“'Member Looney Tunes?” “Oh, I 'member.” “'Member Charlie Brown?” “Mmmm . . . I 'member.” “'Member all the classic Nickelodeon cartoons: Hey Arnold!, Doug, and Rugrats. Oh—Reptar was on Rugrats, 'member him?” “'Member the time that South Park created the Member Berries to capitalize on the interest in reboots and nostalgia?” The cartoons of our youths, across a variety of genres and sources and generations, often hold a special place in our hearts. They can influence everything from the products we wanted in our lunchboxes, to the figurines on the mantles of our first homes or apartments, to the shirts we buy for our own children and grandchildren. There are classic characters that have endured for decades, such as the Flintstones and Scooby-Doo. There are movies and shows, like My Little Pony, Transformers, and Care Bears, that are known as much for their merchandise as their sequels and reboots. April Fugett, ph.D. (professor, Marshall University), Keith Beard, psy.D. (professor, Marshall University), Britani Black, psy.D. (instructor, marshall University School of Medicine), Carrie Dean, m.A., and Casey Collins, M.A. (Marshall University) will discuss their research and findings from a study of participants examining personality measure results with selection of preferred “nostalgic” characters and shows demonstrating how personality informs our choices of the characters we identify with and follow, often for our entire lives. Specific traits that are associated with over 500 nostalgia-inducing characters and their associated rankings will be reviewed. Additional results and other psychological/personality factors will be discussed.
Thursday July 18, 2019 7:00pm - 8:00pm PDT
Room 25ABC
