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Comm exams—what is media effect? 5 items Methods of studying media effects: 25 items Learning theories 10 items
…missed others
“Modern media now engages old brains. There is no switch in the brain that can be thrown to distinguish between the real and mediated worlds. People respond to simulations of social actors and natural objects as if they were fact social, and in fact, natural.” –Reeves and Nass 1996, p. 12
Where do we get information? Public<=
Pseudo reality—Perception is more important than reality in understanding human thought, emotion, and behavior. The media surround us in a pseudo reality.
Media Consumption—The average American child spends 45 hours per week “screen time”. More than they spend at school. Pediatricitions recomment a max of 2 hours per day 14 per week
The average American adult spends 3700 hours per year consuming media 2/3 of their waking hours!
8-18 year olds in the us spend…missed slide Affect: How you feel
Emotions, Moods, Attitudes—Global evaluations (e.g. like/.dislike, infavor of. Opposed to; prejudiced attitudes
Behavior: What you do Acitons, Responses
Cognition: What you Think
Beliefs — Pieces of information about something (factual or opinions). Intentions — What we want to do; our desires, plans, and goals.
Values — Positive/negative orientation toward object or abstract concept. The Black Box
Advertisements
We are exposed to about 500 ads daily.
Political candidates spend more than 60% of their campaign money on electronic advertising.
A single 30-second ad airing during the Super Bowl costs about $2.5 million. They don’t affect us, right? Wrong!
Why People Deny Media Effects Third person effect
Fantasy stories in no way shape our realities
Media’s reason for being is to entertain, rather than to persuade us. The mass media provide an accurate reflection of the real world. The Reflection Myth
We think the media reflect the real world.
What if the media only present us with a subset of the world?
What if the media mirror is really a funhouse mirror that provides a distorted image of reality?
Everthingisterrible.com –pokemon site
http://www.everythingisterrible.com/search/label/Pokemon Marilyn Manson
Don Imus
Influence of Jackass Paradox
On the one hand, the TV industry claims that a few minutes of advertising can sell soap, salsa, cereal, and even political candidates to viewers
On the other hand the TV industry claims that hours of programming surrounding the few minutes of advertising have no effect on viewers. Other domians
You can smoke drink withouth consequences Eat whatever and not get fat
People don’t get pregnant if they don’t use condoms Etc.
The reflections myth We think the media 1/14 Comm notes
Ways of knowing
Common sense or folk wisdom
o Something is true because it is "self-evident" or because it is widely known.
o Folk wisdom is loaded with "truth.” Revelation or inspiration
Authority
Logic and reason (rationalism) Sense and experiences (empiricism Scientific method
Hindsight Bias (Knew it all along phenomenon)
The tendency, after an event has occurred, to overestimate one's ability to have foreseen the outcome.
Revelation or Inspiration
“a: an act of revealing or communicating divine truth b: something that is revealed by God to humans” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Authority
Truth is established through a trusted source such as God (e.g., scriptures), Government (e.g., laws), tradition, or public sanction.
Problems with Authority
Experts may not always have the "expertise" with which we credit them. Experts are rarely questioned.
It is difficult to see authority. We only see “symbols” of authority, and these symbols are easy to counterfeit.
Logic and Reason
Logic, the basis of reason, is the ability to draw inferences from premises. A premise is an assertion that is held to be true (e.g. "what goes up must come down”).
Problems with Logic and Reason
The inference may not NECESSARILY follow from the premise. For example, even if I accept that aspirin helps SOME people avoid the risk of stroke, I cannot conclude by logical inference that it will help me.
The premise could be wrong (e.g., leeches cure disease). People make many logical errors.
Scientific Method—
Galileo tested the hypothesis that weight doesn’t matter and discovered that they landed at the same time.
Chicken Soup experiment.
