Media Studies 102 Midterm

10.11.09 23 Comments »

This page is to serve as a source for discussion and refinement for Retzinger’s Media Studies 102 midterm. Below are notes for effects approaches (part 1), and I will follow with additional definitions (part 2) shortly. The effects approaches definitions and terms are primarily based on lecture notes and supported with handouts or articles from the class reader. The associated articles are listed with each effects approach, including the author and page from Professor Retzingers 2009 Odin Reader. In addition, effects approaches are integrated into online flashcard decks using iFlipr, more details below.

If you use this list, please post a comment at the bottom of this page with either (1) refinements and corrections or (2) examples of definitions and/or terms. Based on comments, I will update definitions and terms on this page and in the flashcards as soon as possible. Disclaimer: this list is not a magic bullet cheat sheet for the test, it is an interpretation meant to facilitate discussion and fine tune concepts—with that said, contributions are appreciated.

Uses & Gratifications

  • Odin: Berelson 243, Christenson 253
  • Definitions:
    • Retzinger: Uses and Gratifications explores what people DO with the media not HOW the media effects people: explaining HOW individuals use media for certain gratifications, discovering the underlying motivations of media USE (Meg’s lecture notes).
    • Basic concept, people use the media for gratifications. People are not controlled and manipulated by the media but use it for satisfying particular desires or needs (notes and readings, wikipedia).
  • Terms (Retzinger 9.22 lecture, bspace article too):
    • Active Audience - the media audience is active and goal orientated
    • Goal Oriented media use - the audience consumes media with an objective
    • Self aware media use - people are assumed to be “self-aware” of their own media use, interests, and motives; so—when surveyed—this provides researches with an accurate picture of the use (in other words, because people know what they’re doing, they can provide researchers with info about use)
    • Personal Identity - upon discovering new media, the individual associates to content and reinforces personal values
    • Integration & social interaction - the individual identifies the media with others: i.e., creates conversation topics, to connect with family and friends, and/or substitutes it for real-life friends
  • iFlipr: Flashcards »

Priming Effect

  • Odin: Berkowitz 268
  • Definitions:
    • Retzinger - presentation of certain stimulus primes related thoughts and in certain cases, related actions. In other words, certain types of media conjures up particular thoughts, leading to some sort of action (lecture notes).
  • Terms:
    • frustration-aggression hypothesis - Frustration is an incentive to aggression; if a person can’t act on his frustration, he builds more frustrations which accounts for more hostile aggression (lecture notes, Kathy Nguyen). If an individual watches violent media then they are more likely to behave violently to a frustrater/agitator or—if the source isn’t directly available—another person/object (I contend this is the application to media; based off memory—so citation needed).
    • disinhibition - watching violence brings down (i.e., disinhibits) the social wall that would normally be against violence. “watching violence on TV may legitimize the use of violence for the viewer in real life by undermining social sanctions against violence that would normally inhibit such behavior” (Leonard Berkowitz, Kathy Nguyen).
    • imitation - idea that we are learning specific behaviors from the media. May be linked to process of identification with film characters-desire to be like them (Albert Bandura, Kathy Nguyen).
    • catharsis - aggression can be discharged by watching violent scenes. Viewers release violent impulses by viewing content.
    • justified / unjustified - This is regarding the effects of viewing justified and unjustified violence in media. Brief examples, justified implants the idea violence is alright if there is reasoning behind it, and it may be associated to disinhibition, e.g., if person watches a movie where a hero destroys a villain—and the person is angered/frustrated—then the person will be less restrained to attack adversaries. Unjustified anger produced higher results of dissatisfaction than neutral, but less than the justified (view charts from Berkowitz, this may need to be simplified or refined).
  • iFlipr flashcards »

Agenda Setting

  • Odin: McCombs 276
  • Definitions:
    • Retzinger - “Media doesn’t tell the public what to think, but tells them what to think about” (lecture notes, Cohen). In other words, the media sets the agenda for what to think about.
  • Terms:
    • high-threshold or inobtrusive - issues are generally remote (e.g. government scandal)
    • low-threshold or obtrusive - issues effect nearly everyone in a similar way (likely to be a personal concern or worry, e.g. personal safety, economic recession or inflation, energy shortages)
    • content analysis - (count the number of articles, tells story with numbers) major and minor items based on length or time of conent. Content containing all of the media channels: Web, Print, TV, and etc
    • agenda building - replaces agenda setting; Langs wanted it to be more process orientated, i.e., building instead of setting. Steps for building: (1) highlight event, org, activities, groups, personalities to make stand out (other events not covered), (2) Frame the subject, focus on materials and images that mean something, (3) Media than finds spokes people in audience
    • salience - Lang identifies this as one of the causal influence which challenges McComb and Shaw’s conclusion of the press’s ability to set public agenda (Cat’s comment); what the public thinks is important will dictate the media (salient def: most noticeable or apparent).
  • iFlipr flashcards »

