Comm Readings midterm

People Aren’t Born Afraid of Spiders and Snakes (APS)

• Question: Is fear of spiders/snakes innate or learned?

• Claim: Fear is learned quickly through perception and association, not inborn.

• Methods: Infants watched snake vs. animal videos paired with emotional voices.

• Findings: Infants detect snakes faster but show no fear until paired with negative cues.

• Takeaway: Fear develops through rapid learning — perception → association → emotion

Are We Born Fearing Spiders and Snakes? (National Geographic)

• Question: Do infants show innate fear responses?

• Claim: Humans are evolutionarily prepared to learn fear but not born afraid.

• Methods: Measured pupil dilation to images of snakes/spiders in infants.

• Findings: Pupils dilated more — arousal, not fear.

• Takeaway: There’s an evolved bias toward threat detection, not innate fear.

You Are Within 6 Feet of a Spider Right Now (Wired)

• Question: Why are people so afraid of harmless spiders?

• Claim: Fear is socially constructed and amplified by media.

• Evidence: Analyzes U.K. media exaggerations (“killer spider” headlines).

• Takeaway: Media sensationalism, not danger, drives fear responses

Spider Misinformation (NY Times)

• Question: How does misinformation about spiders spread globally?

• Claim: Fear-based stories spread like other misinformation.

• Evidence: 47% factual errors, 43% emotional language in spider news.

• Takeaway: Fear + emotion make misinformation viral; similar to political fake news

Not Like Me = Bad (Psychological Science)

• Question: Do infants prefer those who harm or help dissimilar others?

• Claim: Even infants show similarity bias — favor those like themselves.

• Methods: Puppet experiments showing helping/harming similar/dissimilar targets.

• Findings: Infants preferred helpers of similar others, harmers of dissimilar others.

• Takeaway: In-group bias and moral judgment appear before social learning

The Psychology of Stereotypes

• Question: Why do stereotypes persist after being disproven?

• Claim: Cognitive and social biases keep them alive.

• Mechanisms: Confirmation bias, selective memory, social reinforcement.

• Takeaway: Facts alone rarely change beliefs — biases sustain stereotypes

The Gender Gap in Tech Isn’t Set in Stone (LA Times)

• Question: Can early exposure change gendered beliefs about tech?

• Claim: Gaps are social, not biological — exposure removes gender bias.

• Methods: First-graders’ beliefs before/after robotics experience.

• Findings: Exposure erased gender differences in interest/confidence.

• Takeaway: Early intervention can undo stereotypes in STEM

Draw-a-Scientist Studies (Time)

• Question: How do kids imagine scientists?

• Claim: Children’s drawings reflect cultural gender stereotypes.

• Findings: Most draw male scientists; girls draw more women, especially when younger.

• Takeaway: Representation affects self-concept — visibility matters

Gender Stereotypes in Hulu’s Baby Programming (Forbes)

• Question: Do kids’ shows reinforce gender roles?

• Claim: Even toddler media contains gendered messaging.

• Findings: Boys shown active, girls nurturing.

• Takeaway: Gender socialization starts before school — early exposure matters

Women Scientists Don’t Get Authorship Credit (Nature / Forbes)

• Question: Are women equally credited for scientific work?

• Claim: Women’s contributions are underrecognized.

• Findings: Women 13% less likely to get authorship; 58% less on patents.

• Takeaway: Structural bias limits women’s visibility and advancement

Gender Bias in STEM May Start in Kindergarten (Forbes)

• Question: How early do gendered STEM stereotypes form?

• Findings: Kindergartners already view men as more competent in STEM.

• Takeaway: Bias emerges early; interventions must start before school age

Looking Beyond Chief Wahoo (The Atlantic)

• Question: What’s the harm in Native mascots?

• Claim: Mascots perpetuate cultural trauma and stereotypes.

