Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T13:01:53.573Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

43 - Supernormal Stimuli in the Media

from Part X - Evolution and the Media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2020

By
Deirdre Barrett
Edited by
Lance Workman ,
Will Reader  and
Jerome H. Barkow
Lance Workman
Affiliation:
University of South Wales
Will Reader
Affiliation:
Sheffield Hallam University
Jerome H. Barkow
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia
Get access

Summary

This is a great example of what William James termed “making the natural seem strange” (James, 1890), which he suggested was the only way we could notice and reflect on human instinctual behavior. Entertainment media feel good; people do not question it. But why do we choose to sit in front of a plastic box? Evolutionary psychology has brought many insights from Darwin and ethological researchers to bear on such behavior. There is one concept that has been overlooked, however, which I believe has the very most to contribute to explaining why entertainment and news media enthrall: the supernormal stimulus. In this chapter, I will summarize the concept and then discuss how it can inform our thinking about modern human behavior in general, and especially how media operate.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior , pp. 527 - 537
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, L. (2011). The Life-Changing $20 Rightward-Facing Cow. Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5846080/the-life+changing-20-rightward+facing-cow (accessed July 12, 2013).Google Scholar
All Facebook (2010). Graph compiled from surveys by Neilsen, InsideGames.com, and InsideFacebook.com. http://allfacebook.com/facebook-games-statistics_b19240 (accessed June 28, 2013).Google Scholar
Barrett, D. (2007). Waistland. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Barrett, D. (2010). Supernormal Stimuli. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
BBC News (2009). Facebook farmers want India flag. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8298840.stm (accessed July 12, 2013).Google Scholar
Chang, J. (2014). A Little (Angry) Bird Told NSA What You’re Up To. ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/angry-bird-told-nsa-youre/story?id=22251583 (accepted January 27, 2014).Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (1859). On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. London: John Murray.Google Scholar
Edge Magazine (2011). Cow Poke. www.edge-online.com/features/poking-cow-clicker (accessed June 28, 2013).Google Scholar
Erikson, E. (1968). Identity: Youth and Crisis. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Fletcher, D. (2010). Worst Inventions: Farmville. Time Magazine. http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1991915_1991909_1991768,00.html (accessed July 12, 2013).Google Scholar
Gaudiosi, J. (2012). Rovio Execs Explain What Angry Birds Toons Channel Opens Up To Its 1.7 Billion Gamers. Forbes.com. www.forbes.com/sites/johngaudiosi/2013/03/11/rovio-execs-explain-what-angry-birds-toons-channel-opens-up-to-its-1-7-billion-gamers (accessed June 28, 2013).Google Scholar
Gilbert, D. (2006). If Only Gay Sex Caused Global Warming Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jul/02/opinion/op-gilbert2 (accessed January 25, 2014).Google Scholar
Gray, P. (2009). Play as a foundation for hunter–gatherer social existence. American Journal of Play, 1(4), 476–522.Google Scholar
Hite, S. (1981). The Hite Report on Male Sexuality. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
James, W. (1890). Principles of Psychology. New York: Henry Holt.Google Scholar
Kosner, A. (2014). Candy Crush Saga Has Trademarked “Candy” and Apple’s App Store Is Helping Enforce It. Forbes. www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2014/01/20/candy-crush-saga-has-trademarked-candy-and-apples-app-store-is-helping-enforce-it (accessed January 25, 2014).Google Scholar
Lhooq, M. (2013). Will 3D Hentai Kill the Human Porn Star. Vice. www.vice.com/read/3d-hentai-killed-the-human-porn-star (accessed September 6, 2013).Google Scholar
Lorenz, K. (1978/1981). The Foundations of Ethology, English ed., transl. from the German ed. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MIT Entrepreneurship Review (2011). Angry Birds Will Be Bigger than Mickey Mouse and Mario. Is There a Success Formula for Apps? http://miter.mit.edu/article/angry-birds-will-be-bigger-mickey-mouse-and-mario-there-success-formula-apps (accessed June 28, 2013).Google Scholar
New Media (2012). Demographics. www.newmediatrendwatch.com/markets-by-country/17-usa/123-demographics (accessed July 12, 2013).Google Scholar
Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological Activity of the Cerebral Cortex. Translated and edited by Anrep, G. V.. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Payne, E. (2013). Oh No, It’s “Sharknado” and It’s Ravaging Twitter. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/12/showbiz/sharknado-twitter/index.html (accessed July 12, 2013).Google Scholar
Quora (2010). What Percent of Facebook Users Play Games and What Percent of Time Spent on Facebook is Gaming? www.quora.com/Games/What-percent-of-Facebook-users-play-games-and-what-percent-of-time-spent-on-Facebook-is-gaming (accessed June 28, 2013).Google Scholar
Reeves, B., & Thorson, E. (1986). Watching television: Experiments on the viewing process. Communication Research, 13, 343–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothschild, M. L., Thorson, E., Reeves, B. B., Hirsch, J. E., & Goldstein, R. (1986). EEG activity and the processing of television commercials. Communication Research, 13(2), 182–220.Google Scholar
Salmon, C., & Symons, D. (2001). Warrior Lovers. London: Weidenfeild & Nicholson.Google Scholar
Stross, R. (2009). Why Television Still Shines in a World of Screens. New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/business/media/08digi.html (accessed August 28, 2019).Google Scholar
Suebsaeng, A. (2013). Can a “Sharknado” Really Happen? www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2013/07/sharknado-sharknado-sharknado-sharknado-sharknado (accessed July 12, 2013).Google Scholar
Tanz, J. (2011). The Curse of Cow Clicker: How a Cheeky Satire Became a Videogame Hit WIRED. www.wired.com/magazine/2011/12/ff_cowclicker/all (accessed July 12, 2013).Google Scholar
Tinbergen, N. (1951). The Study of Instinct. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Tinbergen, N. (1953). The Herring Gull’s World. London: Collins.Google Scholar
Van Grove, J. (2013). Candy Crush: You Play, You’re Hooked. Now What? CNET. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57600850-93/candy-crush-you-play-youre-hooked-now-what (accessed September 6, 2013).Google Scholar
Vonnegut, K. (1965). God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. New York: Delacorte Press.Google Scholar
Whitedot.org (1996). Plastic Box. http://whitedot.org/plas/1996/01/20 (accessed January 20, 1996).Google Scholar
Yenigun, S. (2013). Video Game Violence: Why Do We Like It, and What’s It Doing to Us? National Public Radio. www.npr.org/2013/02/11/171698919/video-game-violence-why-do-we-like-it-and-whats-it-doing-to-us (accessed July 21, 2013).Google Scholar
Yin, S. (2011). Infographic: Why Is Angry Birds So Damn Popular? PC Magazine. www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2392794,00.asp (accessed June 28, 2013).Google Scholar
Zipf, G. K. (1949). Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×