory, Richard L. (1972): Eye and Brain. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Gregory, Richard L. (1974): Concepts and Mechanisms of Perception. London: Duckworth
Hochberg, Julian E. (1964): Perception. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
Kreech, David & Richard S Crutchfield (1971): 'Perceiving the World'. In Wilbur Schramm and Donald F. Roberts (Eds.): The Process and Effects of Mass Communication. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, pp. 235-264 [Excellent]. A version of this paper can also be found in David Krech, Richard S Crutchfield & Egerton L Ballachey (1962): Individual in Society: A Textbook of Social Psychology, Chapter 2 ('Cognition'). New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. 17-67
Lloyd, Barbara B. (1972): Perception and Cognition: A Cross-Cultural Perespective. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Luckiesh, M. (1965): Visual Illusions. New York: Dover
Segall, Marshall H., Donald T. Campbell & Melville J. Herskovits (1966): The Influence of Culture on Visual Perception. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill
Sekuler, Robert & Randolph Blake (1994): Perception, 3rd edn. New York: McGraw-Hill
Senden, M. von (1960): Space and Sight. London: Methuen
Spoehr, Kathryn T. & Stephen W. Lehmkuhle (1982): Visual Information Processing. San Francisco: Freeman
Vernon, M. D. (1970): Perception Through Experience. London: Methuen
Vernon, M. D. (1971): The Psychology of Perception. Harmondsworth: Penguin

Note: See also general textbooks on cognitive psychology and schema theory.

Assignment 2

In what ways do people differ in their perception of the world? To what can such differences be attributed and how would you characterize their limits?

Some suggested reading

Chandler, Daniel (1998): 'Visual Perception' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MAinTV/visindex.html
Coren, Stanley, Lawrence M. Ward & James T. Emms (1994): Sensation and Perception. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace
Cruz, Jon & Justin Lewis (1994): Viewing, Reading, Listening: Audiences and Cultural Reception. Boulder, CO: Westview
Davidoff, Jules B. (1975): Differences in Visual Perception. London: Crosby Lockwood Staples
Flynn, Elizabeth A. & Patrocinio P. Schweickart (Eds.) (1986): Gender and Reading. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
Hastorf, Albert H & Hadley Cantril (1954): 'They Saw a Game: A Case Study', Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 49: 129-34. Reprinted in: Robert Ornstein (1986): The Psychology of Consciousness. Harmondsworth: Penguin; Robert Ornstein (Ed.) (1973): The Nature of Consciousness. San Francisco: W H Freeman; Wilbur Schramm & Donald F Roberts (Eds.) (1971): The Process and Effects of Mass Communication. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, pp. 300-312
Kreech, David & Richard S Crutchfield (1971): 'Perceiving the World'. In Wilbur Schramm and Donald F. Roberts (Eds.): The Process and Effects of Mass Communication. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, pp. 235-264 [Excellent]. A version of this paper can also be found in David Krech, Richard S Crutchfield & Egerton L Ballachey (1962): Individual in Society: A Textbook of Social Psychology, Chapter 2 ('Cognition'). New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. 17-67
Sacks, Oliver (1995): An Anthropologist on Mars. New York: Vintage
Segall, Marshall H., Donald T. Campbell & Melville J. Herskovits (1966): The Influence of Culture on Visual Perception. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill
Vernon, M. D. (1971): The Psychology of Perception. Harmondsworth: Penguin

Note: See also general psychology textbooks.

Assignment 3

In what ways is watching TV an active process of interpretation rather than a passive process of ‘assimilating information’?

