Deck 7: Applying Social Psychology to the Media

Question 1

If you are waiting behind a truck that fails to proceed when the light turns green,research suggests that you are most likely to honk your horn if

A) the truck is new, as opposed to if the truck is old
B) the driver is small and not intimidating
C) several other people are present in the truck
D) a gun rack and gun are visible in the truck

Answer 1

a gun rack and gun are visible in the truck

Question 2

Susan has just watched 3 consecutive hours of violent TV.Which of the following is most likely to occur?

A) Susan will demonstrate heightened physiological response to real violence.
B) Susan will demonstrate less physiological response to violence in general.
C) Susan will demonstrate heightened physiological response to media violence.
D) Susan will demonstrate heightened physiological response to kindness.

Answer 2

Susan will demonstrate less physiological response to violence in general.

Question 3

Most of the research on Bandura's social cognitive theory has focused on which of the following elements?

A) representational processes
B) imitative processes
C) attention
D) motivational processes

Answer 3

motivational processes

Question 4

Research has shown that people who watch a lot of media violence are

A) less likely to engage in risky behavior because they have observed the risks
B) less likely to engage in risky behavior because they have vicariously experienced the consequences as a result of watching TV
C) more likely to engage in risky behavior
D) less likely to engage in risky behavior because of the heightened fear of getting caught

Question 5

With respect to understanding how people learn to imitate violence,which of the following is NOT one of the processes involved in Bandura's social cognitive theory?

A) representational
B) instrumental
C) motivational
D) attentional

Question 6

Research involving young male participants who played floor hockey after being exposed to a violent TV segment demonstrated that violent media produce

A) long-term increases in people's levels of aggression
B) long-term deficits in social functioning
C) short-term increases in aggressive behavior
D) short-term deficits in social functioning

Question 7

While 8-year-old Timmy watches violent cartoons,his mother asks him how he thinks the victims in the cartoons are feeling as a result of being subjected to violence.Later,Timmy goes to the park to play with other boys who also watched the cartoons.Compared with the children whose mothers didn't say anything to them while they were watching violent cartoons,Timmy's behavior in the park is likely to be

A) more aggressive because he has thought about violence more
B) more aggressive because of social cognitive theory
C) more aggressive because of psychological reactance
D) less aggressive because of his heightened empathy

Question 8

The text emphasizes which theory that has been proposed to explain the effects of media violence?

A) social cognitive theory
B) cognitive dissonance theory
C) theory of planned behavior
D) theory of reasoned action

Question 9

The phenomenon that accounts for why children have a greater desire to watch programs when they are told they cannot do so is called ______.

A) psychological reactance
B) the resistance effect
C) reaction formation
D) norm discounting

Question 10

The form of pornography that is centered on an extreme stereotype of male dominance and female subservience,where the more powerful coerce the less powerful,is known as ______.

A) nonviolent pornography
B) violent pornography
C) erotica
D) violent sexuality

Question 11

What conclusion can we legitimately draw from research on the relationship between watching TV violence and people's perception of how hostile the world is?

A) Perceptions of a hostile world lead people to stay indoors and watch more TV, including violent programs.
B) Watching TV violence leads people to conclude that the world is more hostile.
C) Watching TV violence and perceptions of hostility are not causally related.
D) Perceptions of hostility and watching TV violence are both influenced by a third variable.

Question 12

Cultivation theory suggests that

A) media cultivates good manners in children
B) it is the media's responsibility to produce good citizens
C) movies provide poor role models
D) media is a primary socializing agent in modern society

Question 13

Which of the following is the most accurate statement regarding the type of people who are most likely to watch violent TV?

A) Nonviolent people are most likely to watch violent TV.
B) Violent people are most likely to watch violent TV.
C) Both nonviolent and violent people are equally likely to watch violent TV.
D) People of moderate levels of violence are most likely to watch violent TV.

Question 14

When we say that a behavior is overdetermined,we mean that

A) there is nothing someone can do to prevent that behavior
B) the behavior has been well practiced, to the point of being almost automatic
C) an excessive amount of thought went into planning it
D) the behavior is influenced by many different factors

Question 15

Meta-analytic research reveals that when men watch nonviolent pornography,their attitudes toward women

A) sometimes become more favorable
B) tend to become less favorable
C) always become more favorable
D) don't change

Question 16

Research on the cathartic effect of watching violent media reveals that

A) watching TV violence can actually decrease levels of aggression in children
B) watching TV violence doesn't prevent children from thinking aggressive thoughts but does prevent children from demonstrating aggression
C) watching TV violence can increase violent acts
D) watching TV violence leads to drug use

Question 17

In Hicks's (1965)experiment in which children watched a film of people acting aggressively toward a bobo doll,what happened when the children were subsequently given a chance to play in the same setting they saw on film?

