Deck 24: Cultivation Theory

Question 1

Cultivation theory (CT)

A) makes a causal argument linking television viewing and perceptions of social reality
B) makes a correlational argument linking television viewing and perceptions of social reality
C) considers television to be a minor influence on perceptions of social reality
D) argues that the internet is a more powerful influence on perceptions of social reality than television

Answer 1

makes a causal argument linking television viewing and perceptions of social reality

Question 2

Gerbner and others created the worldwide __________ in 1996 to assist people in the struggle against powerful media institutions.

A) Violence Index
B) Media Cultivation Initiative
C) Anti-Media Institute
D) Cultural Environment Movement

Answer 2

Cultural Environment Movement

Question 3

In the _________ perspective of communication, media are seen as central to the maintenance of society.

A) transmissional
B) mainstreaming
C) ritual
D) phenomenological

Answer 3

ritual

Question 4

The Violence Index is

A) the extent to which violent images on television make people think the world is a violent place.
B) a yearly content analysis of violence in primetime network programming.
C) a means of defining what counts as violence so it may be measured.
D) a belief that media are senders of violent messages across space.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT an assumption of cultivation theory?

A) Television is essentially and fundamentally different from other forms of mass media.
B) Television shapes our society's way of thinking and relating.
C) The influence of television is limited.
D) All viewers of television think of the world as "mean and scary."

Question 6

For cultivation theorists, television is unique compared to other mass media because it

A) requires no literacy
B) is often free
C) is ageless
D) all of these

Question 7

Between 1993 and 1996, there was a 20 percent decrease in the homicide rate in the United States. During this same time, the number of homicide stories on the news

A) decreased by the same rate
B) stayed the same
C) increased by 721 percent
D) none of these

Question 8

To empirically demonstrate their belief that television has an important causal effect on culture, cultivation theory researchers use a four-step research process. Which of the following activities is associated with the first step, known as message system analysis?

A) developing questions about people's understanding of their everyday lives
B) doing a detailed content analysis of a television program
C) distributing a survey to participants in a study
D) comparing the social realities of light and heavy viewers

Question 9

_________ occurs when television's symbols dominate other sources of information and ideas about the world.

A) Mainstreaming
B) Cultivation incongruence
C) Resonance
D) Third-order reasoning

Question 10

Learning values and assumptions from the media is also called

A) secondary learning
B) first order effects
C) primary learning
D) second order effects

Question 11

For cultivation theorists, _________ is the best predictor for how people will answer the three Mean World Index statements.

A) income
B) education
C) gender
D) amount of television viewing

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT one of Gerbner's 3 Bs of television?

A) blurs
B) blends
C) breaks
D) bends

Question 13

Cultivation theory is a critical theory because it

A) uses a causal argument
B) focuses on television viewing and the influence of television
C) is concerned with the way media perpetuate the dominance of one group over another
D) all of these

Question 14

Cultivation theory

A) is heuristic
B) has been criticized because it employs social scientific methods usually identified with the transmissional perspective of communication and limited effects findings
C) has been criticized for some recent studies not being able to find results consistent with its tenets
D) all of these

Question 15

Molly watches television and learns that crime in her state is decreasing. This is an example of

A) mainstreaming
B) a first order effect
C) cultivation-identification
D) resonance

Question 16

Gerbner argues that most stories in modern society come from

A) radio
B) the Internet
C) television
D) film

Question 17

Gerbner noted that resonance ____________ cultivation effects.

A) amplifies
B) teaches
C) follows
D) prevents

Question 18

Which of the following is the second step of the four-step process for conducting cultivation theory research?

A) defining what counts as violence
B) formulation of questions about viewers' social realities
C) measurement of the amount of viewing
D) comparing social realities of heavy and light viewers

Question 19

Which communication traditions are most closely associated with CT?

A) critical and interpretive/hermeneutic
B) positivistic/empirical and critical
C) critical and phenomenological
D) socio-cultural and critical

Question 20

All of the following are part of the Mean World Index EXCEPT

A) Most people are inherently violent.
B) Most people are just looking out for themselves.
C) You can't be too careful in dealing with people.
D) Most people would take advantage of you if they got the chance.

Question 21

There is wide acceptance among media practitioners and academic researchers for Gerbner's Violence Index.

Question 22

Cultivation theory has helped to explain the implications of television viewing habits in a wide variety of areas including racism, fear of victimization, affluence, and alienation.

Question 23

Cultivation theory is concerned with what people do as a result of too much exposure to violence on television.

Question 24

Second-order effects involve hypotheses about general issues and assumptions that people make about their environments.

Question 25

Identifying as a member of a particular co-culture influence the mainstreaming process.

Question 26

Horace Newcomb, an early critic of Cultivation Theory, believed that Gerbner failed to move his work out of the laboratory into more real-world venues.

Question 27

Gerbner believed that the media directly influence people's behaviors.

Question 28

The goal of the PROD was to examine the distortion in representation of various co-cultures across the demography of the media landscape.

Question 29

Identify and explain the four-step process used by cultivation theory researchers.

Question 30

Compare and contrast "mainstreaming"
and "resonance."

Question 31

What is the "Mean World Index,"
and how is it related to cultivation theory?

Question 32

Using the standard criteria for evaluating communication theories, evaluate Cultivation Theory.

Question 33

Discuss the role of television as storyteller in society. How does television function as a way for different groups of people to come together? Using concepts from the theory, what is the consequence of having television serve as the nation's storyteller?

Question 34

Discuss "reality TV"
(Survivor, Fear Factor, etc.) and the extent to which Cultivation theorists would analyze these shows. What features of reality television are important to study? In your opinion, what would Gerbner say about this television programming?

Question 35

Do you agree that audiences' increased ability to be selective through technology like TiVo and online streaming makes Cultivation Theory less applicable than it has been in the past? Explain and justify your answer.

Question 36

Select a particular phenomenon (other than violence) that is portrayed on television, and describe how you would use the four-step process to analyze its existence and possible cultivation effects.