Information Diffusion

  • Odin: Robinson 282
  • Definitions:
    • “The process by which innovations spread to the members of a social system over time. Usually concerned with messages that are NEW ideas. Follows primary message from the sender” (Lindsay’s lecture notes). In other words, how media defuses through a society/culture.
  • Terms:
    • message delivery - this is the first instance of the message; the primary message from sender, e.g., in our research article, the door-to-door message and dropping of flyers
    • interpersonal message diffusion - follows the primary message from sender (message delivery) and is communicated from person to person, i.e., receivers become senders too, e.g., in our research article, people spreading the word about the door-to-door message and flyers
    • preventative innovation - if you adopt this now you will not lose something in the future, e.g., seatbelt, contraceptive, etc.
    • incremental innovation - you adopt this now for some possible increase in desire value, e.g., investment, looks, and etc. This is the more effective than preventative innovation.
  • iFlipr flashcards »

Knowledge Gap

  • Odin: Tichenor 290
  • Definitions:
    • Retzinger - As the media flow into a system increases, so does the gap of knowledge between socioeconomic classes (lecture notes).
  • Terms:
    • communication skills - those who are better educated tend to have better communication skills, thus making it more likely they will communicate about the media they are exposed to.
    • stored information - those who are more educated have more information to associate to; they are better prepared and may have already heard the information—thus reinforcing or extending information
    • audience analysis - selective…exposure, attention or perception, interpretation, recall or retention (Tichenor Grace Cho, these are defined in the Empiricist concept of audience analysis, “to whom,” defined below.)
    • relevant social contacts - education generally associates to a broader sphere of social activity, more reference groups, and contacts—which increases the likelihood of discussing the topics with others
    • nature of the mass media system - most scientific and public affairs have been carried by print media, which is more likely used by higher status people. Science and tech lack the high reps which facilitates learning among lower-status persons, thus the nature of the system does not suited for the low socioeconomic class
  • iFlipr flashcards »

Third Person Effect

  • Odin: Davison 297
  • Definition:
    • Retzinger: [attitudinal] people tend to overestimate the effect media will have on others, [behavioral] thus they will take an action to limit the effect (lecture notes)
  • Terms:
    • ostensible audiences - this is the expected or intended audience; however, those not in this audience may take action for their concern of it’s effect on the target group [def. of ostensible - stated or appearing to be true, but not necessarily]
    • social distance - distance between a person and a ostensible audience, e.g., the ostensible being the youth, brutes, or others. This could have something to do with socioeconomic status, ethnicity, or age.
    • experts - the idea that the experts are not effected by the media, so they are the first to judge potential effects on others; they typically fear the effects the most
    • pluralistic ignorance - believing the majority opinion is minority and vice versa; a situation where a majority of group members privately reject a norm, but assume (incorrectly) that most others accept it (it is based on the bias that when a controversial idea is framed a particular way by the media, you are the only one with the certain belief, and the rest are being influenced by the media’s notion); “For instance, pluralistic ignorance may lead a student to drink alcohol excessively because she believes that everyone else does that, while in reality everyone else also wish they could avoid binge drinking, but no one expresses that due to the fear of being ostracized“ (wikipedia).
    • spiral of silence - people silence themselves based on the increasing social norm, i.e., if someone feel they are in the minority they are less likely to express their opinion for fear of reprisal form the majority; those on one side of an issue express their opinions with more and more volume and confidence, while those on the other side of the issue tend to fall silent. Three characteristics of journalism that plays a role in the spiral of silence: (1) ubiquity: you’re not interested but media is everywhere, (2) cumulation: specifics reports get replayed across the media. Print, online, NY Time story put in different blogs. move across media, (3) consonance: those reports share a similar take on a special issue. they cover the stories in the same ways (Kathy Nguyen).
  • iFlipr flashcards »

Part Two: Definitions

The definitions are based either on the lectures or readings. In some cases, I cited a very useful blog from one of Retziger’s previous courses, MC 102 Midterm. These definitions need the most refinement, for most attention is given to part one, effects approaches. The terms are categorized into the following lists: Old Media New Media, Frankfurt School, Empiricism