• Takeaway: Symbolic change = psychological and moral reconciliation

Native Mascots’ Psychological Effects (Politico)

• Question: What are the effects on Native youth?

• Findings: Mascots harm self-esteem and reinforce stereotypes.

• Takeaway: Representation affects both minority identity and majority bias

Activism Around Kansas City Chiefs (AP News)

• Question: Why protest sports imagery?

• Findings: Mascots harm Native youth; fans resist due to “tradition.”

• Takeaway: Cultural symbols reflect deeper identity and power struggles

Massapequa Mascot Controversy (AP News)

• Claim: Local resistance shows identity entrenchment over justice.

• Takeaway: Symbol debates reveal the tension between heritage and harm

Police Forces Perpetuate Racial Stereotypes (Stanford / AP)

• Question: Do police posts show bias?

• Findings: Black suspects overrepresented; white suspects underreported.

• Takeaway: Institutional communication shapes racial perceptions of crime

How Cops Shaped Public Opinion (The Marshall Project)

• Claim: Police PR guides media narratives about race and crime.

• Takeaway: Institutional framing affects trust, reform, and racial attitudes

“Superhuman Strength” Myth (AP News)

• Claim: Police use “superhuman” framing to justify lethal force.

• Takeaway: Language shapes accountability and public perception

Spike Lee on Black Stereotypes (Yale Talk)

• Claim: The “Magical Negro” trope still dominates Hollywood.

• Takeaway: Representation ≠ equality — real change needs power behind the camera

The American Society of Magical Negroes (Kobi Libii)

• Claim: Satire exposes how “helpful” stereotypes still uphold white comfort.

• Takeaway: Humor can critique both racism and internalized accommodation

Stanford Study: Dehumanization of Black People

• Finding: People subliminally associate Black faces with apes.

• Takeaway: Implicit dehumanization fuels violence and bias

Stanford Report: Support for Incarceration

• Finding: Seeing racial disparities increased support for harsh laws.

• Takeaway: Data alone can backfire — racial fear overrides fairness

Racial Bias in Darren Wilson’s Testimony (Washington Post)

• Claim: “Superhumanization” bias—seeing Black men as stronger and less human.

• Takeaway: Both “subhuman” and “superhuman” stereotypes justify violence

Angel Reese vs. Caitlin Clark Debate (Rice News)

• Finding: Black athlete (Reese) judged more harshly; racial double standard online.

• Takeaway: Social media reveals and challenges racialized bias in real time

Train Stabbing and Racial Tropes (AP News)

• Claim: Crime framed politically as “Black-on-white” to stoke fear.

• Takeaway: Media/politics racialize isolated events to shape public opinion

COVID “China Virus” Rhetoric (NBC News)

• Finding: “China virus” language reversed years of progress in bias reduction.

• Takeaway: Words from leaders can instantly amplify racial prejudice

Racially Charged COVID Coverage (Media Study)

• Finding: Images & terms linked Asians with disease → hate incidents rose.

• Takeaway: Media framing has real-world effects on violence and stigma

Asian Women in Hollywood (Washington Post)

• Claim: Asian women still typecast as exotic or submissive.

• Takeaway: Representation must go beyond visibility to real complexity

Asian Americans & Oscars (CNBC)

• Finding: Wins increase visibility but risk tokenism without structural change.

• Takeaway: Symbolic recognition ≠ systemic equality

Latino Representation in Movies (Hollywood Reporter)

• Finding: Latinos underrepresented in film roles and leadership.

• Takeaway: Stereotyping and lack of power behind the scenes sustain inequality

Latino Representation Remains Stagnant (LA Times)

• Claim: Little progress in decades — structural barriers persist.

• Takeaway: Diversity must include control over narratives, not just casting

Why Humans Value Sensational News

• Claim: Attraction to sensationalism has evolutionary roots (survival attention to danger).

• Finding: People attend more to threat-related or emotional information.

• Takeaway: Our bias for fear and drama drives media consumption and misinformation