Barbara J. Wilson
Contact Information
Office: 244 Lincoln Hall
Telephone: (217) 333-2683
Email: bjwilson@uiuc.edu
Professor; Head of Department
Bio
Professor Wilson’s research focuses on the social and psychological effects of the media, particularly on youth. She is co-author of Children, Adolescents, and the Media (Sage Publications, 2002; second edition, in press) and three book volumes of the National Television Violence Study (Sage Publications, 1997-1998). In addition, she has published more than 60 scholarly articles and chapters on media effects and their implications for media policy. Recent projects focus on preschoolers’ attachment to media characters, parents’ and children’s fright reactions to kidnapping stories in the news, and children’s attraction to media violence. She has served as a research consultant for Nickelodeon, the National Association of Television Program Executives, Discovery Channel Pictures, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Curriculum Vitae
Experience
- Social and psychological effects of mass media; developmental differences in children’s responses to mass media; children’s emotional and cognitive processing of mass media; impact of media violence; media policy implications of social science research.
Education
- Ph.D., University of Wisconsin - Madison
Selected Publications
Cantor, J., & Wilson, B. J. (2003). Media and violence: Intervention strategies for reducing aggression. Media Psychology, 5, 363-406.
Smith, S. L., Lachlan, K. L., Pieper, K. M., Boyson, A. R., Wilson, B. J., Tamborini, R, & Weber, R. (2004). Brandishing guns in American media: Two studies examining how often and in what context firearms appear on television and in popular video games. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 48, 584-606.
Wilson, B. J., Martins, N., & Marske, A. (2005). Children’s and parents’ fright reactions to kidnapping stories in the news. Communication Monographs, 72, 46-70.
Wilson, B. J., & Martins, N. (2006). The impact of violent music on youth. In N. Dowd, D. G. Singer, & R. F. Wilson (Eds.) Handbook of children, culture, & violence (pp. 179-202). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Wilson, B. J. (2007). Designing media messages about health and nutrition: What strategies are most effective? Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 39, S13-S19.
Wilson, B. J. (in press). Media’s influence on children’s social and emotional development. The Future of Children.