  • Old Media New Media; Odin: Starr, Douglas, Klineberg, Jenkins
    • constitutive choices / moments
      • those that create the material and institutional framework of fields of humanity. Choices about how things are built and how they work—their design and rules of operation. This is the idea that there are many factors determining media effects.
      • constitutive moments are the times of decision, where culture, politics, and etc. come into play.
      • e.g., could be the DVD standard; “basic structure of networks and legal principles regulating the press” (starr 4, 17).
    • mechanisms of entrenchment
      • when technologies became a part of a culture, i.e., heavy regulations and laws to perpetuate the technology. This is the heavy laws and regulations that establish a tech into perpetuation; and at this point it becomes self perpetuating—again the DVD could be used
    • vertical communications tech / horizontal communications tech
      • vertical communications tech is com that speaks down the hierarchy, i.e., the Soviets communication system of loudspeakers that spoke to the people but the people were unable to speak back.
      • horizontal communication tech is one where people speak with each other, like the modern telephone system
    • information vs. knowledge
      • “information” refers to data while “knowledge” to more abstract concepts and judgements. Information is better suited for action and knowledge for analysis and understanding. An example is a UC vs CSU.
    • imagined communities (Zen 23, Odin 38)
      • A sense of nationalism, and what creates it is media; whether the radio or newspaper.
    • the advantages of orality (Zen Intro 20, Odin 37)
      • Oral communication leaves a sense of imagination to the listener, i.e., the radio expanded imagination and TV restricted it.
      • e.g., A person who listens to the radio is in a situation where they are forced to fill in the blanks, i.e., images and other circumstances. TV takes away the aspect of visualization, imagination.
    • listening vs. hearing (Douglas Zen 27, Odin 40)
      • Listening is active requiring more brain activity, cognition. Hearing is passive, supplementing atmosphere and not drawing so much attention. Listening pulls in the most information, hence listening in. For example, listening is heightened when all other distractions are isolated.
    • modes of listening (Douglas Zen 8, Odin 31)
      • a range of cognitive modes of association and imagination, from the auditorial and informational to the spacial and visual.
      • e.g., Modes of listening are divided into three categories of informational, dimensional and associational. Informational is turning on the radio to figure out the news. Dimensional is a show that creates an imagined three-dimensional space such as the cowboy shows on the radio. Lastly, associational is when you listen to a song and it links to a memory like the song that was playing when you had your first kiss (Kathy Sung).
    • media ecosystem (Klineberg 17, Odin 56)
      • “the dynamic and interconnected set of local and national newspapers, television, radio, and Internet producers and products,” i.e., everything that makes up media.
      • e.g., our current media ecosystem includes TV, Web, Radio, Print, and etc, which is shifting towards a centralized informational network.
    • 1996 Telecommunications Act (9.3 lecture, Klineberg 27, Odin 63)
      • “…eliminated the national station ownership limit altogether and raised the local limits from four to as high as eight stations, allowing Big Media groups to merger operations on an unprecedented scale” (Klenerberg 27).
      • This lead to the Clear Channel monolith.
      • Prior to, no TV Networks couldn’t broadcast their own shows, they had to purchase rights from the studios. This act allowed the TV networks to own all aspects of production, i.e., studios could own the shows and air them. THis also lead to heavy consolidation of the networks.
    • moral panics (Boyd crib intro, Odin 109)
      • “when the media capitalizes on and spreads fear with little regard for data and actual implications.”
      • e.g., the early rock and roll days, like Elvis influencing the youth, sent the media into a moral panic. This also may be tied to 3rd Person Effect.
    • identity production or identity and self construction (Boyd crib profiles, Odin 110)
      • the state of developing ones personal image, typically experience exponential change during the teenage years; individuals become considerabley aware of popularity at this state. “Around middle school, American teens begin actively engaging in identity production as they turn from their parents to their peers as their primary influencers and group dynamics take hold (Boyd)”
      • e.g., identity production is now taking place on the internet with myspace profiles, where a person’s image is edited and developed by the presentation of a profile, showing interests friends and giving one a voice. (refine)
    • public, private, and controlled space (boyd crib Digita Publics, Odin 112) see notes
      • This represents the dynamic of social planes inhabited by an individual or group, used by Boyd for a comparitve analysis of youth and adults, i.e., adults have a controlled public space at work and are free in their private space, while the youth are engaged controlled for both public and private. Youth are now finding ways to create public and private youth spaces while being in controlled spaces.
      • e.g.,
    • convergence culture / media convergence
