The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe
Podcast #16: October 12th 2005 (Download MP3)
Topics:
Issue #1. Special Guest: Glenn G. Sparks
Issue #1. Special Guest: Glenn G. Sparks
Glenn Sparks is a Professor of Communication at Purdue University who has written extensively about the effects of the media, specifically television viewing, on beliefs and behavior, including belief in the paranormal. Author of Media Effects Research : A Basic Overview.
Glenns home page: http://omni.cc.purdue.edu/~sparks/Welcome.html
Articles: http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/2005/050421.Sparks.violence.html
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_5_25/ai_77757770
http://beaweb.org/bea2000/papers/spa&mil.pdf
Selected Publications From 1992-2002
Miller, W. [with Sparks, G.G.]. (2002). Refrigerator Rights: Creating Connections and Restoring Relationships. Penguin Putnam Books.
Sparks, G.G., & Miller, W. (2001). Investigating the relationship between exposure to television programs that depict paranormal phenomena and beliefs in the paranormal. Communication Monographs, 68, 98-113.
Sparks, G.G. (2001). Media effects: A basic overview.[This is the first edition of an undergraduate text book on media effects.] Wadsworth Publishing.
Sparks, G.G., & Sparks, C.W. (2000). Violence, Mayhem, and Horror. In D.Zillmann & P.Vorderer (Eds.), Media Entertainment: The Psychology of its Appeal (pp. 73-91). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Sparks, G.G., Pellechia, M., & Irvine, C. (1999). The repressive coping style and fright reactions to mass media. Communication Research, 26, 176-192. abstract
Sparks, G.G., Pellechia, M., & Irvine, C. (1998). Does television news about UFOs affect viewers' UFO Beliefs?: An experimental investigation. Communication Quarterly, 46, 284-294. [Note: This article was published in the summer of 1999.] abstract****Full Paper
Sparks, G.G. (1998). Paranormal depictions in the media: How do they affect what people believe? Skeptical Inquirer, July/August, pp. 35-39.
Sparks, G.G., & Pellechia M. (1997). The effect of news stories about UFOs on readers' UFO beliefs: The role of confirming or disconfirming testimony from a scientist. Communication Reports, 10, 165-172. abstract
Sparks, G.G., Nelson, C.L., & Campbell, R.G. (1997). The relationship between exposure to televised messages about paranormal phenomena and paranormal beliefs. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 41, 345-359. abstract
Sparks, G.G. (1995). Comments concerning the claim that mass media research is "prescientific": A response to Potter, Cooper & Dupagne, Communication Theory, 5, 273-280.
Sparks, G.G. (1995). A final reply to Potter, Cooper & Dupagne. Communication Theory, 5, 286-289.
Sparks, G.G., Sparks, C.W., & Gray, K. (1995). Media impact on fright reactions and belief in UFOs: The potential role of mental imagery. Communication Research, 22, 3-23. abstract
Sparks, G.G., Hansen, T., & Shah. R. (1994). Do televised depictions of paranormal events influence viewers' beliefs? Skeptical Inquirer, 18, 386-395. br>
Sparks, G.G., & Ogles, R.M. (1994). The role of preferred coping style and emotional forewarning in predicting emotional reactions to a suspenseful film. Communication Reports, 7, 1-10.
Ogles, R.M., & Sparks, G.G. (1993). Question specificity in studies of television's contributions to viewers' fear and perceived probability of criminal victimization. Mass Comm Review, 20, 51-61.
Sparks, G.G., Spirek, M.M., & Hodgson, K. (1993). Individual differences in arousability: Implications for understanding immediate and lingering emotional reactions to frightening mass media. Communication Quarterly, 41, 465-476.
Sparks, G.G., & Greene, J.O. (1992). On the validity of nonverbal indicators as measures of physiological arousal: A response to Burgoon, Kelley, Newton, and Keeley-Dyreson. Human Communication Research, 18, 445-471.
Greene, J.O., & Sparks, G.G. (1992). Intellectual scrutiny as an alternative to replies from the heart: Toward clarifying the nature of arousal and its relation to nonverbal behavior. Human Communication Research, 18, 483-488.