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For decades, the Stanford Department of Communication has led groundbreaking research exploring how digital media intersects with human psychology and actions. During the 1990s, Clifford Nass and his research team conducted some of the earliest empirical studies on concepts like agency and anthropomorphism. This work culminated in the influential publication "The Media Equation" by Byron Reeves and Clifford Nass, establishing a novel research framework centered on the idea that our brains process mediated experiences similarly to real ones. Today, the Communication and Technology division of the International Communication Association - one of its most rapidly expanding sectors - draws heavily from the foundational contributions of Stanford researchers.