      • “By convergence, I mean the (1) flow of content across multiple media industries, and the (2) migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want.” (Jenkins 2)
      • Jenkins example: High school student posting a photoshopped picture of Bert from Sesame Street with Bin Laden on his personal website ends up on anti-American protest signs in the Middle East and then reported back to the U.S. on CNN covering the protests. Copycat sites emerge. (1) Multiple media industries: personal internet website, print signs, corporate television, back to internet. (media convergence), (2) Migratory behavior: U.S. to Middle East back to U.S. (convergence culture), (both def. and eg., Jamie Fong)
  • Frankfurt School; Odin: Adorno, Jenkins, Rosen Niedzviecki
    • the new conformity
      • Conforming to society today is conforming to an image that anything is possible, you can be a star.
      • “tells us [through music, tv, movie, etc] that, despite ordinariness, you too can be special, super, noticed, discovered, sucessful. You too can alter the narrative of your life, make a dramtic U-turn, become a better person, become more you. The message of pop culture is always that of the trimph of the ordinary person who, in the process of following their heart, bucks the system and becomes the exception, a larger than life but still competely regular it-could-happen-to-you hero” (Niedzviecki 69, credit Colby from blog).
      • e.g.,
    • culture that “opposes life” or “destroys life” (review)
      • the idea that popculture has become autonomous and is destroying the very culture art is supposed to support. Example is how “Idolites” who live comfortable lives and yet are dissatisfied with what the accomplished.
      • blog: Simmel argues popular culture opposes, and in turn destroys life, with its own “valid claims,” which turn out to be empty. Popular culture entices us to pursue empty promises of success and in turn happiness. Consequently as we struggle to pursue fantacy we move further and further away from ourselves (Niedzviecki 91), crippling our ability to make an honest assessment about our own expectations (Niedzviecki 85). Niedzvicki gives the example of John Conte pursuing fame through breaking a piano playing record. He writes, “Conte, infected by a pop culture churned out on an assembly line, ends up pursing a world record he doenst want in order to make a documentary nobody really cares about” (Niedzviecki 89). (blog) :::: Relevence of the term to studying media effects: If the statement holds true it shows that media, through creating and perpetuating the message of popular culture, greatly effects life in an extremely harmful way. (89-90)
    • technological determinism / symptomatic technological determinism
      • tech determinism - the belief that technology determines all facets of humanity: entertainment, politics, society, and etc.
      • symptomatic tech determinism - serve as symptoms of change already taking place: the idea of measles as symptom as opposed to effect; are by-producets of a social process that is otherwise determined (guns don’t kill people, people kill people) (blog: Symptomatic technology is technology that is a symptom or marker of change; a snowball effect in which technology absorbs everything around it. In other words, once a technology is introduced, there is nothing we can do about it.)
    • aura of consumerism (check)
      • in the economics of television, the shows create this aura of consumerism (affluent and upbeat sets, cheerful interactions with characters) put people in a buying mood, create a material comfort in the show and then want to buy things from the show
    • social cement
      • music serves a means of conditioning (cementing) people into the current culture, to help them cope with it; this may be analyzed in two ways: (1) the rhythmic type [the obedient types who beat to the lead drum major], and (2) the emotional type [those who listen to music to weep, as to feel aware of the wretchedness of ones own life] (adorno).
    • pseudo-individualism
      • the illusion that an individual as unique choice in an open market, based on standardization itself. Psuedo-individualism is a slight change in a piece of media that makes the individual forget the item is already “listened to for them” (Adorno 25); makes the audience forget that what they listen to is already predigested (Adorno, Cat’s comment).
      • Johny felt he was in complete control of choosing unique and revolutionary music in choosing his latest fav, however the song he chose was a slight commercially altered version of his previous favorite song, thus making him a victim of pseudo-indvidualism.
    • two-step flow model or supplementation
      • The idea that media syndication has a two step process, one that starts with the media senders to the receivers followed by the primary receivers sending to additional receivers, i.e., a recursive nature. This was an early update of empiricism.
      • “2-step flow: (1) info from media to opinion leaders (2) from opinion leaders to opinion followers (less active segments of the population)” (bspace Models.doc, and 9.17 Lazarfeld lecture)
      • e.g.,
    • black box fallacy
      • the idea that there will be one single box that handles all aspects of media
      • “Black Box Fallacy - the attempt to reduce the convergence to a purely technological model for identifying which black box will be the nexus through which all future media content will flow” (Jenkins 280).
