Deck 13: Mass Media Effects

Question 1

Who produced the famous radio drama War of the Worlds?

A) Orson Welles
B) Paul Lazarsfeld
C) David Sarnoff
D) William Paley

Answer 1

Orson Welles

Question 2

The effects of the War of the Worlds broadcast were particularly amazing considering

A) how well educated the U.S. population was in 1938.
B) that H.G. Wells' story was in most French literature anthologies.
C) scientific knowledge and understanding was so well understood at the time.
D) the announcer said the show was fiction at four points during the broadcast.

Answer 2

the announcer said the show was fiction at four points during the broadcast.

Question 3

All of the various theories about the effects of mass media can be grouped into three categories that does NOT include

A) cumulative effects theories.
B) minimalist effects theories.
C) passive effects theories.
D) powerful effects theories.

Answer 3

passive effects theories.

Question 4

Walter Lippmann argued that we see the world as

A) it really is with all its blemishes and warts.
B) a conspiracy masterminded by media moguls.
C) a distortion of reality based on our personal world view.
D) pictures in our heads even of things we have not personally experienced personally.

Question 5

The idea that media have immediate, direct influence on individuals is known as

A) limited effects theory.
B) two-step flow model
C) powerful effects theory.
D) immediacy theory.

Question 6

What Yale psychologist studied World War II propaganda and developed a model of mass communication: who says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect?

A) Walter Lippmann
B) Harold Lasswell
C) W.P. Davison
D) Paul Lazarsfeld

Question 7

The theory that sees the media as a kind of hypodermic needle, injecting concepts into its viewers, is essentially the same as approach called the

A) third person effect theory.
B) two-step flow model.
C) magic bullet model.
D) status conferral theory.

Question 8

Early mass communication scholars wrongly assumed that

A) people are active, not passive media users.
B) people absorb messages like sponges.
C) audiences are intelligent.
D) people review media content critically.

Question 9

Another popular name for the overrated powerful effects theory is the

A) unlimited effects theory.
B) spiral of silence.
C) two-step flow model.
D) bullet model.

Question 10

The belief that individuals underestimate the impact media have on them personally but overestimate the impact media messages have on other people is called the

A) aggressive stimulation theory.
B) consistency theory.
C) third-person effect.
D) selective exposure.

Question 11

Which of the following statements is an example of the third-person effect?

A) "I worry that violence on TV is going to change the way I treat my kids."
B) "Violence on TV doesn't have much of an effect on society one way or the other."
C) "Violence on TV makes most people more violent, but not me. I know it's not real."
D) "My kids and I fight with each other more after we've played a lot of video games."

Question 12

Sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld conducted voter behavior studies in the 1940s and found that

A) his research supported the powerful effects theory.
B) the bullet theory was essentially true for political issues and candidates.
C) Individuals were influenced more by the mass media than by their friends.
D) voters were more influenced by other people than by the mass media.

Question 13

Who was the sociologist who became known for studying the effects of the media on elections?

A) Walter Lippman
B) Harold Lasswell
C) Paul Lazarsfeld
D) T.E. Lawrence

Question 14

The Lazarsfeld studies in the 1940s found that most voters

A) value friends and acquaintances' opinions more than editorial endorsements.
B) actively seek out media information in weighing choices of candidates.
C) value media more than friends for advice.
D) check their choices against media recommendations.

Question 15

According to the two-step flow model, we are motivated less by the media and more by people we know personally and respect. These contacts are known as

A) opinion leaders.
B) researchers.
C) cumulative contacts.
D) network effectors.

Question 16

Opinion leaders are key in understanding the

A) narcoticizing dysfunction.
B) powerful effects theory.
C) two-step flow model.
D) self-induced passivity.

Question 17

When media decide to cover certain issues and people, the media are producing an effect called

A) status conferral.
B) agenda setting.
C) two-step flow.
D) hypodermic needle model.

Question 18

This theory states that the media tell people what to think about, not what to think.

A) Two-step model
B) Bullet model
C) Mean-world theory
D) Agenda-setting theory

Question 19

The notion that the media lull people into passivity is called

A) the passivity premise.
B) the nonactivity notion.
C) the narcoticizing dysfunction theory.
D) the hypodermic needle model.

Question 20

People so overwhelmed by the high volume of news available to them that they withdraw from involvement in public issues are examples of

A) cumulative withdrawal.
B) information anxiety.
C) narcoticizing dysfunction.
D) passive participiality.

Question 21

Who was the German scholar whose media studies resulted in the cumulative effects theory that says the media may not have immediate effects, but their effects over time are profound?