1. Select a problem and form a hypothesis as a tentative solution to the problem
Dr. Barbara Rennard and her colleagues applied the scientific method to the ages-old observation that chicken soup makes people with colds feel better. Rennard wondered if something in chicken soup might reduce the
upper-respiratory inflammation that makes people with colds feel miserable. This was her hypothesis.
Hypothesis
Comes from the Greek hypotithenai meaning "to suppose".
“an idea or explanation for something that is based on known facts but has not yet been proved” (Cambridge Dictionary)
“a tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or empirical consequences” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
an “educated guess.”
2) Design and experiment or study
Rennard designed a study to test the effect of chicken soup on white blood cells called neutrophils, the immune cells that cause congestion.
Rennard measured neutrophils counts before and after subjects ate soup. In any study you must have a comparison. Had a group of people with colds,
one that ate the soup and one that did not eat the soup to compare results 3) Conduct the experiment and collect data
Rennard collected data by recording neutrophils counts before and after subjects ate soup.
4) Confront the hypothesis with the data by conducting a statistical test Rennard used a statistical test to determine whether the chicken soup
significantly reduced neutrophils counts.
As expected, the test showed that the soup inhibited the neutrophils' ability to cause inflammation.
The data supported her hypothesis. 5) Communicate the research results.
Rennard wrote up exactly what she did and what she found in a formal report.
The report was submitted for peer review.
The Editor and reviewers agreed that the study should be published. The report, titled "Chicken Soup Inhibits Neutrophil Chemotaxis In Vitro,"
was published in the scientific journal Chest, in 2000, Volume 118, pages 1150-1157.
Send scientific reports to anonymous people to find things wrong with the study and they will reject it if it is wrong so that the study can be sure that it is correct
Goals of Science
Explanation—why soup helps colds/why video games cause aggression o Scrutinizing previously established explanations
o Looking for more comprehensive explanations Prediction
Control
o Greater control over a phenomenon o Prevention and intervention
Comm 102 lecture notes 1/19 Correlation study—
The researcher simply measures the strength of relationship between the two variables of interest.
Strenghts and Weaknesses
Strength : Can be used when random assignment and control of the independent variable are not possible.
Weakness : Cannot be used to infer causality Experiment
Essential Features of Experiment
The researcher has control over the procedures, manipulating the variable of interest (independent variable) and holding all other variables constant. Subjects are randomly assigned to the levels of the independent variable. Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths :
Can be used to infer causality. Weaknesses :
“Artificial” settings and measures. Can only test short-term effects
Quasi Experiment—random assignment is not possible for ethical or practical reasons
Researcher must take people “as they are” (smokers vss non smokers
The researcher may attempt to match the two groups on every variable, but there is no way of knowing that the two groups are equivalent in every aspect
If you have a group of people that you are interested in (e.g. elderly) and randomly assign them to one of two (or more) conditions, it is a true
experiment. The only way it differs from an experiment on a representative sample of the population is that there may be limitations to how
generalizable the findings are. Strengths and Weaknesses
Strength : Can be used when random assignment is not possible. Weakness : Cannot be used to infer causality.
Longitudinal Study
Individuals are followed over time Cross Lagged Panel Design Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths :
The presumed cause precedes the presumed effect in time. Can look at cumulative effects and long-term effects. Weaknesses :
Random assignment not possible. Very costly to conduct.
Types of Surveys
Mailed questionnaires Internet questionnaires Fax and text-message polls Meaning of Margin of Error
Never trust conclusions form a single statistic that has no comparison statistic
79%: violence in the media is a major factor in real-life violence o Could be 82%
o Could be 76%
We are confident that the “true” percent is somewhere within this range Margin of Error
A random sample of 1,200 has a 3% margin of error regardless of the size of the population from which the sample was drawn.
Since 1950, Gallup poll results taken just before U.S. National election days have diverged from actual election results by only 1.4%.
Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths :
Good for assessing public opinion Sometimes the only method available Weaknesses :
Requires a representative sample Based on self-reports
Cannot be used to infer causality
Percentages don’t always add up to 100 Content Analysis
Describes in a systematic manner the content of the communication. Definition of violence
“Violence is defined as any overt depiction of a credible threat of physical force or the actual use of such force intended to physically harm an animate being or group of beings. Violence also includes certain depictions of
physically harmful consequences against an animate being or group that occur as a result of unseen violent means.”
Strenghts and Weaknesses Strengths :
Unobtrusive: No impact on what is being studied Can study processes over long periods of time Weaknesses :
Cannot establish effects Ways of Knowing
Correlation Coefficient (r)
Ranges from +1.0 (a perfect positive correlation) to -1.0 (a perfect negative correlation).
Correlation only works with linear relationships, not curved graphs Correlation Coefficient
The value of the correlation coefficient indicates the strength of the relation. Few correlations are perfect.
A “small” correlation is ± .1 A “medium” correlation is ± .3 A “large” correlation is ± .5
Over the past 100 years, the average correlation from over 25,000 social psychology studies involving over 8 million participants was about .20. +.39 vs. -.67….. =.67 is a stronger correlation
Getting Confident with Effects
Replication : The same result is observed over and over again by different researchers.
Triangulation : Employing different methodologies in order to examine a given phenomenon.
Meta-Analysis
A literature review that combines the statistical results (e.g., correlations) from different studies conducted on the same topic.
LEARNING THEORIES
Key terms
Learning : A relatively permanent change in behavior or mental process as a result of practice or experience
Conditioning : Learning associations (the linking of 2 events). Lightning is often paired with thunder
An expanding balloon has been paired with popping
Classical Conditioning (Pavlovian or Respondent Conditioning) Associative learning that was first demonstrated by Russian physiologist
Ivan Pavlo (1849-1936).
Awarded a Nobel Prize in 1904 for his research on the role of saliva in digestion.
While studying the digestive process in dogs, Pavlov noticed that the dogs would start salivating, not just when they were given their food, but also when they first saw the assistant with the food pail.
The dogs had learned to associate the sight of the pail with the food. Pavlov conducted studies to test whether the could learn to associate
salivation with other stimuli (e.g., a ringing bell). Basic Principles of Classical Conditioning
Stimulus generalization : Learned response to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimuli (CS)
Classical Conditioning in Advertising
Advertisers try to associate their products with positive stimuli (e.g., beautiful or famous people).
Comm. Lecture notes 1/21 FEBRUARY EXAM
What is media effect—5 questions
Methosds of studying media effets—25 questions Learning theories—10 questions
Social cognitive theory—10 questions Classical Conditioning in Advertising
Advertisers try to associate their products with positive stimuli (e.g., beautiful or famous people).
Operant (Instrumental or Skinnerian) Conditioning
In operant conditioning the organism’s response is active and voluntary vs. classical conditioning where the response is passive and involuntary. Reinforcement strengthens a response and makes it more likely to occur. Punishment weakens a response and makes it less likely to occur.
B. F. Skinner developed the Skinner Box in which an animal was trained to push a lever to receive a food pellet.
Using this box, Skinner was able to demonstrate a number of operant conditioning principles
Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning
Primary Reinforcers : normally satisfy an unlearned biological need (e.g., food)
Secondary (or Conditioned) Reinforcers : learned value (e.g., money) Positive reinforcement : adding a stimulus that strengthens a response and
makes it more likely to recur (e.g., praise)
Negative reinforcement : taking away a stimulus that strengthens a response and makes it more likely to recur (e.g., headache removed after taking an aspirin) (a loud annoying noise, push a button to turn it off. Taking away the bad stimulus)
Drugs and alcohol are so addicting because they positively and netatively reinforcing. They add pleasure and subtract pain.
