About
It is with great sadness that we share Dr. Tannis MacBeth passed away on June 15, 2021.
Dr. MacBeth was a faculty member in our developmental area from 1972 until her retirement in 2008, when she became a professor emerita. Her ground-breaking work on the impact of television on children’s and adults’ cognition and behaviour has left a significant and lasting mark on the the developmental psychology field. In addition to being an influential researcher, Tannis was a dedicated teacher and mentor.
Her research legacy was recently translated into a long-form, graphic comic by Australian artist Stuart McMillen in a series, The Town Without Television.
Our heartfelt sympathies go out to Dr. MacBeth’s loved ones. We are sad that we lost a member of the psychology community.
The Tannis MacBeth Memorial Fund
With the the blessing of Tannis MacBeth’s family, this fund was established to honour the life of Tannis. Proceeds from this fund will be used to allow comic artist Stuart McMillen to finish The Town Without Television, a comic about Tannis’ groundbreaking Notel experiment into the impact of television. Learn more.
Research
Research interests include media content and effects; the psychological impact of television; development of attachment; psychology of gender; cyclic psychological fluctuations (daily, weekly, menstrual).
Publications
Encyclopedia entries
MacBeth, T. M. (2007, In J.J. Arnett(ed.)), Encyclopedia of Children, Adolescents, and the Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Book Chapters
MacBeth, T. M. (2004). Psychology of media use. In J. D. H. Downing (ed.), D. McQuail, P. Schlesinger, & E. Wartella (Assoc. eds.), The SAGE handbook of media studies. (pp. 201-225). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
MacBeth, T. M. (2003). Media effects on societies and communities. In D. A. Gentile (ed.), Media violence and children. (pp. 39-55 and 270-273). In Advances in Applied Developmental Psychology series (I. E. Sigel, series editor). Westport, Connecticut: Praeger.
MacBeth, T.M. (2000). The impact of television: A Canadian natural experiment. In Communications in Canadian Society, (5th ed.), ed. C. McKie & B.D. (pp. 196-213). Singer. Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing.
Journal Articles
With Brussoni, M.J., Jang, K.L., & Livesley, J. ‘Genetic and environmental influences on adult attachment styles’. Personal Relationships. 7 (2000): 283-289.
With McFarlane, J.M. ‘Placing premenstrual syndrome in perspective.’ Psychology of Women Quarterly. 18 (1994): 339-373
Sole author of:
Natural Experiments, Impact on Community Activities
Natural Experiments, Impact on Creativity and School Achievement
Natural Experiments, Impact on Gender Roles
Notel, Unitel, Multitel Study
Research Methods, Natural Experiments
Violence, Natural Experiments