A) Herbert Schiller
B) Don Shaw
C) Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann
D) Max Ernst

Question 22

The redundancy of advertising takes advantage of Noelle-Neumann's

A) information overload theory.
B) cumulative effects theory.
C) spiral of silence model.
D) uses and gratifications theory.

Question 23

How does the spiral of silence model function?

A) Overloaded by media messages, audience members increasingly "tune out" until they have surrounded themselves with silence.
B) As messages accumulate, fewer and fewer are heard until a virtual silence develops.
C) The lack of immediate feedback in many media discourages two-way communication.
D) The vocal majority intimidates opposing views into silence and thereby makes the majority view appear to be a universal consensus.

Question 24

What media function is served when people use the media to learn about how to fit in with other people?

A) surveillance
B) diversion
C) entertainment
D) socialization

Question 25

When a child walks by a television set or a computer screen that contains adult images and themes, the child is involved in

A) prosocialization.
B) intergenerational eavesdropping.
C) anti-social behavior.
D) role modeling.

Question 26

People who picked up the phrase "yadda-yadda-yadda" from watching Seinfeld are intentionally or unintentionally demonstrating the effects of

A) role modeling.
B) socialization.
C) status conferral.
D) third-person effect.

Question 27

When a movie director puts a white hat on a cowboy to depict a "good guy," that shorthand communication is known as

A) product placement.
B) evocation.
C) historical transmission.
D) stereotyping.

Question 28

All of the following statements about stereotyping in the mass media are true EXCEPT

A) benign stereotypes are not objectionable and pose few, if any, problems.
B) the FCC has banned any broadcast of demeaning stereotypes over the public airwaves.
C) newspapers typically use lots of stereotypes in their headlines.
D) stereotypes are a kind of shorthand that can communicate a lot quickly and easily.

Question 29

Reacting to negative stereotypes, newspaper editor Kathleen Rutledge banned any reference to sports team names or mascot nicknames that might be offensive to

A) Asians
B) Latinos
C) Native Americans
D) African Americans

Question 30

The communication of cultural values to later generations is called

A) contemporary transmission.
B) historical transmission.
C) diffusion of history.
D) cataloguing history.

Question 31

What is it called when mass media communicate cultural values to different cultures?

A) contemporary transmission
B) historical transmission
C) role modeling
D) cultural Imperialism

Question 32

The process through which news, ideas, and information are spread is called

A) historic transmission.
B) intercultural communication.
C) diffusion of innovations.
D) transmittal transformation.

Question 33

What is the term for the dominance of one culture over another?

A) cultural imperialism
B) revisionism
C) exocentrism
D) diffusion of culture

Question 34

Concerns about American cultural imperialism are now being reconsidered in light of all of the following EXCEPT

A) Al-Jazeera's transition from a small regional news medium into a global news channel.
B) changes that have occurred in four decades since Schiller first published his book.
C) the impact of Pok?mon, Manga comics, and other Japanese imports in the U.S..
D) the worldwide expansion of MTV and ESPN and overseas editions of USA Today.

Question 35

What Austrian psychiatrist theorized that the human mind is unconsciously susceptible to suggestion?

A) John Milton
B) George Schultz
C) Sigmund Freud
D) Ernest Dichter.

Question 36

Ernest Dichter's interviewing method called motivational research was used to

A) seek subconscious appeal that can be used in advertising.
B) seek subliminal messages that propel audiences to react.
C) create color schemes that trigger positive feelings.
D) design Internet ads.

Question 37

What type of message can be effective even though it cannot be consciously perceived?

A) motivational
B) viral
C) subliminal
D) suggestive

Question 38

What market researcher said subliminal messages can affect media consumers?

A) Jim Vicary
B) Wilbur Schramm
C) Ernest Dichter
D) Richard Branson

Question 39

What prosocial theory states that people learn behavior by seeing it in real life?

A) contemporary transmission
B) observational learning
C) cultural behaviorism
D) user-gratifications theory

Question 40

Which theory dates back to Greek philosopher Aristotle and says that people who watch violence actually release their violent inclinations by seeing them portrayed.

A) aggressive stimulation theory
B) desensitizing theory
C) cathartic effect theory
D) scapegoating theory

Question 41

A positive effect of media violence, as evidenced by reaction to The Burning Bed, is that it

A) frightens people into violent acts.
B) encourages people in risky situations.
C) prompts people to socially positive action.
D) reduces violence in schools.

Question 42

The theory that people are inspired to violence by media depictions is called

A) aggressive stimulation.
B) mirrored behavior.
C) role modeling.
D) violent reaction.

Question 43

The Bobo doll studies found that children playing with dolls after watching a violent movie

A) were less violent.
B) were more violent.
C) demonstrated no difference from those who didn't watch the movie.
D) became quiet and withdrawn.

Question 44

What researcher conducted the Bobo doll studies?