Fixed ratio : Reinforcement occurs after a predetermined number of responses; the ratio (number or amount) is fixed
Variable ratio : Reinforcement occurs after an unpredictable number of responses; the ratio (number or amount) varies
Fixed interval : reinforcement occurs after a predetermined time has elapsed; the interval (time) is fixed
Variable Interval : reinforcement occurs after an unpredictable amount of time; the interval (time) varies
Positive punishment : adding a stimulus that weakens a response and makes it less likely to recur (e.g., shouting)
Negative punishment : taking away a stimulus that weakens a response and makes it less likely to recur (e.g., restriction)
To work, punishment must be: Intense
Prompt (before the person can derive pleasure from the misdeed) Applied consistently and with certainty
Perceived as justified
Possible to replace the undesirable punished behavior with a desirable alternative behavior
Consequences of Punishment
Only temporarily suppresses aggression.
It can classically condition children to avoid their parents. Children associate pain with their parent
Because it is aversive, it can instigate retaliation.
Physical punishment in the home leads to increased aggression outside the home.
Punishment models the behavior it seeks to prevent. Captial Punishment
Obviously, one way to stop violent people from hurting others is to kill them so they can’t do it again.
Capital punishment doesn’t seem to work, perhaps because many murders kill their victims in a fit of rage without considering the consequences of their actions.
In the U.S., states with the death penalty have homicide rates 48-101% higher than states without the death penalty.
An international study of criminal violence analyzed data from 110 nations over a period of 74 years and found that the death penalty does not deter criminals.
Another problem is that an innocent person (rather than the actual
murderer) might be executed. There have been more that 75 documented cases of wrongful conviction of criminal homicide, and the death sentence was carried out in 8 cases.
Observational Learning Theory (Also called Imitation and Social learning)
Albert Bandura proposed that learning a new behavior involves observing and imitating that behavior being performed by another person.
The model could be a real person (e.g., family member, peer), a filmed person, or even a fictitious character (e.g., Barney).
Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if: the model is similar to the observer.
the behavior has functional value.
Observational learning does not merely refer to a short-term process based on a simple observation and imitation. It concerns long-term effects.
Mimicry is a short-term process in which children immediately mimic whatever they see.
Observational Learning Processes
Attention : To learn through observation, you must pay attention to another person's behavior and its consequences.
Retention : In order for an observed behavior to be used again, you must be store it in memory (through rehearsal).
Reproduction : To imitate a model, you must have physical abilities and skills to reproduce the observed action.
Motivation : You are unlikely to reproduce an observed response unless you are motivated to do so. Your motivation depends on whether you get benefits from responding that action.
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Outline
Inside the black box Social cognitive theory Distinct cognitive capacities Triadic reciprocal causation
Disinhibitiory devices: forms of self-exoneration Inside the black box
Processes occur inside the organism and are eventually reflected in measures of overt behavior.
Processes include cognition, affect, and arousal.
Internal processes that come between the stimulus and response are called intervening variables, mediating variables, or mediators.
Social Cognitive Theory
In his 1977 book Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change, Bandura identified a key element missing from social learning theories — self beliefs.
In his 1986 book Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory, Bandura assigned cognition a central role in human behavior.
Self-Efficacy
Distinct Cognitive Capacities Symbolizing capacity
Self-reflective capacity Self-regulatory capacity Vicarious capacity Symbolizing Capacity
Symbols, such as words and letters, can be used to represent specific objects, thoughts, or ideas.
Symbols allow people to store, process, and transform experiences for mental processes.
Self-Reflective Capacity
Through self-reflection, people make sense of their experiences, explore own cognitions and beliefs, and alter their thinking accordingly.
People perform a self-check to make sure their thinking is correct. Self-Regulatory Capacity
Self-regulation refers to the self’s capacity to alter its own responses. It is similar to the everyday term “self-control.”
People regulate their thoughts, their emotions, their impulses and desires, and their task performance.
Self-regulation allows people to be flexible and adapt to many different circumstances, rules, and demands.