Some suggested reading

Alcock, Katrina (1997): 'Watching TV as an Active Process of Interpretation' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/kka9601.html
Ang, Ien (1991): Desperately Seeking the Audience. London: Routledge
Chandler, Daniel (1996): 'A Guide to Analysing your Interpretation of a TV Programme' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MAinTV/analyse.html [do not follow this slavishly!]
Chandler, Daniel (1997): 'Children's Understanding of What's "Real" on TV: A Review of the Literature', Journal of Educational Media 23(1): 67-82
Chandler, Daniel (1998): 'Codes'. In Semiotics for Beginners. [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem08.html
Condry, John (1989): The Psychology of Television. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Cruz, Jon & Justin Lewis (1994): Viewing, Reading, Listening: Audiences and Cultural Reception. Boulder, CO: Westview
Drummond, Phillip & Richard Patterson (Eds.) (1988): Television and its Audience. London: BFI
Evra, Judith van (1990): Television and Child Development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Fiske, John (1987): Television Culture. London: Routledge
Hastorf, Albert H & Hadley Cantril (1954): 'They Saw a Game: A Case Study', Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 49: 129-34. Reprinted in: Robert Ornstein (1986): The Psychology of Consciousness. Harmondsworth: Penguin; Robert Ornstein (Ed.) (1973): The Nature of Consciousness. San Francisco: W H Freeman; Wilbur Schramm & Donald F Roberts (Eds.) (1971): The Process and Effects of Mass Communication. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, pp. 300-312
Livingstone, Sonia M. (1990): Making Sense of Television. Oxford: Pergamon
McQuail, Denis (1990): Mass Communication Theory (2nd edn.). London: Sage
Messaris, Paul (1994): Visual Literacy: Image, Mind and Reality. Boulder, CO: Westview Press
Monaco, James (1990): How to Read a Film. New York: Oxford University Press
Moores, Shaun (1993): Interpreting Audiences: The Ethnography of Media Consumption. London: Sage
Peace, Mark (1998): 'Watching TV as an Active Process of Interpretation' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/mbp9701.html
Rowland, William D. & Bruce Watkins (Eds.) (1984): Interpreting Television: Current Research Perspectives. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage
Seiter, Ellen et al. (Eds.) (1989): Remote Control. London: Routledge
Symes, Benjamin (1995): 'Watching TV as an Active Process: Northern Exposure' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/bas9402.html
Wegerer, Michael (1995): Scanning 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'. Aberystwyth: Dept. of Education, UWA
Wilson, Tony (1993): Watching Television. Cambridge: Polity Press

Assignment 4

'Photographs are as much an interpretation of the world as paintings and drawings are' (Susan Sontag). Illustrate with examples how photographs can be seen as involving the photographer's interpretation of the world.

Some suggested reading

Barthes, Roland (1977): Image-Music-Text. London: Fontana ('The Photographic Image' and 'Rhetoric of the Image')
Barthes, Roland (1982): Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography. London: Cape [Here, Barthes revises his earlier claim that the photograph was a 'message without a code']
Benjamin, Walter (1970 [1935]): 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction'. In Illuminations (Ed. Hannah Arendt; trans. Harry Zohn). London: Cape
Berger, John (1972): Ways of Seeing. Harmondsworth: Penguin/London: BBC
Berger, John (1980): About Looking. London: Writers & Readers
Berger, John (1982): 'Appearances'. In John Berger & Jean Mohr: Another Way of Telling. Cambridge: Granta/Harmondsworth: Penguin, pp. 81-129
Bolton, Richard (Ed.) (1989): The Contest of Meaning: Critical Histories of Photography. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Burgin, Victor (Ed.) (1982): Thinking Photography. London: Macmillan
Chandler, Daniel (1997): 'Visual Perception: Individual Differences, Purposes and Needs'. [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MAinTV/visper04.html
Chandler, Daniel (1998): 'Notes on "the Gaze"'. [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze.html
Clark, Graham (1997): The Photograph. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Edwards, Sue (1998): 'Photographs as an Interpretation of the World' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/sse9701.html
Evans, Harold (1978): Pictures on a Page: Photo-journalism, Graphics and Picture-Editing. London: Heinemann
Feininger, Andreas (1974): Photographic Seeing. London: Thames & Hudson
Goffman, Erving (1979): Gender Advertisements. New York: Harper & Row/London: Macmillan
Goldberg, Vicki (1991): The Power of Photography: How Photographs Changed Our Lives. New York: Abbeville Press
Gombrich, Ernst H (1977): Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation. London: Phaidon
Hall, Stuart (1981): 'The Determinations of News Photographs'. In Stanley Cohen & Jock Young (Eds.): The Manufacture of News: Social Problems, Deviance and the Mass Media. London: Constable, pp. 236-243
Kress, Gunther & Theo Van Leeuwen (1996): Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge
Lutz, Catherine & Jane Collins (1994): 'The Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes: The Example of National Geographic'. In Taylor (Ed.), op. cit., 363-84
Messaris, Paul (1997): Visual Perception: The Role of Images in Advertising. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Nichols, Bill (1981): Ideology and the Image. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press (Chapters 1 & 2)
Rudisill, Richard (1982): 'On Reading Photographs', Journal of American Culture 5(3)
Sanders, Noel (1988): 'Angles on the Image'. In Gunther Kress (Ed.): Communication and Culture. Kensington, NSW: New South Wales University Press, pp. 131-56
Sontag, Susan (1979): On Photography. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Spence, Jo (1986): Putting Myself in the Picture. London: Camden Press
Tagg, John (1988): The Burden of Representation: Essays on Photographies and Histories. Basingstoke: Macmillan
Taylor, Lucien (Ed.) (1994): Visualizing Theory. New York: Routledge
Wells, Liz (Ed.) (1997): Photography: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge

Assignment 5

Outline and discuss the evidence for the argument that we need to learn to 'read' pictures.

Some suggested reading

Abercrombie, M L J (1969): The Anatomy of Judgement. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Arnheim, Rudolf (1970): Visual Thinking. London: Faber
Barthes, Roland (1977): Image-Music-Text. London: Fontana ('The Photographic Image' and 'Rhetoric of the Image') [In the former, Barthes claimed that the photograph was a 'message without a code']
Barthes, Roland (1982): Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography. London: Cape [Here, Barthes revised his earlier claim that the photograph was a 'message without a code']
Berger, John (1972): Ways of Seeing. Harmondsworth: Penguin/London: BBC
Chandler, Daniel (1994): 'Semiotics for Beginners' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html
Coren, Stanley, Clare Porac & Lawrence M Ward (1978): Sensation and Perception (International Edn.). New York: Academic Press
Deregowski, Jan B (1976): 'Pictorial perception and culture'. In Held & Richards, op.cit., pp. 214-220
Deregowski, Jan B (1980): Illusions, Patterns and Pictures: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. London: Academic Press
Gombrich, Ernst H (1977): Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation. London: Phaidon
Held, Richard & Whitman Richards (Eds.) (1976): Recent Progress in Perception: Readings from 'Scientific American'. San Francisco: W H Freeman
Kress, Gunther & Theo Van Leeuwen (1996): Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge
Lloyd, Barbara B (1972): Perception and Cognition: A Cross-Cultural Perespective. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Messaris, Paul (1994): Visual 'Literacy': Image, Mind, and Reality. Boulder, CO: Westview Press
Segall, Marshall H, Donald T Campbell & Melville J Herskovits (1966): The Influence of Culture on Visual Perception. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill

Assignment 6

What are the strengths and limitations of interviews as a research technique for studying television viewers? Illustrate with detailed reference to at least one published study using the technique. Include a discussion of various kinds of research interviews, including structured, open-ended and group interviews.

Some suggested reading

Jensen, K. B. & N. W. Jankowski (Eds.) (1991): Handbook of Qualitative Methodologies for Mass Communication Research. London: Routledge
Lull, James (1990): Inside Family Viewing. London: Routledge
Moores, Shaun (1993): Interpreting Audiences: The Ethnography of Media Consumption. London: Sage
Morley, David (1986): Family Television. London: Routledge

Assignment 7

Using video-recorded copies of some television advertisements and an audio-tape recorder, explore how different viewers make sense of some fairly open-ended TV ads. Report your findings.

Some suggested reading

'Analysing Advertisements' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MAinTV/analad.html
Williamson, Judith (1978): Decoding Advertisements. London: Marion Boyars

Assignment 8

Interview at least 6 children who are regular viewers of the same soap opera in order to discover what functions watching it seems to serve for them.

Some suggested reading

Buckingham, David (1987): Public Secrets: 'EastEnders' and its Audience. London: BFI
Buckingham, David (Ed.) (1990): Watching Media Learning: Making Sense of Media Education. London: Falmer Press
Buckingham, David (1993): Children Talking Television: The Making of Television Literacy. London: Falmer Press
Buckingham David (Ed.) (1993): Reading Audiences: Young People and the Media. Manchester: Manchester University Press
Kilborn, Richard (1992): Television Soaps. London: Batsford

Assignment 9

Offer a critique of David Morley's Nationwide audience research. What can we learn from this study?

Some suggested reading

Moores, Shaun (1993): Interpreting Audiences: The Ethnography of Media Consumption. London: Sage
Morley, David (1992): Television, Audiences & Cultural Studies. London: Routledge

Assignment 10

Arrange for several people to watch the same live news broadcast and interview them shortly afterwards using an audio-tape recorder. How do they differ in making sense of the same items, and why?

Some suggested reading

Graber, Doris (1988): Processing the News (2nd edn.). New York: Longman
Lewis, Justin (1985): 'Decoding Television News'. In Phillip Drummond and Richard Paterson (Eds.): Television in Transition: Papers from the First International Television Studies Conference [London 1984]. London: BFI, pp. 205-34
Lewis, Justin (1991): The Ideological Octopus. London: Sage
Livingstone, Sonia (1990): Making Sense of Television. Oxford: Pergamon (although Livingstone's focus is on fictional narrative)
Sands, Lesley (1998): 'Differences in Sense-Making Among TV News Viewers' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/lcs9601.html

Assignment 11

What are the main research issues and difficulties in investigating children's understanding of television? Illustrate with detailed reference to at least 3 published studies.

Some suggested reading

Buckingham, David (Ed.) (1990): Watching Media Learning: Making Sense of Media Education. London: Falmer Press
Buckingham, David (1993): Children Talking Television: The Making of Television Literacy. London: Falmer Press
Buckingham David (Ed.) (1993): Reading Audiences: Young People and the Media. Manchester: Manchester University Press
Chandler, Daniel (1995): Children's Understanding of What is 'Real' on Television: A Review of the Literature. Aberystwyth: UWA Dept. of Education
Evra, J van (1990): Television and Child Development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Hodge, Robert & David Tripp (1986): Children and Television. Cambridge: Polity Press
MacBeth, Tannis M (Ed.) (1996): Tuning in to Young Viewers: Social Science Perspectives on Television. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Mayer, M. (1983): Children and the Formal Features of Television. Munich: Saur
Noble, Grant (1975): Children in Front of the Small Screen. London: Constable

Assignment 12

What is the importance of inference in our understanding of television? Arrange to watch and discuss a particular episode of a soap opera with a friend and attempt to categorize and illustrate the different kinds of inferences which you were required to make in order to make sense of the programme.

Some suggested reading

Condry, John (1989): The Psychology of Television. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Livingstone, Sonia (1990): Making Sense of Television. Oxford: Pergamon
Mayer, M. (1983): Children and the Formal Features of Television. Munich: Saur
Noble, Grant (1975): Children in Front of the Small Screen. London: Constable

Assignment 13

Undertake a survey of at least 20 families (some of these could be via your friends in college) designed to establish the range of parental practices in relation to children's viewing of TV (and video) and the various reasons behind them. Consider in particular any parental restrictions on viewing. Give very careful attention to the most effective way of framing your questions. A face-to-face survey is preferable. Do not ask more than about 15 questions at most: some of these could be open-ended. Don't forget to establish the ages of the children concerned, and where families have more than one child identify practices in relation to each of them. Where possible, investigate the views of all of the adults involved (they may differ). Also, check whether the child has a TV in their bedroom. Report your findings.

Some suggested reading

Berger, Arthur Asa (1991): Media Research Techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage
Simpson, Philip (Ed.) (1987): Parents Talking Television. London: Comedia

Assignment 14

Conduct a case-study of how people within the same household differ in their use of television (this may include the video-recorder). Does this seem to be in any way related to gender?

Some suggested reading

Langan, Catherine R (1997): 'A Case-Study of How People Within the Same Household Differ in Their Use of Television' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/crl9501.html
Lull, James (1990): Inside Family Viewing. London: Routledge
Moores, Shaun (1993): Interpreting Audiences: The Ethnography of Media Consumption. London: Sage
Morley, David (1986): Family Television. London: Routledge
Owen, Dewi Rheinallt (1997): 'A Case-Study of How People Within the Same Household Differ in Their Use of Television' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/deo9501.html
Starke, Nicola (1998): 'A Case-Study of How People Within the Same Household Differ in Their Use of Television' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/nas9601.html
Wood, Matthew (1997): 'A Case-Study of How People Within the Same Household Differ in Their Use of Television' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/mtw9401.html

Assignment 15

Discuss the role of cultural factors in interpreting television with detailed reference to at least 3 published studies.

