TEL-T 205 1st EditionExam # 1 Study Guide T205: Introduction to Media and SocietyWeek 1: Introduction to Media and Society1. (a) Can you describe the information problem that we are facing? (b) What is automaticity? (c) How did automaticity develop in society? (d) What are the advantages and disadvantages of automaticity? (e) When do we consciously process information that is derived from the media? (f) How do advertisers and producers try to get around automaticity?a. The current information problem is that we are faced and have access to too much information. We are living in a message – saturated world. The problem now is organizing this information so we can make meaningful use of it b. Automaticity- the default mode we but put our brains in “auto pilot”, where our minds automatically filter out almost all media options; Helps us make decisions more quickly and efficiently c. Automaticity developed in our society when the amount of information reached a level in which our brains can no longer process it all. Our brains adapted to this environment d. Advantages include quick and efficient decision making. It helps us navigate our day efficiently with almost no effort in our information-saturated culture. Disadvantages—a. Choices are constrained in less optimal ways b. Our attention is less goal driven c. Subject to manipulation triggers may be driven by someone elses goals for us e. We can consciously process information that is derived from the media when we are in the transported exposure state in this state we have complete immersion in the content. Increased attention on the content while decreased attention on the external environment f. Advertisers and producers take advantage of the subconscious when we are in the automaticity state, we are susceptible to certain evolutionary traits that are out of our conscious control. They take advantage of our subconscious processing we have the ability to perceive and process we just do not know it2. (a) What are the two ways we use the media? Which of these uses is more common? (b)What is the difference between automaticity and ritualistic media consumption? (c) Howdoes our ritualistic use of media affect the way broadcasting is scheduled? How does theconcept of inertia in viewing fit into those scheduling decisions? a. We either use media in an instrumental way our choice of media is governed by the content. Or we use media in a ritualistic way habit governed by the decision to just use the medium. It is not a decision based on quality it is just routine. b. The ritualistic approach is more common because people use media in a routine way. Automaticity is the way our brain deals with excessive information and is a tool that assists us in making decisions efficiently. Ritualistic media consumption is how we choose to consume media and how we choose to spend our time with media. Automaticity is our exposure state.c. Our ritualistic use of media has made marathons a thing. You turn on a channel and know what you are going to get. Broadcasting follows a formula to cater to our habits and keep people watching. Once people start their ritualistic viewing tendencies, they have been set in motion and keep moving forward with their set program. By continuing to air the same show in a marathon way, they keep the viewer from moving onto a different show and continue watching on the same channel. 3. (a) What is media literacy? (b) What are the three building blocks of media literacy? (c) What are the skills that media literacy requires? (d) What are the advantages of developing a higher degree of media literacy?a. Media Literacy is people’s ability to access and process information from any form oftransmissionb. The three building blocks of media literacy consist of 1. personal locus self- awareness2. Knowledge Structures understanding how media is produced3. Skills to navigate and make sense of the media environmentc. The skills involved in media literacy are1. Analysis breaking down a message into meaningful elements2. Evaluation judging the value of the element3. Grouping determining which elements are alike in some way4. Inductioninferring a pattern across a small set of elements5. Deduction using general principles to explain particulars6. Synthesisassembling elements into a new structure7. Abstracting creating a brief, clear, accurate descriptiond. Advantages The ability to regain our control 1. Attention and choice behavior2. Direct media attention and choices to our goals3. We learn from media and increase our knowledge structure Week 2: Media Audiences1. (a) What are the three information-processing tasks in which we are constantly engaged? (b) How can these information-processing tasks be developed? (c) What is the difference between exposure and attention? (d) In what four states do people process media messages? Be able to explain each. a. Three information-processing tasks are filtering, meaning matching, and meaning construction1. Filtering to attend only to the messages that are useful2. Meaning Matching to access previously learned meanings efficiently3. Meaning Construction to interpret messages from more than 1 perspectiveb. These information-processing tasks can be developed with time and practicec. Exposure vs. Attention: there are three different types of exposure it is not until all three conditions of exposure are met that there can be attention1. Physical Exposure the physical presence in a certain proximity from the message2. Perceptual Exposure the ability to receive appropriate sensory input through visual and auditory sense3. Psychological Exposure some trace element must be created in a person’s mind [ image, sound, emotion, patter ect] 4.Attention a person must clear all three of the exposure hurdles AND need to have conscious awareness of the media message d. The four states of exposure are 1. Automaticity engaging in an unconscious way2. Attentional Some level of conscious directed attention to some content butalso engaged in surroundings3. Transported Complete immersion in the content/narrative; increase inengagement with content and a decrease in engagement with external environment 4. Medial Literacy Paying attention to how you are perceiving the content [ exceedingly rare]2. (a) What is the difference between subliminal and automatic processing? (b) Are we influenced by subliminal content? Why or why