Vanessa Vega

Vanessa Vega earned her BA in Communication Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.  She is interested in investigating media effects using a broad approach that includes survey methods as well as experimental-physiological measures.  At UCLA, she did research on the effects of pornography on sexual aggression and the individual factors that moderate this relationship.  Currently, she conducts research with Byron Reeves on the role that perceived reality of media plays in learning and emotional arousal.  She is also interested in children and media, including cognitive filters that children might develop as a result of media use, the effect of television in stimulating materialistic values, and media literacy.