Mass Media Exam 1

The internet

We stop paying attention.

We make mental shortcuts to decisions.

We automatically process media influence.

Helps us understand media influence to lessen its effects on us

We process meaning from the outside.

We learn meaning and store it mentally.

When we encounter media we decide its meaning.

We continuously create meaning through for ourselves.

Via our own experiences we interpret things differently.

Being in the same physical space as the stimulus.

(Even if you do not engage with it)

Our ability to perceive sensory input

Any stimulus outside the boundaries of human perception.

This can be percieved but may not be consciously percieved.

Stimuli leads some trace element on the mind (may be conscious or unconscious.)

Can only occur when all three levels of exposure are met.

(But all three levels do not guarantee attention.)

You are conscious of being exposed to media messages and you pay attention to these messages.

You are not consciously aware of messages in your physical environment.

You are swept away by the media message. (You lose track or time)

You are hyper aware of the message and your own processing of the message.

(Fullest degree of awareness)

1. Timing (immediate vs. Longterm)

2. Duration (temporary vs. Permanent)

3. Valence (negative or positive?)

4. Change (does it change or reinforce attitudes)

5. Intention (or nonintention)

6. Level of effect (micro = on individuals, macro = on groups)

7. Direct (or indirect. Knowing how something has changed your opinion/behavior)

8. Manifestation (observable vs. Latent)

Ex. Calling to order a product from an infomercial

Ex. Considering ordering something from an infomercial but deciding not to (not observable by anyone else.)

You gain something new from media exposure

Media exposure activates something that already exists in you

Media exposure changes something that already exists

Repeated exposure strengthens existing thing

Automatic bodily responses

Overt actions of an individual

We automatically filter out most messages to keep from being overwhelmed.

We match elements of the message to meanings stored in our memory

We have to create the meaning of something based on what we already know

A set of mental codes that we use to make sense of media messages

Was an effect we felt influenced by media, if yes then it was a media effect

Things change slowly over time, you dont go back to where you were before

Nothing changes, you existing feelings just becomes stronger

For a long time feelings were consistent then something triggered a drastic change

Short term behavioral/ attitude change. Your attitude changes but then you go back to how you felt before

How much media psychologically arouses us

Do characters experience consequences of their actions? (How does this influence us)

The more we see something the more likely it is to influence us

Who's point of view are we seeing this from? (How does this influence us)

The brain and the mind are the same thing; everything is just a chemical reaction

The physical brain and our mind are separate; the mind is in the brain but is not the same thing.

Hard wired into our brain, we dont need to think about them

Becomes cognitive. Goal is to move from limbic system to cortical part of the brain.

Help us orient to environments by selecting certain types of stimuli to attend to

Body readies itself to fight or flight

Driven by the biological need to reproduce

A complex set of chemical and electrical processes that media can influence

Measures brain waves

Beta waxes block alpha waves when paying attention to something

Attention/ concentration

Default state

Day dreaming/ meditation

Deepest sleep

Skin conductance (assesses arousal and anxiety)

Heart rate

(Orienting responses)

Muscle activity

When using facebook your heart rate spikes before you "like" something

Mental associations between concepts

1. Cognitive association

2. Spreading activation

We monitor media messages automatically until something catches our attention and we oriented to it

An orienting response

Orienting reflex energizes the beau and stimulates brain activity which makes attention possible. (Ex. Exciting content increases heart rate.)

Arousal from one activity transfers to another

When the media presents the same pattern of stimuli over and over again, they lose their power to elicit the same degree of reflex over time. (Desensitization)

Alpha and betw waves in sync

Alpha and beta waves desynchronized

Long term build up of orienting leaders to arousal. You become dependent on media and seek more of it.

A system of how people screen info and process it

1. Encoding - sensory organs stimulated and info automatically enters brain.

2. Storage - info sends a few seconds in sensory storage. Most wiped out some goes to short term memory

3. Retrieval - info is stored later for retrieval

Processed with the most detail.

Most likely to he remembered.

Building an idea about something based on repeated media exposure

New info alters an existing pattern and the pattern becomes more stable

1. Attention

2. Recall

3. Cognitive processes

1. Media provides new info to us

2. We must fit that new indo into our existing knowledge structure

3. This often requires altering that knowledge structure

The way a story is presented

The press can tell us not just what to think but HOW to think about it.

The media tells us what's important to focus on.

What info does the story include?

What info is emphasized?

What info is left out?

What info is given more detail?

Those with a high need for orientation who have a desire done orienting cues and background info and need to know what's going on.

Stress and discomfort from contradictory ideas or beliefs.

Repeated exposure strengthens existing thing.