Potter is a faculty member in Telecommunications and Cognitive Science. His research explores the cognitive processing of media messages—with a particular focus on the impact of audio features on cognition and emotional response. He is also the Director of the Institute for Communication Research. Over a decade of experience in the radio industry helps inform his teaching and research.
Courses
Your Brain on Media: How TV, Computer Games, and Radio Capture Your Attention and Play with Your Emotions
What is Media? How pervasive is it? How does it influence? In order to find out the answers to these questions and more, this seminar has students delve into concepts central to the field of cognitive psychologysuch as attention, emotion, attitude, and memoryand then explore how they relate to media processes and effects. Students will learn to use advanced psychological research methods, such as secondary task reaction time and psychophysiological measures (such as heart rate, skin conductance, and facial electromyography).
Students will be divided into two groups, an "Attention Group" and an "Emotion Group", tracking down research of their specialized area, as well as designing and conducting experiments based on their findings.
In addition to taking field trips to the Wells Library Information Commons; the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction; the IU Art Museum; the Lilly Library (rare books, manuscripts, and special collections); the Radio-Television Center that broadcasts programs on WFIU and WTIU; and the student station, WIUX-FM; students will keep a media-use diary, have lab exercises, exams, and result presentations of their research endeavors.
By the end of this seminar, students will have a better understanding how the content and structure of the media interact with their cognitive system to impact thought and emotion.
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