Knowledge behavior gap: explanations:
1. Characteristics of media environment = it is designed to trigger emotional action
and instant gratification.
2. Characteristics of children = developing brain. Prefrontal cortex is only fully
developed at age 25, this region is highly important in self regulation. Kids still
have immature self-regulatory skills such as 1. action control (impulse control) and
2. attention control (info processing).
When you combine these two characteristics: you can conclude that motivation and
ability to regulate media behavior are limited.
How can we help kids to translate their media literate knowledge into media
literate behavior?
- Diff approach to media education; it still primarily focuses only on increasing
awareness and knowledge.
Other approach is needed:
- Empowerment approach: strengthening all the competences that kids need to
make independent (self-determined) media literate choices.
- Media empowerment model: (focuses on the individual)
Knowledge: understand e.g. advertising, understand the perspective of advertising.
What do kids have to know?
+ (Want) Motivation: people can only change behavior if they’re motivated to do so,
even if they’re knowledgeable (e.g. knowing smoking is bad but still smoking).
+ (Can) – Ability: the extent to which people can actually use their knowledge to stop
using this arousing digital media. (Stop and Think).
=
Media Literate behavior.
Study: Reclame Masters:
Advertising ‘empowerment’ educational program intervention.
Six lessons of appr. 60 minutes
o Session 1-3: Knowledge
o Session 4: Ability (stop)
Trained with mindfulness (emotion labeling): Able to install a sort of micro pause (stop
and think) in kids by teaching them that your emotions drive your behavior. Showed a
cartoon movie about a character that was heavily influenced by diff emotions and