Natalie “Talia” Jomini Stroud is an associate professor of Communication Studies and assistant director of the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation at the University of Texas at Austin.
A persistent vegetative state (PVS) occurs when patients, often the victims of brain trauma, remain in a profound state of unconsciousness. While PVS remains extremely rare, continuing improvements in medical technology have allowed doctors to keep patients alive who may never recover consciousness.
From health care reform and global warming to marijuana legalization and same-sex marriage, voters are increasingly polarized, particularly along partisan lines. In this context, the level of fragmentation in the media landscape is assumed to be an important explanation for this polarization.
As smart devices have evolved and improved, their popularity has increased rapidly. According to a Pew Internet report, more than half of all adults in the United States owned a smartphone in 2013, a 21% increase from 2011.
As information and communications technologies have proliferated, the practice of media multitasking has become increasingly prevalent. Debates over the effects — both the potential for reduced cognitive depth and the real-world outcomes of “distraction” — continue to play out.