      • e.g., The idea that there will be a singe box, possible under a TV set, that will handle all aspects of media: news, entertainment, and etc., for all individuals.
    • narrowcasting / ego-casting (Rosen Egocasting)
      • narrowcasting - is when (following a broadcast act that freed the airwaves?) the TV networks were able to broadcast so many channels that they were able to fine tune specific types of media to particular audiences, i.e., MTV for music video and the youth and HGTV for yuppies.
      • Ego Casting is when the individual is able to choose and edit the content they consume, e.g., podcasts, Tivo, and RSS news feeds.⁃ e.g., Teddy’s and his parents watch CBS, a broadcast channel, together—for it covers mutual interests. However, Teddy is most interested in cage fighting, which can be found on Spike TVs narrowcast to young men.⁃ e.g., Jane is all about the Black Eyed Peas (BEP)—and she ego-casts to become a real expert on them by joining the BEP RSS feed, social network, email news letter, BEP in-demand, and Youtube channel.
    • branding (is Rosen the Odin reader source?)
      • Branding is the development of the collective experience of a company, product, or a name. It is the combination of media presentation and audience interpretation and acceptance.
      • A brand is a person’s collective experiences of company, product, or name. A brand is a memory, everything you use to associate to a product…constellation of experiences, interactions, and etc…it is the bigger picture. A brand is owned by the consumer…not so much by the company, it is owned by the public (retzinger lecture notes 9.15).
      • Company Z is working on the branding of their product, to make it a thriving industry leader, rewarding stock holders; however, audience acceptance and recognition of the product and slogan is still to be determined. For now, company Z has a week brand.
    • public sphere (Retzinger lecture during Rosen)
      • This is the interaction of people as to maintain the connection of the public with the other aspects of social structure: state/law and commerce.
      • “Through the vehicle of public opinion it [the public sphere] put the state in touch with the needs of society” (Habermas 1989, p.31 (cited from wikipedia)).
        • Private Sphere - commodity exchange, commerce, and social labor
        • Sphere of public Authority - deals with the state, police, and ruling authority
      • Laura Wong furthers the definition in a comment (Laura’s comment).
      • wiki with some good citations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_sphere
      • e.g., One may argue that the public sphere is limited to a 10% guiding force, that of the elite, as an example of our founding fathers (Retzinger lecture). Is Rosen concerned that ego-casting is distancing people even further from the discourse of public discussion, the public sphere?
  • Empiricism; Odin: Christenson, Berelson, Lazarfeld
    • equipment for living
      • An aspect of media used to support one’s lifestyle. Associated with Uses and Gratifications, i.e., people use media for a particular purpose, to gratify.
      • “I am often reminded by the words of blues songs of Kenneth Burke’s famous description of poetry as ‘equipment for living.’ In the forum in which they developed in Negro communities, the blues are equipment for living humble, laborious, and precarious lives of low social status or no social status at all—nevertheless, they are valid equipment for living” (Christenson 100, Odin 255).
      • Christenson would argue that contemporary popular music provides the youth equipment for living: fulfilling a variety of social interactions (dancing, clapping, and etc.), as an escape, and identification with the lyrics and/or tone.
    • narcotizing dysfunction (Lazarfeld 105, Odin 235)
      • A flood of information is numbing society, as they think they are well informed, yet this is withholding them from action. “As an increasing meed of time is devoted to reading and listening, a decreasing share is available for organized action” (Lazarfeld).
      • e.g., give one…
    • social prestige (Berelson) - needs further citation (from blog)
      • One way readers use the newspaper because it “enables them to appear informed in social gatherings”, which in this way readers uses the newspaper as a conversational value to increase his own prestige (reputation; i.e. giving an impression on his status) among his peers.
      • Example: You read the newspaper to keep up to date in world events so that you have something to discuss with others and/or you know what other people are talking about so you do not look misinformed or totally out of the loop.
    • status conferral or status legitimization (blog - review and cite) (this may also need to be under Old Media New Media)
      • status converral: social standing of persons or social policies is raised when these command favorable attention in the mass media
        • Example: (the one given in the reader) This is only ONE element of the status conferral. In a NY Time newspaper, it may support a specific political candidate or policy and shows a sign of importance. This is due to the fact that the audience views The Times as a group of experts who have a lot of knowledge and background. The initial view of their status gives us the impression that we should consider what they say to be important or credible.
      • status legitimization - mass media bestow prestige and enhance the authority of individuals and groups using their status. The media single out people that they believe to have importance among the masses.