Some suggested reading

Boyd-Barrett, Oliver & Chris Newbold (Eds.) (1995): Approaches to Media: A Reader. London: Arnold
Dines, G. & J. M. Humez (Eds.) (1995): Gender, Race and Class in Media: A Text-Reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
The Katz and Liebes Cross-Cultural Studies of Dallas Viewers
Katz, Elihu & Tamar Liebes (1985): 'Mutual Aid in the Decoding of Dallas: Preliminary Notes from a Cross-Cultural Study'. In Phillip Drummond & Richard Patterson (Eds.): Television in Transition. London: British Film Institute, pp. 187-198
Katz, Elihu & Tamar Liebes (1986): 'Patterns of Involvement in Television Fictions: A Comparative Analysis', European Journal of Communication 1(2): 151-71; extract in Boyd-Barrett & Newbold (Eds.) (1995), op. cit., pp. 531-5
Liebes, Tamar (1990): The Export of Meaning: Cross-Cultural Readings of 'Dallas'. New York: Oxford University Pres
Liebes, Tamar & Elihu Katz (1989): 'On the Critical Abilities of Television Viewers'. In Seiter et al. (Eds.), op. cit., pp. 204-222
Seiter, Ellen, Hans Borchers, Gabriele Kreutzner & Eva-Marie Warth (Eds.) (1989): Remote Control: Television, Audiences and Cultural Power. London: Routledge

Assignment 16

Research into soap opera viewers has concentrated on female viewers. Conduct your own study into what men enjoy about soap operas, interviewing in depth at least 6 regular male viewers. Are these pleasures in any way different from those which researchers have cited for women viewers? If so, how do you account for the differences? Relate your findings to uses and gratifications theory.

Some suggested reading

Allen, R.C. (1992): Channels of Discourse, Reassembled (2nd edn.). London: Routledge
Ang, Ien (1985): Watching 'Dallas'. London: Methuen
Brown, Mary E (1994): Soap Opera and Women's Talk. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Brunsdon, Charlotte (1984): 'Writing about Soap Opera'. In L. Masterman (Ed.): Television Mythologies. London: Comedia
Buckingham, David (1987): Public Secrets: 'EastEnders' and its Audience. London: BFI
Chandler, Daniel (1994): 'Uses and Gratifications' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/usegrat.html
Dyer, Richard (Ed.) (1981): Coronation Street. London: BFI
Fiske, John (1987): Television Culture. London: Methuen (Ch. 10: 'Gendered television: femininity')
Geraghty, Christine (1991): Women and Soap Opera. Cambridge: Polity Press
Glaesner, V. (1990): 'Gendered Fictions'. In A. Goodwin & G. Whannel (Eds.): Understanding Television. London: Routledge
Hobson, Dorothy (1982): Crossroads. London: Methuen
Kilborn, Richard (1992): Television Soaps. London: Batsford
Livingstone, Sonia (1990): Making Sense of Television. Oxford: Pergamon
Prescott, Anna (1998): 'Male Viewers of Soap Operas' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/acp9601.html
Schroder, Kim (1988): 'The Pleasure of Dynasty: The Weekly Construction of Self-Confidence'. In Phillip Drummond & Richard Patterson (Eds.) (1988): Television and its Audience. London: BFI, pp. 61-82

Assignment 17

Offer a critical review of the available evidence concerning what influence television may have on the development of children's understanding of gender roles and of their own gender identities.

Some suggested reading

Condry, John (1989): The Psychology of Television. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Durkin, Kevin (1985): Television, Sex Roles and Children. Milton Keynes: Open University Press
Evra, J van (1990): Television and Child Development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Harte, Lyn (1996): 'Television, Gender Stereotypes and Young Viewers: A Case Study of an Eight-Year-Old Boy' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/lzh9402.html

Assignment 18

Arrange for several people to watch the same episode of a soap opera and interview them shortly afterwards. How do they differ in their retelling of the episode?

Some suggested reading

Buckingham, David (1987): Public Secrets: 'EastEnders' and its Audience. London: BFI
The Katz and Liebes Cross-Cultural Studies of Dallas Viewers
Livingstone, Sonia (1990a): Making Sense of Television. Oxford: Pergamon
Livingstone, Sonia (1990b). 'A Typology of Divergence in Narrative Interpretation'. In Livingstone (1990a), op. cit.
Livingstone, Sonia (1990c): 'What Makes Viewers Diverge When Interpreting Narrative?' In Livingstone (1990a), op. cit.

Assignment 19

Outline and discuss Horton and Wohl's concept of parasocial interaction between viewers and those appearing on television.