A) Only male children demonstrated aggression toward the bobo doll.
B) All children who watched the film demonstrated aggression toward the bobo doll.
C) Male children demonstrated aggression toward the bobo doll immediately after viewing the film and again 6 months later.
D) No one demonstrated aggression toward the bobo doll.

Question 18

Research reveals that people who watch a lot of TV news are ______ concerned about crime because ______.

A) less; they see criminals brought to justice
B) less; they appreciate the true levels of crime in their communities
C) more; they are exposed to many incidents of crime
D) less; they are exposed to the effective law enforcement activities of the police

Question 19

Quasi-experimental research involving the introduction of TV stations in North American cities suggests that

A) TV promotes violent behavior
B) TV commercials promote violent behavior
C) violent people are drawn to violence on TV
D) TV causes as much violence as radio broadcasts

Question 20

Which of the following best reflects predictions stemming from the neoassociationistic model of media priming?

A) After watching a violent TV program, Joan writes a letter to the TV station suggesting that nonviolent programming be offered.
B) After Jack sees a street fight, he is subsequently easily upset and shouts aggressively when a colleague uses him as the butt of a joke.
C) After Tina sees a patient undergo surgery on TV, she subsequently falls in love with her doctor.
D) Children who play video games tend to eat dinner with more gusto.

Question 21

In 1964,approximately ______ of the U.S.population trusted the nation's government.In the mid-1990s,approximately ______ trusted the nation's government.

A) 15%; 80%
B) 50%; 50%
C) 30%; 70%
D) 75%; 25%

Question 22

Which of the following is likely to increase a reader's cynicism toward politics?

A) reading many stories that have an issue frame
B) reading many stories that have a strategy frame
C) reading neutral stories
D) avoiding politics

Question 23

Tim is running for student president of his high school.Although last year,Tim was unsuccessful in convincing his high school principal to renovate the gymnasium,he did succeed in convincing the manager of food services to offer healthier alternatives in the cafeteria.This year,as he runs for president,Tim's campaign posters have big pictures of carrots and tofu,and his classmates are evaluating him overall on his prior success even though the gymnasium remains old and run-down.This shows the influence of ______.

A) the availability heuristic
B) political priming
C) a policy agenda
D) a strategy frame

Question 24

Agenda setting refers to the idea that the media can shape what issues we think about or what issues we think are important.

Question 25

Which of the following scenarios would likely produce the highest voter turnout?

A) The incumbent runs a negative campaign highlighting the undesirable characteristics of the challenger.
B) The challenger runs a negative campaign highlighting the undesirable characteristics of the incumbent.
C) Both candidates run negative campaigns.
D) Neither candidate runs a negative campaign .

Question 26

Increases in tolerance toward rapists,aggression toward women,and rape fantasies are all consequences that follow when men watch ______.

A) erotica
B) nonviolent pornography
C) embedded violent sexual material
D) nonviolent sexual material

Question 27

As discussed in the media chapter,during the mid- to late 1980s,what relationship existed between media coverage of drugs and the public's concerns about the drug problem in the U.S.?

A) Media coverage of the drug problem paralleled the public's concern.
B) Media coverage of the drug problem preceded the public's concern.
C) Media coverage of drugs followed the public's growing concern.
D) The media failed to identify the public's growing concern about drugs.

Question 28

According to Ewoldsen et al. (2012),one limitation of the research on video game aggression is that

A) the research has focused on multiplayer games
B) the research has focused on solo game play
C) the research has focused on a specific type of violence
D) the research has a limited conception of what constitutes violence

Question 29

Government officials in a large,metropolitan city believe that curbing urban sprawl is of primary importance.The local newspapers,however,aren't covering this story.This short scenario only provides insight into the ______.

A) public agenda
B) policy agenda
C) media agenda
D) official agenda

Question 30

According to the text,erotica is defined as nonaggressive explicit sexual activity typically among casual acquaintances.

Question 31

What effect does teaching children critical viewing skills have on their levels of aggressive behavior?

