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This study investigated the effect of banner animation on search-reaction time for banner ads. The purpose of the experiment was to test two competing theories about banner animation effects: distinctiveness theory and motion effect theory. All participants (N = 31) in a 2 (Animation) x 2 (Banner Type) x 4 (Number of Animated Distractors) within-subjects factorial experiment were participated in a Web banner search task. Each subject completed a total of 72 trials. In each trial, the subject was shown a target banner and asked to search the target in the mist of distractors that were arrayed in a subsequent display. In the half of conditions, the targets were animated while in the other half of the conditions, the targets were present static. Results of the search time showed no main effects for animation and distractor numbers supporting the motion effect theory. Both theoretical and practical implications of the key findings were discussed. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To make sense of the currently unfolding World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)––and global communications policymaking in general––we must engage with two projects. First, we must historicize WSIS in relation to an earlier UN-sponsored summit, the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO), which was similarly focused on global communications policy. Second, we must theorize WSIS in terms related to the dominant political economic system defining global relations today: neoliberalism. Neoliberalism’s ascendance coinciding with NWICO’s demise is not random coincidence. Tackling these two projects will help bring into focus both continuities and changes over the previous three decades. This time period is a crucial chapter in the development of our current global communication system. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political communication scholarship readily acknowledges that masculinity is a form of political capital in American politics, but has not made clear how this concept becomes manifest in the strategic language used by politicians, particularly since September 11th. In this study we content analyzed the speeches from the 2004 political conventions of the Republican and Democratic parties in order to see if gendered discourse was present and, if present, how it was strategically employed. Findings indicate that masculinity was used in the discourse of both political parties in order to shape party identity, and that a two-pronged strategy, which we describe as hyper-masculine, was used by the Republican Party to bolster party identity and discursively emasculate opponents. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on how much the concept of globalization via the Internet is impacting online journalism. This study relied on the expertise of online journalists from Latin America, North America and Europe through their participation in three sets of online focus groups. In all the focus groups, the findings showed that online journalists perceive a comprised distance between themselves and the audience, although the desired extent of this closer interaction, as well as the reasoning behind it, varied. Secondly, as online journalists, they share commonalities in the technology resources they use for their daily news production that include acquisition devices, processing and distribution technologies. This study aims to serve as a foundation by which to explain how this online medium is evolving and how online journalists perform and operate within it. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid proliferation of cell phones and other mobile devices has created a new channel for advertising and marketing. This is an exploratory study that focuses on the attitude towards cell phone, cell phone advertising and SMS ads. This study also investigates consumer behavior in accepting and using cell phone ads. Survey method was used, and the questionnaire was answered through in-class and take-home survey. This study finds that respondents’ attitude toward both general cell phone ads and SMS ads was negative. However their attitude toward the cell phone medium was very positive. The result shows that the individuals who had more positive attitude toward cell phone ads were more receptive to accept and use cell phone ads. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on six leading communication journals and their use of online citations. The study uses content analysis to explore if there is a relationship between citation characteristics and their stability. The findings show that online citations in the .gov and .org domain are more likely to remain accessible over time. Year of publication and URL level also emerged as significant predictors of online citation permanence. More than 37% of the online citations have disappeared from the original source from 2000 to 2003. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of communication research reliability and replicability. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of collective identity has drawn much attention during the last decades, especially in the fields of communication, sociology, and anthropology. In the field of communication, studies have focused on the negotiation of cultural identities from various ontological and epistemological perspectives and have conceptualized groups as ethnic, cultural, gender, or national. This article suggests using the concept of collective identity as an orienting framework to study interrelated and multidimensional group identities without reifying a group as ethnic or cultural. By applying the concept of collective identity to the study of group identities as expressed by people of Arab descent in the U.S. the study demonstrates the heterogeneity and interrelatedness of collective identities and their cultural, socio-political, and religious meaning dimensions. The study also shows that collective identity expression can be strategic and shift in importance, depending on the socio-political climate in society. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to explore how online communities work in the context of social capital through a survey of 344 Internet users. Specifically, this research investigates various factors of media use, social capital, and demographics that may have an influence on online community use. Although some argue that Internet use may erode an individual’s social life, this study found that people who access the Internet for online community use tend to have more sociability and generalized norm than do online community non-users. When important socio-psychological factors of social capital, such as trust and life contentment were considered, however, social capital was not fully related to online community use. In this regard, it is suggested that online communities may enhance the communication ability of individuals due to technological advantages, but face-to-face communication in the form of traditional community is still essential to ensure the quality of community. In terms of media use, Internet use was a significant factor of online community use whereas traditional media was not related to online community use. Also, gender and race were significant factors of online community use among demographics. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to increase consciousness about the lived experiences of Latino/a Americans in organizations. It gave voice to Latino/a American subordinates who disclosed riveting details of their experiences with supervisors. Thematic analysis indicated that the women assumed the role of educator, teaching others the norms of their culture. It also revealed that heterogeneous relationships with bosses required the women to exert more energy to overcome intercultural differences. Interestingly, the presence of other Latino/a Americans sometimes lead to interracial competition. Similarly, the Latino American men maintained that same-race superior-subordinate dyads posed fewer challenges than communicating across races. The men further reported that interracial competition made communication with a Latino/a American bosses somewhat stressful, but communicating with bosses who spoke the same language helped alleviate stress. Further, the men found that their ideas were not as readily embraced as those of dominant groups; the same idea would be praised if it were submitted by a dominant member. Finally, skin color sometimes dictated how people communicated with the men. When their Latino American features were concealed or less obvious, others in the organization did not treat them differently based on their race. The men perceived that the communicative practices employed by their colleagues and superiors were contingent on the prominence of physical features that were widely associated with their race. Overall, the participants communicate about the strategies they utilize to successfully communicate and network with their bosses. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the enormous challenges independent record labels have to face, the treatment of this field seemed to be appropriate. On account of the wide range of companies and scenes in this important part of the market for recorded music, only a general consideration of the topic was possible. To sum it up one may say that - based on an analysis of the competitive situation as well as the value chain - independent record labels will have to search for a clear strategic positioning in the market increasingly. A key role in the strategies of independent record labels as differentiation focusers should play brand management. It offers Independents many opportunities to improve their competitive position that are contrasted by just a few threats. Long-term preferences should be build not only for the artists respectively their releases but also for the label itself, especially considering the fact that independent record labels seem to be predes-tined for branding. The added value of labels as brands must be commu-nicated. Simultaneously the branding measures have to be adjusted to each product personality. In this way the label as brand could be the stra-tegic key to marketing. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The link between the feature-length films and the short films is inevitable; musical shorts were part of the progression to talking films and their prominence as a medium coincided with the emergence of feature-length films with all-black casts, also musical in nature. However, what should be asked is why sound film, as early as the first experimental pieces, exploited the musical talents of African-American artists rather than including them as dramatic actors in their own milieus. Furthermore, what did musical shorts offer that feature-length films could not? What types of narratives and representations did they employ? Also, which images and narratives from previously seen black performance onscreen were negotiated with alternative representations? Most importantly, did the jazz and blues artists featured in these short films offer the opportunity to present non-stereotypical representations and to what extent could they do this? This project analyzes seven musical shorts featuring iconic black performers Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Lena Horne, Ethel Waters and Nina Mae McKinney. There are several reasons why these short films and later soundies are crucial to early black representation. Hundreds of these shorts were made between the late 1920s and mid 1940s, but information about them tends to be scarce. However, considering their trajectory in the development of black representation in Hollywood, they are within a key formative moment of black representation. In looking for “positive” representations of African-Americans, Hollywood went to black singers, musicians and dancers that white audiences already knew, a practice that continues with black representation today. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brand integrated magazine formats, a form of brand placement in which advertising messages are incorporated into the editorial content of a magazine, are the focus of this study. An experiment (N = 323) was conducted to study the effects of these formats on credibility, reliability, and intention to purchase the magazine. Six versions of the same magazine were created that varied on two dimensions of commercialism, namely percentage of brand integrations and source. The results showed that the percentage of brand integrations negatively affected perceptions of credibility and reliability of the format. The perception of the source as commercial or non-commercial had no effect. With respect to intention to purchase the magazine, there was an interaction effect of source and percentage of brand integrations. The results show that source credibility theory applies to brand integrated magazine formats. This study adds to the small body of academic research on the proliferating practice of mixing advertising and editorial content. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the theoretical framework provided by the limited-capacity model, a 2 x 3 experimental design will be employed in the investigation of the impact of both audio complexity and visual type on listeners' recall of audio blogs and visual information presented on the blogsite, and affective responses to both audio and visual stimuli of the blogsite. The three levels of the visual type independent variable will be: semantically congruent images presented as a kind of slide show accompanying the blog, semantically congruent pop-up advertisements that appear during the audio blog and semantically incongruent pop-up advertisements that appear during the audio blog. Based on real travel audio blogs taken from the web, two five-minute audio blogs will be created and the sound design manipulated. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated viewers’ perceptions of the realism of fictional films with improbable or fantastic elements. The study consisted of six focus group interviews in which participants were shown clips from three recent films and asked to discuss their responses. Participants tended to identify unrealistic elements of the films on the bases of literal impossibility and inconsistency with the viewers’ sense of psychological or metaphysical laws. There were no clear, systematic differences in the way fans and non-fans of fantasy-based genres described their realism judgments. The implications of the study’s findings are discussed with reference to the transportation model of narrative persuasion and recent conceptual research on media realism. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A five-day diary study of 207 students who were to perform a speech was conducted to determine if there was a difference in motivation, practice, alcohol use, trait anxiety and state anxiety among three types of students. The three types of students examined were those that under-estimate the quality of their speeches (those that report their anticipated grade as lower than the grade they actually receive), those that are on-target with their estimations (those that accurately assess their speech grade), and over-estimators (those that report their anticipated grade as significantly higher than the grade they actually achieve). Differences among the three groups were found for reported alcohol consumed and reported state anxiety. No differences among the groups were found for the traditional variables of motivation to perform, practice for the speech, nor for trait anxiety. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although argument quality is considered to be very important to the outcome of the persuasion process, little research has been done on the question whether the strength of arguments is related to the type of evidence that is used. In three experiments, 494 participants indicated the extent to which they accepted claims that were either supported by anecdotal or statistical evidence. Statistical evidence is more persuasive than anecdotal evidence in support of a claim on a large number of unspecified entities (Experiment 1, 2). In support of a claim on a specific entity, anecdoctal evidence can be as persuasive as statistical evidence (Experiment 2, 3), as long as the case story in the anecdotal evidence is perceived as sufficiently similar to the entity in the claim (Experiment 3). These findings are in accordance with insights derived from argumentation theory. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This present study explored how people socially responded toward anthropomorphized computers, moderated by copresence and reciprocity. With an increase in the reliance on new technologies, research has documented a variety of ways in which people appropriate overlearned social behaviors (e.g., politeness) not only to each other, but also to computers. Evidence has supported the mindless responses people exhibit when interacting with computers. However, anthropomorphism as an alternative explanation to these social responses has been largely discounted. An experiment (N = 151) was conducted to examine the relationship between anthropomorphism and politeness toward the evaluation of a computer. Other moderating variables, such as reciprocity and physical proximity are tested in this relationship. Results indicated that anthropomorphism and reciprocity affected politeness toward a computer. In addition, the effect of anthropomorphism and physical proximity on politeness was different depending on reciprocity. The results have implications highlighting the roles in which anthropomorphism of computers, physical proximity to computers, and reciprocity of computer interaction enhance the strength of positively-biased social responses. Furthermore, this study extends politeness literature by acknowledging the growing similarities between face-to-face communication and human-computer interactions as a result of anthropomorphism. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opinion leaders are a prime target group for any company. Studies on consumer behaviour support the importance of personal sources of information and influence. Still, careful attention should be given to methods of identifying these individuals. We assess existing methods to identify opinion leaders. In particular, we address the question whether the most prominent construct, the King/Summers scale, is able to reliably and validly identify those individuals that perform as opinion givers. On the basis of a survey of 10Â’100 respondents on money matters, we test this concept of opinion leadership. We show that without the benefit of ego-centred network analysis any study runs the risk of misjudging the importance of individuals identified as opinion leaders. We suggest a combination of network size and opinion leadership, arriving at a role differentiation of four groups. With this, we draft a communication model for active opinion leaders, communicators, silent experts and inactives. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academics and practitioners often call upon public relations to be the “corporate conscience” of an organization. Public relations professionals know the tug-of-war that exists between being expected to defend an organization’s ethics and being part of an ethically questionable profession themselves. To better examine these challenges, an international research project employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. This project found that many public relations practitioners perform two distinct roles relating to ethics: the conscience counselor role and the core values manager role. Whereas the practice of organizational conscience may emphasize process, the continuous development of core values centers on content. Faced with performing these roles, practitioners reported they are rarely trained for these activities either academically or by employers but many had worked for years to earn the ability to advise the dominant coalition on ethics. More than one participant reflected on how the pace of the relationship is “glacial.” Public relations professionals, themselves being seen as having questionable ethics, must work long and hard to educate the dominant coalition about the contributions public relations can make to ethical decision making. The relationships between organizations and publics, as well as the value of the public relations function could be enhanced through both academic study and professional ethics training for public relations managers performing the roles of conscience counselor and values manager. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines imagined interactions (IIs) among young adults in the USA, Thailand, and Japan. A comparison of means across cultures on II characteristics reveals that the Japanese participants have the widest variety of imagined interaction partners, while the American participants are the most self-dominant in their imagined interactions and demonstrate the most II frequency. The Thai participants report the most positively valenced imagined interactions, and the least II self-dominance and partner variety. As for II functions, Japanese and Thai participants keep conflict alive via their imagined interactions more than the Americans. The Japanese participants utilize all four II functions more than the Thais and Americans, while the Thai participants use imagined interaction rehearsal the least. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the smoking cessation behavior of 3,411 people who smoke in September 2003 is followed in time until May 2005. In total, seven waves were conducted. We found that the most important determinants of the intention to quit smoking were: quitting identity, self-efficacy, talking with others about smoking cessation, time interval since the last unsuccessful attempt, and attitude towards quitting. With respect to smoking cessation behavior, we discerned between successful cessation attempts and unsuccessful cessation attempts. Overall, we found that social influence variables stimulate smoking cessation attempts, but these attempts have a tendency to fail. On the other hand, if a smoker has a high level of self-efficacy and has a positive attitude towards quitting, a cessation attempt is more likely to be successful. Only quitting identity, a variable that has hardly been studied before, influenced both successful and unsuccessful cessation attempts. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the concepts of organization-public relationships and organizational reputation are integrated in a model, the role of public relations in demonstrating its value can be captured more clearly than when there is a separate focus on each of the concepts. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to integrate the concepts of relational outcomes and reputation in a single model. Survey research was used to collect data, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to empirically test the causal relations between variables of interest. In the causal model, relational outcomes are hypothesized to predict reputation, taking into account the exogenous influences of publics’ communication behaviors, personal experience, and familiarity with the organizations studied. The proposed structural equation model had tenable data-model fits across all organizations studied, supporting most of the hypotheses proposed in the study. More specifically, the research produced the following important results. First, this study found a significant, positive effect of relational outcomes on organizational reputation for all organizations studied. Second, the results of this study demonstrated the relevance of the proposed antecedents of relational outcomes and reputation. Third, the study found a stronger effect of communication behaviors on relational outcomes than the effect of familiarity. Limitations and suggestions for the future research were discussed. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study drew upon media system dependency theory (MSD) and social identity theory to examine the relationship between social locations of Chinese immigrants and their dependency on Chinese ethnic newspapers. Data was obtained from a survey participated by 265 respondents with Chinese origin but currently residing in Australia. Results indicated that among the three indicators of social location, age appeared to be a strong positive predictor of the dependency on ethnic newspapers for information. Respondents who stayed longer in the host country tended to be more frequent readers of ethnic newspapers as well. Education did not appear as a significant predictor of ethnic newspaper dependency. These findings suggested the need for us to further investigate the impact of ethnic print media on ethnic minorities in the age of various information sources offered by new technologies. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A semiotic analysis was conducted on images from Fortune 500 company website responses to the tsunami disaster of December 2004. Twenty-four tsunami related images from thirteen companies were reviewed, and five images were formally deconstructed for meaning. Recurring themes found across the sample included use of images evoking emotions of sympathy, compassion, togetherness and equality. In addition, differences between the tsunami-related images featured on Fortune 500 company web pages were apparent based on type of company, with some companies showcasing their product or service and its relationship to the rebuilding effort, and others focusing on human relationships. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-hundred empirical studies on performance appraisals, published between 1990 and 2000 in business, communication, and psychology journals, were reviewed and integrated. Results of this synthesis reflect the following five trends: quantitative studies that investigated counterrational dimensions in the performance appraisal process, interaction effects between rater and ratee characteristics, preferences of raters and ratees, communication transactions, and international applications. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private web sites represent one of the more interesting areas of research of cultural change and reproduction. They also compellingly demonstrate the complex role of technology in those cultural processes. As a contemporary exponent of the long established tradition of family photography this practice follows the path of the analogue photograph, framed and displayed at the home, kept in wallets or presented as series of pictures or photo albums, with a marked move to the digital world and a much less noticed shift to the sophisticated multimedia context of the Web. This article examines how this fairly recent move of private photography to the semi-public space of the Internet, reinforced, expanded or radically changed the nature of family communications and the very significant social and cultural functions this highly codified practice fulfilled from the onset. Also some attention is paid to the methodological aspects and implications of researching these new and very vivid exponents of (visual) culture. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three studies were conducted with the intent of developing and testing a weak tie/strong tie support network preference scale (W/STNPS). A theoretical framework for developing the scale is presented along with empirical tests of the underlying dimensions of the scale using two distinct populations. The authors include an assessment of the scale’s validity and reliability, and discuss the application and utility of two subscales comprising the W/STNPS, as well as their implications for the study and advancement of social support networks. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from the theoretical orientation of Apparatgeist (Katz and Aakhus, 2002), this study explored cultural similarities and differences in perceptions and uses of mobile telephony. A sample of college students from Japan, Sweden, Taiwan, Hawaii, and the U.S. Mainland were surveyed to assess (1) perceptions of the mobile phone as fashion, (2) attitudes about mobile phone use in public settings, (3) use of the mobile phone for safety/security, (4) use of the mobile phone for instrumental purposes, and (5) use of the mobile phone for expressive purposes. Results indicate some differences and several similarities among the cultural groupings and help lay the groundwork for future research and theory building. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The audience for Spanish-language television has been increasing at a rapid pace. Indeed, Univision frequently outranks at least one of the major U.S. networks among young adult viewers and captures more Latino audience members than any of the major U.S. networks. However, little is known about the type of depictions a viewer is likely to encounter on Spanish-language TV. As such, the present study assesses the frequency and nature of representations of age, class, and gender in the 2004 primetime, Spanish-language television season. The implications of social identity theory were applied as a framework for understanding the potential influence of exposure to these images on Latino audience members. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legalization of same-sex marriage is an issue that has been debated sporadically in the general public over the last 15 years. In the last three years, however, the issue has once again come to the foreground of American public debate with unprecedented actions taken on all sides. Despite the fact that gay rights and concerns are not usually given regular coverage in the mass media, a significant portion of these debates has played out in the mainstream press. Moreover, this coverage has been largely sympathetic to advocates for same-sex marriage. However, more radical ideas which question the institution of marriage are almost, but not completely absent from the mainstream press. When the more queer or radical idea that marriage is not liberating and that rights and benefits need to be extended broadly not reserved for a few is expressed it tends to come from those in family law and the academy. The potential for queer critics and activists to take advantage of the fact that some people are managing to get radical ideas into the mainstream news media suggests that there may be a way to work for more radical, structural changes within the limitations and opportunities of liberal politics and the politics of the everyday. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study content analyzed international news published on two of the most visited Web sites in the United States, cnn.com and www.nytimes.com. The influences of trade, existence of news agencies, national traits, and cultural and geographic proximity on these two news Web sites were examined. The international news from the online version were analyzed and compared with the print and broadcast versions. The study found that trade volume and existence of news agencies are two leading predictors of international news coverage in both online and traditional media. Yet, the influence of news agencies on the Web sites seems greater than on the traditional media. Also, press freedom was found irrelevant to international coverage in the U.S. media. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examines the effects of intimacy and amount of self-disclosure of a computer agent on the users' disclosure behaviors and positive attitudes toward the agent. Participants exchanged self-disclosure messages with a computer agent. The experiment was conducted in a 2(intimacy of agent's disclosure: high vs. low) by 2(amount of agent's disclosure: high vs. low) between-group design. The results show that: 1) disclosure reciprocity was found in both sub dimensions (intimacy and amount) of self-disclosure; 2) agent's high intimacy self-disclosure correlated with low social attraction, trustworthiness and expectation of mutual influence toward agent, suggesting that the highly intimate disclosure in initial stage in a relationship was regarded as inappropriate in human-agent interaction, similar to findings in human relationship; 3) the amount of agent’s self-disclosure had no significant effect on the social attraction, trustworthiness and expectation of mutual influence toward the agent. Theoretical and practical (agent design) implications are discussed. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advertising for matrimony is a unique phenomenon observable among Indians majority of whom opt for arranged marriages. The study involves a comparative textual analysis of the matrimonial advertisements of prospective brides published in newspapers with those posted in Internet matrimonial portals. The study intends to explore the differences, if any, in the representation of women in the ads posted in two different media, namely the newspaper and the Internet. The study also attempts to explore whether the Internet is providing greater opportunities for self expression to these prospective brides and also allowing the latter to exercise their choice in one of the biggest decisions of their lives. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2 studies investigated the effectiveness of legal consequence messages to reduce drinking and driving. The first study was an experimental study that tested five types of antidrinking and driving messages and a control message, and found that overall the legal consequences message was least effective. The legal consequences message generated the most counterarguments, was perceived as biased, led to higher estimates of descriptive norms of drinking and driving and lowered intentions to use a designated driver in the future. The second study reported portions of focus group conversations with young drivers in which they discussed their experiences with drinking and driving crashes and in which they described the inconsistency with which they believe police enforce drinking and driving laws. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the advantages of online safety interventions, research regarding the effectiveness of such interventions is still limited, particularly in the area of pregnancy, STD, and HIV prevention. This presentation will discuss four studies conducted with rural adolescents to determine how technology might help change, shape, and reinforce a number of theoretically important variables that should ultimately lead to a delay in the initiation of sexual activity and to increased condom use among those who are sexually active. In tandem, these studies provide evidence that even modest computer-based interventions can influence several theoretically important variables, and even short-term behavior. A variety of practical and methodological recommendations will be discussed. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

History of the Haitian Revolution is examined for meaning with respect to modernity and Western European concepts of race and democracy. Black internationalism is explored in the context of 19th Century Caribbean politics and events. Communications between Haiti and Louisiana during the Age of Revolution is suggested as a location of importance. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines how participants of mediation sessions treat fallacies in naturally occurring argumentation discussions. Two types of fallacies that occur in the process of these interactions are distinguished: 'traditional' (e.g., ad fallacies, begging the question, a fallacy of hasty generalization) and 'untraditional' (i.e., wrong moves that does not belong to the traditional list of fallacies but, nevertheless, were treated as such by recipients themselves). The results show that whether an argumentation move is considered to be fallacious or nonfallacious depends on the orientation of participants themselves to this interaction phenomenon and on the context it is used in. Also, arguments that are traditionally recognized as fallacies are not always treated as such by arguers in ordinary conversations, whereas moves that do not fit in this category are viewed as wrong ones. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates associations between intercultural effectiveness and effectiveness of teachers (N = 74) and learners (N = 176) of languages in a variety of national locations. Such associations are strongly suggested in both the language pedagogical, and in the intercultural, literature but had been the subject of little empirical investigation. The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) was identified as a suitable instrument for predicting intercultural effectiveness. The study found that the MPQ's Cultural Empathy subscale was highly predictive of language learning ability and achievement, although a new and exploratory subscale, Intergroup Cultural Empathy was slightly better at predicting certain aspects of language learning achievement. Openmindedness, Flexibility and, to a certain extent, Social Initiative were also found to predict language learning achievement. Cultural Empathy, Intergroup Cultural Empathy, Openmindedness and Social Initiative also predicted self-rated language teaching ability. These findings offer support for those who advocate an intercultural approach to language learning and teaching. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As bloggers become an increasingly mainstream source of news and information online traditional media outlets are responding with their own social features. But are they effective? Previous research has shown that participants in online communities develop a strong sense of social presence with other members. This study takes that research to the comparatively noninteractive realm of a single news article. A 2 (language) X 2 (photograph) by 4 (news article) experiment tested whether reporters could encourage feelings of social presence in readers of online news simply by including a photograph of themselves and using a few examples of social language. Participants reported higher levels of social presence in the condition with social language, but the use of a photograph did not have any effect. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how individual need to evaluate and timing of source identification (before or after message exposure) influence the strength of the effect of perceived source credibility on persuasion. It also explores the psychological processes underlying the credibility-persuasion relationship. Results of a laboratory experiment (N = 363) indicate that perceived source credibility has a positive effect on persuasion, which tends to be stronger when the source is revealed before (versus after) message exposure. Effect strength change, however, only occurs for individuals who are low in need to evaluate; for those high in need to evaluate, the strength of the positive effect is unaffected by timing of source identification. It is further demonstrated that perceived source credibility has both a direct and indirect effect on persuasion, which is mediated by perceived message validity. The relative strength of the direct and indirect effect varies as a function of individual need to evaluate and timing of source identification. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jones and Nisbett (1971) argued that actors attribute their own behaviors to situational factors whereas observers make dispositional attributions (i.e., the actor-observer bias). The current research revisited the actor-observer bias by varying the outcome of behaviors (success versus failure), relationship between attribution makers and actors (stranger, self, versus friend), and levels of involvement (high involvement versus low involvement). A nested design was conducted with experimental sessions nested within session type and involvement. Relationship was expected to have a main effect on attributions and interact with behavioral outcomes to influence attributions as well. In addition, a 2-way interaction was hypothesized between behavioral outcome and involvement. Furthermore, 2 research questions were proposed regarding the interaction effect of relationship and involvement and the three-way interaction on attributions. Results indicated that relationship and involvement interacted to affect people's dispositional attributions. In addition, a significant three-way interaction related to internal attributions was found. No significant results were found for external attributions. Uninvolved friend observers made more dispositional attributions to actors' success, whereas involved stranger observers made more internal attributions to actors' failure. Results provided further support to Jones and Nisbett's proposition of the actor-observer bias. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying structuration theory to online communities in three fantasy sports leagues, this study supported past research in that both structure and rules of communication online were based on offline counterparts. However, when offline rules and structures were weak, less-regulated online interactions established structure and rules. Offline positions influenced the amount of transfer from offline to online. Those with the highest and lowest offline positions transferred offline rules and roles the most. The online communities did offer some potential for reshaping the offline structure. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As agencies around the world scramble to limit the spread of avian flu, minimize bird to human transmission, and prepare-without causing undue alarm-for the possibility of a human pandemic, UNICEF is leading the charge to ensure that the design of communication programs adheres to the highest possible methodological and theoretical standards. This presentation describes the development and use of ASAP (Avian & pandemic flu Strategic Action Planner), an interactive, web-based, interagency toolkit, and how it brings together up-to-date epidemiological data and behavioral studies, theoretical frameworks (such as Extended Parallel Processing) for strategic planning, adaptable templates for message and materials development, and communication research tools to address the needs of researchers and program planners facing or anticipating avian flu outbreaks. Examples of its use from UNICEF country offices and how it enhances the conceptual and methodological rigor of programs and materials will be shared and analyzed. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores motivations of online photo album users in Taiwan and finds that the distinctive "staging" phenomenon with media gratifications and a priori theoretical framework, the Spectacle/performance paradigm (SPP). Media drenching, performance, function and reference are "new" gratifications, which no prior research was found and consistence with the argument of the "diffused audience" on the Internet. This study finds that staging phenomena is highly related with internet addiction and further verifies the problematic dichotomous gratification structure, process-content gratifications, the process gratification relates to Internet addiction. Along with some research findings, the process-content distinction may simply not be an applicable one in the Internet settings since distinctions between the real world and the mediated world are vanishing which is also the main argument of the SPP paradigm. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of communication and civic engagement note the importance of people's involvement in their communities through organizations and group interaction. The social capital literature generally says that people develop trust in others through their involvement in organizations, and this is important for civic life in America at a time when voting and other forms of civic action have declined. Media use is integrated into this scenario through its impact on community attachment and news about organizations. The past couple decades have seen an explosion in research focusing on community attachment and civic involvement, some of it drawing on the concept of social capital and its significance for political life today. This approach lifts a set of relationships between communication patterns and civic activities-political or local neighborhood involvement--out of context, as if they were isolated rather than a reflection of a larger process. We exam civic engagement and its predictors within people's position in the life cycle, using a national data set collected in 2005-2006. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ludwig Wittgenstein is famous for rejecting the theory that the meaning of an utterance is the mental image you form in your head in response to the utterance -- the so-called picture theory. Our understanding of linguistic communication has subsequently become a highly specialized endeavor focusing on formal characteristics of language and interaction. Recent developments in simulation theory has opened up the possibility that mental images can again be considered a vital component of meaning-making. In contrast to picture theory, simulation theory sees mental imagery as an input system to a set of higher-level inference engines. In the emerging model, the mind's ability to run mental simulations is treated as the basis of abstract thinking as well as the condition of possibility for verbal communication. Complex internal multi-modal forms of information are parsed and translated into basic categories by the speaker, and it is these bare categories that are communicated in words. The listener takes the words and uses them to construct a rich simulation based on her own remembered and parsed experiences. The act of understanding relies on the mind's ability to respond to a simulated scenario as if it were a perceived event. A predicted weakness of such a system is that listeners may be led to make inferences from elements of the simulation that they contributed using their own experiences, without verifying whether these inferences are warranted by the information communicated. In this talk, I present a study that measures imperfect inferential restraint as a way to test the picture theory. Study participants are asked to draw a series of sentences in a story, and are subsequently asked to assess the probability that their inferences are correct. The results are consistent with the predictions of the revived variant of picture theory. I end by suggesting the emerging model of verbal communication also has significant consequences for our understanding of the mass media. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study at hand built on Harwood's (2000) study investigating media use in interactions between grandparents and grandchildren, replicating some of Harwood's research. It also extending Harwood's study by adding the technologies of the cell phone, email, and instant messenger to the media he investigated (face-to-face, written documents, and telephone). Such a study allows finding out whether the availability of new technologies has any effect on the grandparent/grandchild relationship. Sixty-six dyads (N = 132) of grandchildren and grandparents participated in the study, completing a questionnaire on basic demographics, media use, and relational quality. Results show usage divides between grandchildren and grandparents, as well as within the grandparent group. The cell phone and face-to-face interaction are used most frequently in the grandparent/grandchild relationship. Technologies such as email or instant messenger are not used much even across the geographic distance they were designed to overcome. Follow up tests to a significant ANOVA did not show significant results for medium type chosen based on who initiates contact. Face-to-face remains the strongest predictor of quality inter-generational relationships, followed by use of the cell phone, the landline phone, and email (in that order). Findings are discussed in light of both media richness theory and the social influence model. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development communication has become a much more inclusive and interdisciplinary field than witnessed historically, when mired in the limitations of modernization and diffusion, as well as the cooptation of initially valuable concepts of participation, empowerment, and sustainability. The purpose of this discussion is to explore how current discourse on media development resonates with foundational approaches to development communication. I advocate broadening the scope of media development to include political engagement, economic context, and media systems and genres, and to examine these issues across historical and situational contexts. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes a close look at the role of the media in a topic as controversial as biotechnology by investigating whether public perceptions are reflected in the press. After observing a differential pattern in public attitudes in Belgium towards biomedical and agricultural biotechnology as well as reproductive cloning, it is ascertained whether this situation is reflected in the coverage from 2000 to 2004 in three popular newspapers. To this end a conventional content analysis of the newspaper articles has been conducted in combination with an open metaphor analysis. Parallels as well as divergences have emerged between public perceptions and popular reporting on biotechnology and the use of metaphors was found to play an important role. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the effects of the opponent (computer, friend, or stranger), opponent's location (co-located vs. non co-located), and player's personality on emotion-related psychophysiological responses when playing digital games. Participants played two different digital games against a co-located and a non co-located opponent. Zygomaticus major, corrugator supercilii, and orbicularis oculi electromyographic (EMG) activity, skin conductance level (SCL), and cardiac interbeat intervals were recorded, and the participants rated their personality (sociability, aggressiveness, and dispositional behavioral activation system [BAS] and behavioral inhibition system [BIS] sensitivities). In both the co-located and non co-located conditions, emotional arousal and positively valenced emotional responses increased in the order of playing against a computer < playing against a stranger < playing against a friend. This effect was dependent on the player's personality, e.g., playing against a friend elicited particularly positive emotional responses only among low aggressive players. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]