AbstractAs mobile devices proliferate, people turn to their smartphones for their information needs. While increased access to information via mobile devices benefits an informed citizenry, it isnt clear that access equates to more learning. To reconcile competing accounts of mobile devices as a democratic leveler or divider, this book advances a framework that distinguishes between physical access and cognitive access to explain how technologyand mobile technology specificallyaffects information processing following exposure. In this chapter, the interdisciplinary approach and framework put forward in this book are first situated in a history of media effects research, articulating the need for increased attention to the effects of communication technology on the presentation and content of information. This tradition motivates the theoretical and empirical work set forth in this book, with important implications for democracy and the news industry.