        • Example: We see this in entertainment (celebrities) all the time. We also see this in advertising when an important person promotes a product. Therefore, the person’s prestige sells the product as well as the product sells the person’s prestige. Relevance: The status conferral function is part of Media’s social role in recognizing and legitimizing what, who, and why they cover what they cover in the press. “If you really matter, you will be at the focus of mass attention and, if you are at the focus of mass attention, then surely you must really matter” (Chayko - Odin 128).
    • canalization (Lazarfeld 114, Odin 240)
      • This is the presentation of media that represents more refined existing interest or direction of society. This idea opposes that modern popular media is used as propaganda, but that media serves to the broad perspective of an audience, thus canalizing the general view. (Imagine several flows of water in a particular direction and developing a canal to hold this general flow.)
    • private attitudes / public morality [enforcement of social norm] (Lazarfeld 102, Odin 234)
      • Private attitudes to those (individuals or groups) disrupting the social norm may not be intervened by social action, regardless of those private individuals being aware of the conflicting behavior. However, if the deviation is made public for all, this creates tension “between the ‘privately tolerable’ and ‘publicly acknowledgeable’” (Lazarfeld 102). In other words, peoples’ private attitudes towards a specific subject or behavior may experience tension with the behavior once public morality is introduced.
      • Publicity closes the gap between “private attitudes” and “public morality” by exerting pressure for a single, rather than dual, morality by preventing continued evasion of the issue, calling reaffirmation and application of the social norm (Cat’s comment).
    • “who says what to whom and with what effect” (Retzinger lecture 9.17, bspace Models.doc)
      • This is a way of categorizing all empricism research into one sentence.
      • WHO represents CONTROL ANALYSIS, either those sending the message or those involved. SAYS WHAT is CONTENT ANALYSIS, numeric analysis of content. TO WHOM is labeled AUDIENCE ANALYSIS. WITH WHAT EFFECT is EFFECT ANALYSIS, focusing on behavior.
      • Kathy Nguyen provides a good example of this concept, Kathy’s Comment.
    • empiricism or value-free research (focusing on empiricism)
      • Systematic and objective investigation using experimentation or observation (polls or surveys) in order to test a hypothesis with observable and quantifiable data (Retzinger lecture 9.17).
      • “It is a fundamental part of the scientific method that all hypotheses and theories must be tested against observations of the natural world, rather than resting solely on a priori reasoning, intuition, or revelation” (wikipedia).
    • correlation vs. causation
      • Correlation indicates the strength and relationship between two sets of variables. Causation implies that one variable directly and automatically affects another variable. Correlational effects are gathered through mere observation and self reporting, but the correlational method does not have the ability to demonstrate cause and effect. Causation can be measured through experimental studies conducted in laboratories. By isolating a variable and controlling for others, one can determine the direct effect of that variable upon another (Allie’s bSpace Summary).
    • magic keys / magic bullet
      • Emperialists replaced magic bullet with keys. The magic bullet is the something used that will go right to the users head, while magic keys are factors that make something worth paying attention to
    • The following 5 terms are from Refinements in Examination of Audience with attention given to individual differences, from the “whom” in “Who says what to whom and with what effect?” (Early Empiricism - Models.doc bspace, lecture 9.17)
      • selective exposure
        • If one is to be effected, one must choose to be exposed to the media, e.g., if class is the media then students must choose to be in class
      • selective attention or perception
        • If one is to be effected, one may choose to pay attention or perceive the media, e.g., pay attention in class
      • selective interpretation
        • The message of the media must be interpreted as to be meaningful to the individual, e.g., the individual in class must associate or relate to the content
      • selective recall or retention
        • will the message be remembered? e.g., the individual must remember the materials
      • cognitive dissonance
        • This has to do with an audience choosing what to see, but I had trouble finding it in the text.
        • Here is a note from the blog: “The discomfort one feels when being aware of two contradicting opinions, and often leads to some people who feel dissonance to seek information that will reduce dissonance and avoid information that will increase dissonance. People who are involuntarily exposed to information that increases dissonance are likely to discount that information, either by ignoring it, misinterpreting it, or denying it” (MC102 Blog).

Flashcard Decks

“iFlipr is a flashcard app designed especially for cell phones. Create and share flashcards, then study them anywhere. On the bus, at the gym, on your couch etc.” (iFlipr). I use and recommend the iFlipr iPhone App; however, iFlipr flashcards will work on desktops, laptops, and any phones with web browsers too. Here is a complete list of the decks made for the midterm: