Deck 8: Communication Theories and Contexts

Question 1

Which of the following theories suggests that mass media affect what we think about-raising the salience of issues and the positions taken by people in the news?

A)Diffusion theory
B)Hypodermic needle theory
C)Opinion formation theory
D)Agenda-setting theory
E)situational theory of publics

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In the co-orientational model, if Person A holds a positive evaluation of Object "X" and Person B feels the same about "X," this is an example of which one of the following?

A)High agreement
B)High accuracy
C)High congruency
D)Low accuracy but high agreement
E)High accuracy but low congruency

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In the co-orientational model, if Person A holds a positive evaluation of Object "X" and thinks that Person B feels the same about "X," this is an example of which one of the following?

A)High agreement
B)High accuracy
C)High congruency
D)Low accuracy but high agreement
E)High accuracy but low congruency

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A survey question asking people whether they "strongly agree," "agree," "disagree" or "strongly disagree" is measuring which of the following two dimensions of public opinion?

A)Informational and social support
B)Direction and intensity
C)Intensity and stability
D)Direction and stability
E)Direction and social support

Question 5

Which one of the following is a "cross-situational predisposition or preference"?

A)Salience
B)Attitude
C)Cognition
D)Opinion
E)Pertinence

Question 6

Agenda-building theory examines who is building the agenda of the media.So far, research shows media agenda-builders tend to be which of the following?

A)Politicians
B)Elected officials
C)Public relations practitioners
D)Answers A, B, and C
E)Answers A and B

Question 7

Individuals assign value to objects in their environment based on their previous history with the objects and their assessment of the objects in the current context.Which of the following describes these two sources of value?

A)Agreement and understanding
B)Orientation and co-orientation
C)Salience and pertinence
D)Congruency and accuracy
E)Direction and intensity

Question 8

The "silent majority" represents a condition in which:

A)A vocal minority really is a solid majority.
B)The winning side on an issue remains silent in order to mislead public opinion pollsters.
C)Individuals think their opinion conflicts with those of most other people.
D)Media coverage portrays the majority view, thereby making public expression unnecessary.
E)None of the above occurs.

Question 9

In the communication model, characteristics of which one of the following affect people's initial acceptance of the message, but not necessarily the message's long-term impact?

A)The receiver
B)The sender
C)The channel
D)The relationship context
E)The social environment

Question 10

When does communication actually happen in the four-step strategic planning process of public relations?

A)Research step
B)Planning step
C)Implementation step
D)Evaluation step
E)None of the above

Question 11

Early notions of mass communication viewed mass society as both passive recipients of media messages and vulnerable to being manipulated.Which best describes current thinking?

A)Audiences are more vulnerable and passive than ever before.
B)Television viewing in particular creates increased activity in the right hemisphere of viewers' brains.
C)Internet use has led to increasingly passive recipients at the end of message transmission systems.
D)Active receivers are not uniformly affected by mass communication messages.
E)All of the above.

Question 12

Evidence showing the extent to which people think others share their opinions indicates which one of the following dimensions of public opinion?

A)Direction
B)Intensity
C)Stability
D)Informational support
E)Social support

Question 13

The "myth of communication" suggests that which one of the following is confused with the real meaning of communication?

A)Publicity
B)Attention
C)Encoding
D)Persuasion
E)Dissemination

Question 14

Which one of the following is NOT true about the challenge for public relations communication?

A)People are exposed to hundreds or even thousands of messages each day.
B)The large number of media outlets means that many messages compete for attention.
C)To defend themselves from the onslaught of messages, people become choosy about which messages they pay attention to.
D)People generally try to pay attention to every message they receive.
E)Public relations messages must compete against messages from multiple other sources.

Question 15

Walter Lippmann described the "triangular relationship" to depict the role of mass media in forming the "pictures in our heads." Which one of the following best summarizes his view of mass media impact?

A)Children are sitting targets for the three big sources of influence-television, tools, and temptation.
B)As a high-involvement medium, television produces a "see-learn-feel-do" sequence.
C)Most of us experience events, things, people, and places directly, thereby minimizing the effects of mass media.
D)Responses based on our perceptions of the scene of the action have little consequence because they are just that, perceptions.
E)Responses based on our perceptions of the scene of the action have impact on the original scene of the action.

Question 16

In the communication model, message effects are mediated by which one of the following?

A)The receiver
B)The sender
C)The message itself
D)The relationship context
E)The social environment

Question 17

Lippmann's model of the "triangular relationship" depicted the role of mass media in shaping public opinion.Which best describes the effect of mass communication in Lippmann's model?

A)Developing an accurate assessment of the "scene of the action"
B)Developing a shared understanding of the "scene of the action"
C)Developing a "trustworthy picture" of the world beyond our direct experience
D)Developing increasingly passive recipients of media messages
E)Developing increased activity in the right hemisphere of our brains

Question 18

Which one of the following represents the correct order of the tasks of public relations communication efforts?

A)Get attention, stimulate interest, build desire to act, and direct the action
B)Stimulate interest, get attention, build desire to act, and direct the action
C)Build the desire to act, direct the action, stimulate interest, and get attention
D)Direct the action, stimulate interest, get attention, and build the desire to act
E)Stimulate interest, build the desire to act, get attention, and direct the action

Question 19

Which of the following phenomenon can be explained by George Gerbner's "cultivation theory"?

A)Children who use the Internet are more likely than are non-Internet-using children to score well on school exams.
B)Senior citizens who watch lots of television news believe the world outside their home to be much more dangerous and violent than it is in reality.
C)People who watch many home-improvement programs on cable television are more likely to cultivate a variety of plants in their home gardens.
D)Workers who view specific behaviors on television are likely to copy those behaviors in the workplace.
E)Students who use social media tools cultivate a greater variety of friends than do students who do not use social media tools.

Question 20

The text discusses five dimensions of public opinion.Which one of the following does NOT belong on the list?

A)Agreement
B)Intensity
C)Stability
D)Informational support
E)Social support

Question 21

Which one of the following represents the state of public opinion in which a majority perceives little agreement, but in fact there is widespread agreement?

A)Intrapersonal congruency
B)Co-orientational consensus
C)Complete consensus
D)Pluralistic ignorance
E)False consensus

Question 22

If someone told you that public opinion on an issue could be described as "dissensus," which one of the following (in co-orientational terms)best fits that situation?

A)High accuracy, high congruency, and high agreement
B)Low agreement, low accuracy, and low congruency
C)High agreement, high congruency, and low accuracy
D)High congruency, low accuracy, and low agreement
E)Low agreement, low congruency, and high accuracy

Question 23

Use of repeated measures of co-orientational states over time can help track changes in which of the following?

A)perceptions of agreement
B)actual agreement
C)accuracy
D)congruency
E)all of the above

Question 24

What is the most likely outcome of public communication?

A)accurate perceptions of agreement
B)actual agreement
C)attitude change
D)monolithic consensus
E)dissensus