Note: Please do not uncritically reproduce popular myths about naive viewers who are said to believe wholeheartedly that characters in television drama are as real as the viewers (unless you have made a major discovery and can cite carefully documented evidence).

Some suggested reading

Argyle, Michael (1996): The Social Psychology of Leisure. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Buckingham, David (1987): Public Secrets: 'EastEnders' and its Audience. London: BFI
Buckingham, David (1993): Children Talking Television: The Making of Television Literacy. London: Falmer Press (Chapter 8: 'The Self and Others: Reading Television People', pp. 184-216)
Condry, John (1989): The Psychology of Television. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum (see discussion of 'perceived reality', pp. 163ff)
Corner, John & Jeremy Hawthorne (Eds.) (1994): Communication Studies: An Introductory Reader. London: Arnold
Horton, Donald & R. Wohl (1956): 'Mass Communication and Para-social Interaction', Psychiatry 19: 215-29. Extracts in Corner & Hawthorne (Eds.) (1994), op. cit.
Jenkins, Henry (1992): Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. London: Routledge
Lewis, Lisa A (Ed.) (1992): The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media. London: Routledge
Livingstone, Sonia (1998): Making Sense of Television: The Psychology of Audience Interpretation (2nd Edn.). London: Routledge
Mackay, Hugh (Ed.) (1997): Consumption and Everyday Life. London: Sage
Meyrowitz, Joshua (1985): No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media. New York: Oxford University Press
Noble, Grant (1975): Children in Front of the Small Screen. London: Constable [a very useful source on this topic]
Reeves, Byron & Clifford Ness (1998): The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television and New Media Like Real People and Places. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Rosengren, Karl Eric & Sven Windahl (1972): 'Mass Media Consumption as a Functional Alternative'. In Denis McQuail (Ed.): Sociology of Mass Communication: Selected Readings. Harmondsworth: Penguin, pp. 166-94
Seiter, Ellen, Hans Borchers, Gabrielle Kreutzner & Eva-Maria Warth (Eds.) (1989): Remote Control: Television, Audiences and Cultural Power. London: Routledge
Taylor, Laurie & Bob Mullan (1986): Uninvited Guests: The Intimate Secrets of Television. London: Chatto & Windus
Tolson, Andrew (1996): Mediations: Text and Discourse in Media Studies. London: Arnold
Wilson, Tony (1993): Watching Television: Hermeneutics, Reception and Popular Culture. Cambridge: Polity Press

Assignment 20

Outline and discuss psychological and psychoanalytic theories and evidence concerning how viewers 'identify' with characters in television and film fiction.

Some suggested reading

Ang, Ien (1985): Watching 'Dallas': Soap Opera and the Melodramatic Imagination. London: Methuen
Bordwell, David (1989): Making Meaning: Inference and Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Buckingham, David (1987): Public Secrets: 'EastEnders' and its Audience. London: BFI
Chandler, Daniel (1998): 'Notes on "the Gaze"'. [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze.html
Geraghty, Christine (1996): 'Feminism and Media Consumption'. In James Curran, David Morley & Valerie Walkerdine (Eds.): Cultural Studies and Communications. London: Arnold, pp. 306-22
Jenkins, Henry (1992): Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. London: Routledge
Lapsley, Robert & Michael Westlake (1988): Film Theory: An Introduction. Manchester: Manchester University Press
Lewis, Lisa A (Ed.) (1992): The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media. London: Routledge
Livingstone, Sonia (1998): Making Sense of Television: The Psychology of Audience Interpretation (2nd Edn.). London: Routledge
Mayne, Judith (1993): Cinema and Spectatorship. London: Routledge
Noble, Grant (1975): Children in Front of the Small Screen. London: Constable
Rosengren, Karl Eric & Sven Windahl (1972): 'Mass Media Consumption as a Functional Alternative'. In Denis McQuail (Ed.): Sociology of Mass Communication: Selected Readings. Harmondsworth: Penguin, pp. 166-94
Seiter, Ellen, Hans Borchers, Gabrielle Kreutzner & Eva-Maria Warth (Eds.) (1989): Remote Control: Television, Audiences and Cultural Power. London: Routledge
Sobchack, Vivian (1992): The Address of the Eye: A Phenomenology of Film Experience. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press
Wilson, Tony (1993): Watching Television: Hermeneutics, Reception and Popular Culture. Cambridge: Polity Press