A) no effect
B) little effect because aggression typically occurs away from the TV sets used to teach these skills
C) positive effects but only for children low in aggressive tendencies
D) positive, long-lasting effects

Question 32

With respect to the media,framing refers to

A) the angle of a story, or how it is presented
B) the stories that immediately precede and follow a target story
C) things such as the font size and placement of a story, which make it more or less attractive to readers
D) ensuring that a story has a distinct beginning, middle, and end that promote a particular agenda

Question 33

Violent sexual material,in the form of violent pornography or embedded violent sexual acts,has the most serious psychological effects.

Question 34

Political priming refers to the idea that

A) the first candidate the media endorses has a greater likelihood of winning an election
B) media coverage influences the information people use to judge politicians
C) in any given election, the first candidate to say something in the media that strikes a chord with voters is most likely to win the election
D) presenting people with small cues about an issue will tend to make them endorse that issue

Question 35

According to Lenhart (2015),______ of teenagers in the United States had access to one or more media technologies such as a game console,laptop,tablet,or cell phone.

A) 20%
B) 50%
C) 99%
D) 70%

Question 36

Which of the following statements is most accurate?

A) Media do not affect what people think.
B) Media can only affect what uneducated people think.
C) Media do affect the content of people's thoughts.
D) Media influence what and how people think about current issues.

Question 37

Research by Moy and Pfau (2000)has shown that people who watch TV,read newspapers,and/or listen to politically oriented radio broadcasts are

A) more cynical of government
B) less cynical of government
C) sometimes more and sometimes less cynical of government
D) not affected by them

Question 38

Which of the following is true?

A) Research has found that traditional media has a stronger influence on agenda setting than does nontraditional media.
B) Research has found that nontraditional media has a stronger influence on agenda setting than does traditional media.
C) Research has found that traditional media and nontraditional media have the same influence on agenda setting.
D) Research has found that neither traditional media nor nontraditional media have an influence on agenda setting.

Question 39

A regional newspaper printed numerous stories about the importance of building a new bridge in the center of town to support trade with a neighboring city.This made the citizens think about the value of the bridge in promoting trade and eventually led the citizens to pressure the local politician to build the bridge.This is an example of ______.

A) political framing
B) agenda setting
C) establishing the policy agenda
D) political priming

Question 40

Which of the following statements is most accurate?

A) Media coverage can only enhance the preexisting beliefs that people have about an issue.
B) Media can only affect the public's level of concern about an issue to the extent that the issue is truly a social or practical problem.
C) Media coverage can't affect people's perceptions of most social issues.
D) Media coverage of an issue can result in the public becoming more concerned about an issue even when objective indicators suggest the problem is declining.

Question 41

Many different factors can cause a person to be aggressive.A behavior is said to be overdetermined when it has one cause.

Question 42

The text describes two main types of frames.Describe both in detail.

Question 43

The availability heuristic suggests that people make judgments based on the degree to which images available in memory are representative of stereotypes.

Question 44

Legally banning the distribution and sale of violent sexual material is considered a feasible option for reducing the harmful effects of exposure to such material.

Question 45

How a story is framed can influence people's interpretation of an issue.Define framing,and describe two effects of framing.

Question 46

Researchers distinguish between embedded sexual material and embedded violent sexual material.Differentiate between the two.

Question 47

An issue frame focuses on the motivations behind the various issues raised,as well as the various positions that are taken.

Question 48

The text refers to the neoassociationistic model of media priming.What does priming refer to?

Question 49

The authors of Chapter 7 distinguish between three types of agendas.Name and describe them.

Question 50

Identify five effects of long-term exposure to nonviolent pornography.

Question 51

According to social cognitive theory,there are four processes that must occur for vicarious learning to occur.Name these four processes,and describe two in detail.

Question 52

Performing a behavior because one observes it being rewarded is called vicarious learning.

Question 53

A factor that appears to play an important role in people's motivation to perform violent behavior is desensitization.Explain how desensitization negatively affects people.

Question 54

In explaining the effects that media violence has on individuals,researchers have coined what is called cultivation theory.What is cultivation theory?

Question 55

Identify three ways of reducing the harmful effects of exposure to violent sexual material.

Question 56

Political priming refers to the idea that the issues covered in media broadcasts directly influence the information that people use to judge the president and other politicians.

Question 57

In relation to violent TV programs and movies,the cathartic effect refers to the process by which people relieve their stress and aggressive impulses from watching violence.