A) Seymour Feshbach
B) Aristotle
C) Albert Bandura
D) Walter Lippmann

Question 45

What theory holds that media violence plays a contributing role in violent behavior, but not a triggering one?

A) catalytic theory
B) aggressive stimulation theory
C) cathartic effect theory
D) accessory influence theory

Question 46

In the catalytic theory, the chances of media violence triggering real-life violence is affected by how the media violence is seen. Which of the following is NOT a factor in triggering real-life violence?

A) whether the violence in the media is rewarded
B) whether the media exposure is heavy and frequent
C) whether the media violence is watched during the day or at night
D) whether a violent person fits other behavioral profiles

Question 47

Which of the following is a plausible alternative explanation for a correlation between media-depicted and actual violence that does not blame the media for real-life violence?

A) People who are otherwise passive can suddenly erupt into violent behavior.
B) Media-depicted violence conveys the message that violence solves all problems.
C) Media-depicted violence mellows out a person who's had a bad day.
D) People whose general view tends toward aggressiveness gravitate to violent media fare.

Question 48

What does George Gerbner view as an end result of violence in the media?

A) Demands for more aggressive police protection, even police-violence, to ensure public safety.
B) Depictions of violence will drive people to self-reliance as they seek to protect themselves.
C) Depictions of violence will exaggerate people's fears of a police state.
D) The freedom to express anything, including violence, strengthens the principles of violence.

Question 49

Which of the following suggests that media-depicted violence has a numbing and callusing effect?

A) aggressive cues research
B) desensitizing theory
C) catalytic model
D) catharsis theory

Question 50

What have studies performed by the Violence Assessment Monitoring Project found?

A) a steady presence of violent acts on prime time television
B) a dramatic increase of violence on television
C) fewer incidences of serious violence on television than previously thought
D) children exposed to violence on television are more likely to perform violent acts

Question 51

___________ , after reviewing the literatures on violence studies, concluded most media violence research is flawed.

A) William McQuire
B) George Gerbner
C) Sigmund Freud
D) Elizabeth Peers

Question 52

Innocently and apparently without intending to do so, Orson Welles created a national panic with his dramatic re-creation of the novel War of the Worlds on radio.

Question 53

The War of the Worlds caused about 35 million people to brace for the worst, suspending disbelief to think that aliens were attacking earth.

Question 54

Researchers estimate that one of every six people who heard the fictitious radio drama War of the Worlds believed it was true and reacted in genuine fear.

Question 55

War of the Worlds remains a milestone in radio and mass media history because it so powerfully demonstrated the effects that mass media can have on their audiences.

Question 56

Walter Lippmann argued that we see the world exactly as it really is.

Question 57

The powerful effects theory likened the media to a hypodermic needle.

Question 58

The bullet model is another name for the two-step model.

Question 59

Psychologist Harold Lasswell developed a mass communication model that said mass media have little effect on people.

Question 60

One thing that all effects theories agree on is that people who want to do so can control the effect the mass media have on them.

Question 61

The third-person effect can be reduced to, "It's the other guy who can't handle it, not me."

Question 62

Researcher Paul Lazarsfeld found people were more influenced by other people than by mass media.

Question 63

The minimalist effects theory says that media effects are mostly indirect.

Question 64

In the two-step flow model, opinion leaders are always in positions of authority.

Question 65

The multistep flow model of mass communication says that the media affects people through complex interpersonal connections.

Question 66

Status conferral results when the media ignore prominent people.

Question 67

The mass media are said to direct people's attention to issues, people, and other subjects through a process called status conferral.

Question 68

According to the agenda-setting model, the media not only tell people what to think about, they tell them what to think.

Question 69

Agenda-setting is the process by which the media create knowledge and attitudes.

Question 70

Narcoticizing dysfunction describes an excess involvement in public events that is driven by media coverage.

Question 71

People who are exposed to high volumes of mass messages about politics can become so over-whelmed they become passive about elections and public issues.

Question 72

Early theories about the effects of mass media generally said the effects are more or less instantaneous.

Question 73

According to the cumulative effects theory, the effects of mass media generally are short term and more or less instantaneous.

Question 74

The spiral of silence model suggests that minority voices can band together and build until they overwhelm the vocal majority.

Question 75

The spiral of silence says that a vocal majority intimidates others into silence.

Question 76

The socialization function of the media helps people keep up-to-date about what's going on in society.

Question 77

The socialization function of the media helps people fit in to society.

Question 78

The socialization process is essential to perpetuating cultural values.

Question 79

Because of societal changes, most newspapers switched from afternoon to morning papers.

Question 80

Joshua Meyrowitz, a communication scholar, says that media have reduced generational and gender barriers through easy intergenerational eavesdropping.