COMM 305 1st Edition Exam 2 Study Guide Theories of Media Processing and Effects Strong and Limited Effects Social Cognitive Theory September 30 October 02 1 a Explain the distinction between strong and limited media effects The media is like a magic bullet They can seek us out They have a strong impact on us What we think of as part was brand new Mass media is relatively new Radio news alert to alert people of the news doesn t happen as much because we have the Internet and Twitter ect b How do the metaphors of the hypodermic needle and magic bullet effects illustrate a philosophy of strong media effects Media can seek us out Media has a strong impact on us d Explain the historical backdrop of strong effects models The War of the Worlds Memory Theater People were listening and were freaking out They received 2 000 phone calls wondering what to do about aliens The radio occurred every week People didn t listen to this at the beginning to hear this was a play It was happening on Halloween so people were more suspicious There were commercial breaks One month earlier Hitler started World War II Incidents like this sparked more attention The model was quickly rejected Researchers had strong philosophical reasons to reject the model of humanity by strong effects model We are psychologically vulnerable We are isolated from one another This view of humanity is scary They abandoned the model because empherical studies could not replicate strong effects People found in studies that we are not just sponges in media content We are not vulnerable but resistant to the messages we consume f What is the key puzzle that limited effects models try to explain In general we can say that media has small and limited effects We are all not effected by the world of broadcast effects For general some people the effect of media can be much stronger or weaker How do we explain that in general effects are small but at times effects have a huge impact g Do the media theories that we will discuss fit the strong effects or limited effects model 2 a According to social cognitive theory how do media influence us SCT looks at how media and how people can imagine We can observe something happening and can place ourselves in a situation We learn by observing Social learning theory As we watch we learn things Observational learning As we see someone do something we can see certain consequences As we watch and listen certain ideas are reinforced Others are rebuked Some behavior is encouraged others is disencouraged b What is observational learning As we see someone do something we can see certain consequences c Explain inhibitory effects disinhibitory effects outcome expectations and outcome expectancies Inhibitory effects happen when a model character engaging in behavior that leads to negative outcome A disinhibitory effect is when we see a model engaged in behavior that leads to positive outcome They are rewarded Media leads us through inhibitory and disinhibitory effects Through experience of the media overtime we have outcome expectancies COMM 305 1st Edition Outcome expectation is our guess of what is likely to happen in a situation We perform expectations not just by what we see and listen to but we can get it that way Outcome expectancy is the value we attach to our expectations Is what we guess is going to happen good or bad We see people models engaging in certain behaviors Our learning relates to what we think is going to happen Will it be good or bad What we see and hear and what we think our life is going to be like The theory is trying to explain not just the fact that media effects us in this way It doesn t mean that we are going to watch CSI and want to murder people 3 b a How does social cognitive theory reconcile the notions of strong and limited media effects What is a moderator Moderating factors are a volume nobe Moderating factors can intensify or deintensify the strength of some effect b Define identification and self efficacy Explain how they moderate learning effects Identification how you perceive the models you are reading about or watching The idea is that if we think we are similar to the character or we WANT to be like the character then those learning affects will be intensified a Ex Ad campaign for Gatorade with Michael Jordan in it If you ant to be like Mike you should drink Gatorade If you want to be like Mike you will participate in the attitudes you are observing If we identify with the characters we will be more likely to show in their footsteps Self Effiacy your perception of your ability to engage in the behaviors you re observing Most attention in literature is given in literature effects 5 a Is violent media content widely available b How does media violence influence aggressive behavior A broad category that encompasses a lot of anti social behavior Aggression is a content to violent content The strength of violent content and aggression is the same as smoking and lung cancer What is violence What will you allow kids to watch What if violence is applied You don t see a gun but hear it What if there is violence to an object and not a person Violent content is widely available in the media 60 of t v programs contain one violent act There are at least 5 violent acts per hour Cartoons are the most violent form Games that were more aggressive raised the players hostility Larger groups got more hostility c Give an example of a study that demonstrates the effect of media violence on aggression Tom and Jerry doesn t show punishment for violence It is showed to kids Cartoons are violent content There is a lot of violence d What is catharsis Catharsis to get off ones chest A mom says her son likes violence Letting him play violent games gets it off his chest Violence increases aggressiveness e Is catharsis an effect of consuming media violence f Does the type of violence shown matter g Describe some characteristics of good media violence versus bad media violence Good media violence is when someone gets punished for their violence Bad media violence is no consequences for ones actions h Is the violence shown in cartoons bad Yes They don t get hurt or there are no consequences for there actions COMM 305 1st Edition i How would social cognitive theory explain the influence of these characteristics on the effects of consuming violent media 6 a What are prosocial effects Educational programs Food Network HGTV Prosocial effects are generally positive b Can children and adults both