Texas Tech University

Justin Keene

Associate Professor and JCMI Core Course Coordinator
Journalism & Creative Media Industries

Email: justin.r.keene@ttu.edu

Phone: +1.806.834.3898

Research: Health, Political, Science, Sport

Office: 502

Social: @justinkeene; @ttucel

Web: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Justin_Keene

View Full CV

Ph.D. Indiana University, 2014
M.A. Texas Tech University, 2009

Photo Description

Biography

My name is Justin Robert Keene and I am an assistant professor of creative media industries. I am from Lubbock and graduated from Texas Tech in 2007 with my B.A. in Electronic Media and in 2009 with my M.A. in Mass Communication. My wife and I have four children and our evenings and weekends are spent at the soccer fields around Lubbock.

Research

Three large-scale questions drive my research: 1). What effect, if any, does the inclusion or exclusion of message content features, such as emotional tone, camera angles, and social cues, have on cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses? 2). Do cognitive biases and deficits, such as sports fanship and attentional deficits, affect these responses to mediated messages? 3). Does the context in which the message is consumed (e.g. with or without a peer or parent) affect these responses? Theories of communication, as well as theories drawn from the cognitive neurosciences, and social psychology, motivate this research.

I utilize several quantitative, self-reported and psychophysiological measures, such as heart rate, skin conductance, facial electromyography (EMG), electroencephalography (EEG), eye tracking, secondary task reaction times, and continuous response measures, in my work. My analytical approach utilizes time series and cognitive modeling.

Methodologies

  • Experiment
  • Eye Tracking
  • Continuous Response
  • Psychophysiology

Research Areas

  • Health communication
  • Political communication
  • Science communication
  • Sport communication

Selected Publications

  • Keene, J. R., Lang, A., & Loof, T. (2017). Text on screen: Can incongruent combinations of media frames and emotional trajectories elicit coactivation in the motivational systems. Media Psychology. DOI:10.1080/15213269.2017.1412323. Published Online: December 27, 2017.
  • Keene, J. R., Berke, C. K., Shoenberger, H., & Bolls, P. D. (2017). The biological roots of political extremism: The role of negativity bias in both political ideology and preferences for accessing political news. Politics and the Life Sciences: Special Issue on the "The Body in Politics," 36(2), 37-48. DOI:10.1017/pls.2017.16. Published Online: December 27, 2017.
  • Keene, J. R., Clayton, R., Berke, C. K., Loof, T., & Bolls, P. D. (2017). On the use of Beats-Per-Minute and Inter-Beat Interval in the analysis of cardiac responses to mediated messages. Communication Research Reports, 34(3), 265-274, DOI:10.1080/08824096.2017.1334640.

Teaching Focus

My undergraduate teaching trains students to manage, know, and make creative media. Specifically, my undergraduate course titled Introduction to Digital and Social Media invites students to think about the role that we allow media to play in our lives. These students are asked to think more than they are asked to remember facts. In my advanced courses, such as Principles of Digital Media, Multimedia Development, and Foundations of Post Production, students are taught how to apply their knowledge to the craft of making creative and innovative media. These skills are then applied in courses such as Adventure Media or Story Telling via Smart Phones by taking students out of the classroom and into real-world situations with actual clients who need the students to create media that appropriately reflects their brand, product, or lifestyle. 

  • PHOT 2310 - Introduction to Photography
  • EMC 3333 - Multimedia Production
  • EMC 3315 - Digital Media Production
  • MCOM 5364 - Graduate Research Methods

Leadership & Awards

  • Editorial Board - Communication Research Reports
  • Top 5 Faculty Paper, 2017, Communication Science & Biology, International Communication Association.

  • Top Faculty Paper, 2016, Mass Communication & Society Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
  • Professing Excellence Award, 2015, University Student Housing, Texas Tech University