Behavioral Research: A Crash Course

The research behind this NPR story makes sense, sort of: People who watch a NASCAR race are more likely to get into car crashes over the next week. After all, media glamorizes things. A TV commercial glamorizes shoes, so we want shoes. A NASCAR race glamorizes aggressive driving, so we want to drive aggressively.

Or not. It's only one study. Other researchers may come up with a different result. But it's interesting, nevertheless.

Here's some discussion questions:

•In what ways do people imitate things they see in the media?
•Does the media ever give us cues about how we should act? What we should see as desirable? What we should see as undesirable?
•Do you find this study convincing? Why or why not?