Communication & Cognition » Texas Tech

Media psychology from the best

Samuel D. Bradley — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 21:00:03 +0000

In preparing for the upcoming series, Working in the lab, I thought that I’d share some words of wisdom from the first-ever e-mail I received from my doctoral advisor, Annie Lang.

I arrived in Bloomington, Indiana, on Jan. 2, 2002 to begin a joint doctoral program in Telecommunications and Cognitive Science.

Working with Annie remains one of the greta joys of my professional life.

Thankfully I save almost everything, so I have a record of our first e-mail exchange. I wrote at the end of my first year as a master’s student.

She wrote back the next morning, May 18, 2000, describing her program of research. In this e-mail she outlines what I have come to believe is the best way to run a lab:

I do think that the program here at Indiana is/can be very rigorous. In many ways our curriculum asks students to identify their interests and needs and goals and then design their own program, with the help of their committee, to get them there. For this reason it can be as challenging as you want to make it! The basic Ph.D. core is, I think, a solid group of courses.

Since you’ve read my work you probably already know that a lot of my work was/is done as a team effort – with graduate students. I expect my Ph.D. students to contribute to all aspects of the research done in the lab from data collection to analysis to coming up with ideas for future studies (not all of these at first but all of them by the end of your studies).

I like to think that my Ph.D. students, when they are done, are methodologically well trained, and theoretically proficient in the field in general – and then have their own specialties of which they know (I would hope) more than me.

It is always my hope that I will learn from my Ph.D. students, not just that they will learn from me. I expect them to branch out, learn more, and share the knowledge they learn and use with the lab group (in lab meetings) and the field (in conference papers), etc.

…

My own work tends to travel across content types (political advertising, news, prime time TV, PSAs, etc.) and recently has been moving into other platforms from TV (audio only, computer display, video games, etc.) However, my theoretical approach is consistent (limited capacity information processing approach) and my methodology is generally experimental with an emphasis on covert measures of processing.

Still cannot say it better myself. This is what we do in the lab. Smart, (usually) hard-working graduate students turn out great work, and we teach each other along the way.

For the first time this year, I’m actively cultivating a group of undergraduate researchers. If any of this sounds fun to you, let me know.

I do think that the program here at Indiana is/can be very rigorous.

In many ways our curriculum asks students to identify their interests

and needs and goals and then design their own program, with the

help of their committee, to get them there. For this reason it

can be as challenging as you want to make it! The basic Ph.D.

core is, I think, a solid group of courses.

Since you’ve read my work you probably already know that alot

of my work was/is done as a team effort – with graduate students.

I expect my Ph.D. students to contribute to all aspects of the

research done in the lab from data collection to analysis to

coming up with ideas for future studies (not all of these at

first but all of them by the end of your studies).

I like to think that my Ph.D. students, when they are done,

are methodologically well trained, and theoretically proficient in

the field in general – and then have their own specialties of

which they know (I would hope) more than me.

It is always my hope that I will learn from my Ph.D. students, not

just that they will learn from me. I expect them to branch out,

learn more, and share the knowledge they learn and use with

the lab group (in lab meetings) and the field (in conference papers),

etc.

Day 71: Spring Break Snow

Samuel D. Bradley — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:23:06 +0000

The sun radiated brilliantly over Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday, and temperatures climbed into the middle 70s.

It was the perfect start to Spring Break.

Today, temperatures plunged into the middle 30s, and the forecasted rain turned to snow.

This gentleman had a wardrobe fail.

Shot: Canon EOS Rebel T1i w/ Canon 35-80mm (lens made for film EOS)

1/200 sec, manual, f/5.6, ISO 800, focal length: 80mm (not adjusted)

Sunpak Power Zoom 4000AF (old) set at TTL

Photoshop: curves; color balance -blue, -green.

Day 70: Tech Admin Bell Tower at Night

Samuel D. Bradley — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:48:05 +0000

Also known as a last minute largely crappy photo.

Had a cool photo planned out, but I got busy editing a thesis discussion for a graduate student in my lab, and it got dark on me.

My handheld work with a 300mm is not stellar.

Shot: Canon EOS Rebel T1i w/ Sigma 300 mm lens (lens made for film EOS)

1/40 sec, aperture priority, f/4, ISO 3200, focal length: 300 mm (not adjusted)

Photoshop: auto levels, adjusted curves like crazy.

Day 65: Ad Team Hard at Work

Samuel D. Bradley — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:09:20 +0000

Upon returning from a soccer coaches meeting, I parked beside the Mass Communications building and saw our returning district champion ad team working hard into the night.

Dr. Shannon Bichard (far right) does an amazing job leading the team, which won the highly competitive NSAC District 10 in 2009, finishing 6th in the nation. With the talent they have this year, I expect more great things.

And it was good to see them busy at work on this year’s client, State Farm

Day 48: Native Grass in Winter, Sun

Samuel D. Bradley — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:16:38 +0000

The sun causes native grasses to glow as dusk nears.

I am quite fond of this small Zen-like garden near the Experimental Sciences Building.

I’ve been meaning to head over there at dusk with a camera for quite some time, and I finally made it today.

Shot: Canon EOS Rebel T1i w/ Canon EFS 18-55mm

1/800 sec, aperture priority, f/5.6, ISO 100, focal length: 55 mm

Day 34: Sunlit Campus Scenery

Samuel D. Bradley — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:18:23 +0000

Walking outside today with doctoral student Curtis Matthews, I quipped “Today is one of those days where Lubbock ‘had me at hello.’”

It was 54 degrees, the sun flooded the campus, and the wind hid.

Spectacular.

Walking across campus later, the beauty of the brilliant sun on Spanish architecture caught my eye.

It’s one of the many reasons that I love this campus.

Clearly, the camera phone could not handle the contrast. But it was a beautiful scene over at the Experimental Sciences Building with the small Zen-like garden.