Vicarious Capacity
•People learn by observing others (without directly experiencing it). •Vicarious learning explains how people learn a novel behavior without
undergoing the trial and error process of performing it.
Triadic Reciprocal Causation—Behavior, Person, Environment. Person and environment influence each other, behavior and person influence each other, and behavior and environment influence each other.
Inhibition vs. Disinhibition
•Inhibitory effects: Cause people to refrain from antisocial behaviors •Disinhibitory effects: Lift restraints on antisocial behaviors
Disinhibitory Devices: Forms of Self-Exoneration •Moral justification
•Advantageous comparison •Euphemistic labeling
•Displacement of responsibility •Diffusion of responsibility •Distortion of the consequences •Dehumanization
•Attribution of blame Moral Justification
•People believe their otherwise deplorable actions are justifiable because they serve a “higher purpose.”
–"I stole to provide for my family." –"I lied to protect my friend."
–"I cheated because I just had to pass." Advantageous Comparison
–Terrorists, or freedom fighters, see their acts as ones of selfless martyrdom, when compared against the cruel inhumanities perpetrated by their victims. –Men who contribute relatively little to household duties say: “Hey, I do more
than most men.”
–Cheaters claim that others are worse: "I don't cheat nearly as much as her." –Speeders claim that they were going relatively slow compared to other
motorists: “Everyone was speeding; they were passing me like I was standing still.”
Euphemistic Labeling
•By calling a deplorable act something other than what it really is, the act is trivialized and one can engage in it without self-contempt.
•Using a mild term to hide the actual harmfulness of our deplorable acts. –"I borrowed it" instead of “I stole it.”
–"I messed them up a little" instead of “I brutally assaulted them.” –"I didn't tell her everything" instead of “I lied to her.”
Euphemistic War labels
•Soldiers “waste” people rather than killing them. •Bombing attacks become “surgical strikes.” •Civilian victims are "collateral damage." Displacement of Responsibility
•Is a mechanism by which the person lessens the responsibility of the self in causing harm. The person acknowledges that he or she may have caused harm, but denies that it was intended or denies responsibility.
–For example, in Nazi Germany, the commandants and officers of the death camps said they were only following orders from higher ups.
Diffusion of Responsibility
•Diffusion of responsibility is the tendency for each group member to dilute personal responsibility by spreading it among all other group members. •If a person is not the sole agent of destruction, but only part of a group, it is
easier to attribute guilt to the group or to others in the group.
•When deplorable acts are performed in a group, individuals feel less personally responsible.
–"I just went along with the crowd.”
–"I thought someone else would help her, there were people all around.” Denial of Consequences
•After people engage in deplorable acts, they can ease their conscience by ignoring or distorting the harm caused by their conduct.
–"I only shoplift from big chain stores; they never miss it.” –“Hey, what I did was not all that bad.”
–“I just let the bombs go and they disappeared in the clouds.” Dehumanization
–Often accomplished using labels like “savages,” “gooks,” “animals,” etc. Hitler called the Jews “vermin” and “rats.
–Victims forced to behave like beasts, “proving” that they are subhuman. –Blacks involved in crimes are described in nonhuman terms (e.g., apelike). Attribution of Blame
•Blaming the victim or the situation.
–"If you hadn't been such a jerk, I wouldn't have hit you." –"The poor cause their own problems."
–“Bad things happen to bad people.” –“They left the window open.”
–“She must have dressed seductively or he wouldn’t have raped her.” Belief in a Just World
The belief that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get. To not blame the victim upsets some people’s belief in a just world Research has shown that people believe:
•rape victims behaved seductively.
•battered spouses provoked their beatings. •poor people don't deserve better.
•sick people are to blame for their illness. 1/28
Mediator—somebody who comes between two conflicting parties, in stats the mediator comes between the independent variable and the dependent variable.
Frustration independent, anger mediator, aggression dependent. Mediator is also the intervening variable
Emotion that affects the response to the stimulus
