The article “Do Central Processing and Online Processing Always Concur? Analysis of Scene Order and Proportion Effects in Broadcast News” by Yun Jung Choi was confusing more than anything else. After reading the article over seven times, I finally understood it. I found it ironic that an article about processing information was so difficult to understand. However, I wonder how this study could be applied to topics other than politics.
Yun Jung Choi studied four types of information processing based on political television. The conclusion went against common assumptions that both central and peripheral information processing occur simultaneously. The central processing is typically involved with people who have a deep understanding of the topic, in this case, it was politics, and peripheral occurred with people who did not have a deep understanding of politics. This study is very useful in that it could be applied to a variety of topics. In terms of violence, substance abuse or another negative topic, would the same conclusions be reached?
I enjoyed that the author mentioned gender differences did not particularly occur. Both genders had no significant difference in information processing. However, would both genders process information the same way if the topic was changed? Would men process a topic that was typically thought to be masculine in a more central way than women, and would women process a more feminine topic in a more central manner than men?
