Exam 13: Theories and Effects of Mass Communication

_____________ theories rely on the idea that the media operate primarily to justify and support the status quo at the expense of ordinary people.

What is the difference between administrative and critical media research?

In mass communication theory,the_______ argues that active audience members use media content to create meaning,and meaningful experiences,for themselves.

The idea that media don't tell us what to think,but what to think about,is called dependency theory because people are dependent on media for information.

Modern neo-Marxist mass communication theorists believe that people are oppressed by those who control the culture,or _____________;in other words,religion,politics,arts,literature,and the mass media.

Selective exposure predicts that people will interpret messages in a manner consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs.

The theory of _____________ says that television constructs a reality of the world that,although possibly inaccurate,becomes the accepted reality simply because we as a culture believe it to be true.

 _____________ is when advertisers encourage their audience to perceive their products as having meaning beyond the product's actual function.

The _____________ perspective of mass communication sees media as senders of messages (discrete bits of information)across space.

How does agenda setting operate in contemporary mass media?

People's psychological dissonance is reduced through the selective processes,one of which is ____________,the process by which people interpret messages in a manner consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs.

In social cognitive theory,seeing a model punished for a behavior reduces the likelihood that the observer will perform that behavior.This is called

Neo-Marxist theory focuses on the elite's control of the base,or means of production.

The era of the limited effects perspective on mass communication theory began with what famous media event?

The emergence of cultural theory in mass communication signaled a return to

What is the distinction between Marxist and neo-Marxist theory in regards to base and superstructure?

What assumptions are embedded in magic bullet theory and hypodermic needle theory?

Ideas that explain or predict only limited aspects of the mass communication process are called

The belief foremost in cultivation analysis is that because we all share a common public message system (television),the _____________ of reality occurs,moving individual and different people toward a shared,television-created understanding of how things are.

Critical cultural theorists argue that elites use their power over the media to maintain a culture that is beneficial to them and detrimental to most others.Do you agree or disagree with them? How do you account for the fact that the vast majority of people seem content with the current structure and operation of our media system? Defend your answer.