Populations and organizations around the globe are facing fundamental challenges to human health and welfare, such as basic health concerns, environmental degradation, social injustice and terrorism. 

Research in this area examines communication effects and psychological processes. It explores the study of relationships between communication (both interpersonal and mediated), emotion, cognition, and persuasion; how media influences knowledge, attitudes, opinions, and behaviors; how communication can address intergroup conflict; and how the media can influence perceptions of risk, particularly in the arenas of health and science communication. 

recent research by our faculty has addressed:

• Advertising effects
• Persuasion-based mediated campaigns
• The effects of media on children
• The effects and perceptions of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ads
• Cognitive processes related to conflict
• Health communication
• Science communication
• The role of emergent media in shaping attitudes, opinions and behaviors
• Psychological and physiological processing of media presentations and experiences
• Computer-mediated communication
• Conflict management and resolution

Courses

Student who have an interest in communication effects and psychological processes are encouraged to enroll in the following courses.

• Political communication
• Psychological processes and media effects
• Social media scraping and computational textual analysis
• Survey design
• Experimental design
• Content analysis