Research Interests

My research focuses on studying motivated cognition and media.  The long term goal is to better understand the interplay among parts of the dynamic system comprised of the embodied mind and the mediated message.  My theoretical work focuses on extending the scope of the limited capacity model of mediated message processing (or LC4MP) which seeks to identify structural and content aspects of all media which elicit automatic motivational and cognitive responses in media users and understand the interaction, over time, of those automatic processes  with the motivated cognitive system, the individual differences embodied in media users and the user’s long term and momentary goals and intentions.  Practically, the implications of this theoretical approach can help media workers to craft messages which have a maximal likelihood of achieving their goals (be those goals awareness, learning, persuasion, behavior change, or sheer entertainment).  My ontology is realist, my epistemology is inter-subjective, my approach is social scientific, my analytical framework is experimental, and my methodology includes psychophysiology, cognitive behavioral measures, and self-report. 

Teaching

Over the years I have taught many courses in the department, primarily in the processes and effects and media and society areas, including T312, T314, T317, S451, T501, T503, T511, T552, T571, T600, T602.  In addition to formal teaching I have a number of graduate students and advisees who work closely with me in the lab located at the Institute for Communication Research. We hold weekly lab meetings during which we discuss practical research problems, look at results of ongoing work, and plan upcoming studies.

Education

B.S. May 1980. University of Wisconsin - Madison
(Major: Journalism and Mass Communication)

M.A. August 1983. University of Florida - Gainesville
(Major: Mass Communication)

Ph.D. December, 1987. University of Wisconsin - Madison
(Major: Mass Communication)

Publications this century

Lang, A., Bradley, S. D., Park, B., Shin, M. & Chung, Y. (in press). Parsing the Resource Pie: Using STRTs to measure attention to mediated messages. Media Psychology. Accepted September, 2005.

Lang, Annie, Shin, Mija, Bradley, Samuel D., Wang, Zheng, Lee, Seungjo, & Potter, Deborah. (2005). Wait! Don’t turn that dial! More excitement to come! The effects of story length and production pacing in local television news on channel changing behavior and information processing in a free-choice environment. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 49, 3-22.

Lang, Annie, Chung, Yongkuk, Lee, Seungwhan, Shin, Mija, & Schwartz, Nancy. (2005). It’s an arousing, fast-paced kind of the world: The effects of age and sensation seeking on the information processing of substance abuse PSAs. Media Psychology, 7, 421-454.

Lang, Annie, Chung, Yongkuk, Lee, Seungwhan, & Zhao, Xiaoquan. (2005). Its the product: Do risky products compel attention and elicit arousal in media users? Health Communication, 17(3), 283-300.

Lang, Annie, Shin, Mija, & Lee, Seungwhan. (2005). Sensation seeking, motivation, and substance use: A dual system approach. Media Psychology, 7, 1-29.

Schneider, Edward F., Lang, Annie, Shin, Mija, Bradley, Samuel D. (2004). Death with a story: How story impacts emotional, motivational, and physiological responses to first person shooter video games. Human Communication Research, 30, 361-375.

Fox, Julia R., Lang, Annie, Chung, Yongkuk, Lee, Seungwhan, & Potter, Deborah (2004). Picture this: Effects of graphics on the processing of television news. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 48(4), pp. 646-674.

Lang, A., Schwartz, Chung, Y., & Lee, S. (2004). Processing Substance Abuse Messages: Production Pacing, Arousing Content, and Age. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 48, 61-88.

Lang, Annie, Bradley, Samuel D., Chung, Yongkuk, and Lee, Seungwhan (2003). Where the mind meets the message: Reflections on ten years of measuring psychological responses to media. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 47,4, pp.650-655.

Grabe, M. E., Lang, A., and Zhao, X. (2003). News Content and Form: Implications for Memory. Communication Research, 30(4), 387-413.

Lang, A., Potter, D., & Grabe, E. (2003). Making News Memorable Applying theory to the production of local television news. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 47(1), pp. 1 13-1 23.

Bolls, Paul D. & Lang, Annie. (2003). I saw it on the radio: The allocation of attention to high imagery radio advertisements. Media Psychology, 5 (1), pp. 33-56.

Lang, A., Borse, J., Wise, K., David, P. (2002). Captured by the World Wide Web:

Orienting to structural and content features of computer presented information. Communication Research, 29(3), 215-245.

Bolls, P., Lang, A., & Potter, R. (2001). The use of facial EMG to measure emotional responses to radio. Communication Research, 28(5), 627-651.

Potter, D. & Lang, A. (2001). Bridging the gap: Applying the lessons of research in TV newsrooms. Electronic News: A Journal of Applied Research & Ideas, 1 (1), 1-5.

Shapiro, M. D., Lang, A., Hamilton, M. & Contractor, N. (2000). Information systems Division:  Intrapersonal, Meaning, Attitude, and Social Systems. Researching communication processes. Communication Yearbook, 24, 17-49.

Grabe, M. E., Zhou, S., Lang, A., & Bolls, P. D. (2000). Packaging Television News: The effects of tabloid and standard television news on viewer evaluations, memory and arousal. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 44, 581-598

Grabe, M. E., Lang, A., Zhou, S. & Bolls, P. (2000). Cognitive access to negatively arousing news: An experimental investigation of the knowledge gap. Communication Research, 27, 3-26.

Lang, A. (2000). The information processing of mediated messages: A framework for communication research. Journal of Communication, 50, 46-70.

Grants this century

Social Network & Media Effects on Mental Illness Stigma. 2004. National Institute for Mental Health. $1,708,835.00. Bernice Pescosolido, Principal Investigator; Annie Lang and Jack Martin, Co-Principal Investigators.

Motivation, Sensation Seeking & Designing Effective PSAs . 2002.

National Institute on Drug Abuse: 1 R21 DA 16140-01, $575,089.

News Program Pacing, Arousal, Memory, and Channel Changing. 2002. National Association of Broadcasters. January, 2002. $4500.

Processing PSAs: Production Pacing, emotion, and arousal. 1999. National Institute of Drug Abuse: 1 R01 DA12359-01A1, $376,378.