Chp 11 - Test 2

Question 1

What are the assumptions of Social Cognitive Theory?

Answer 1

• Mass Media are tremendously influential in shaping our view of what is normal
• Humans are not only actors but also self-examiners of their behavior
• Learning can occur through observational modeling

Question 2

Does the theory concentrate only on people’s acquiring knowledge from the mass media?
Or does it look at the messages impact on attitudes and/or behavior?

Answer 2

-Social Cognitive theory concentrates on BOTH ones acquiring knowledge from the mass media and influencing behavior.

Question 3

What influence motivates a person toward pursuing a behavior?

Answer 3

Self Produced motivation, direct motivation, vicarious motivation

Question 4

Can seeing someone on television succeed at a task motivate you to perform the same task?

Answer 4

Maybe not alone but yes - with dual paths of influence and socially mediated path of influence

Question 5

What are the dual paths of influencing someone’s behavior?

Answer 5

• The information provided is a direct path of influence

- There is a second route, the socially mediated path of influence

Question 6

What does it say about your friend’s influence on a mass media’s message and its ability to motivate you to a behavior?

Answer 6

• I alone may not be able to change my behavior but with both my own influence and my friend’s influence (and observations) will motivate me.

Question 7

What does the theory indicate about violence in the mass media and how it might influence your violent behavior, for example, a violent movie or video game?

Answer 7

• If people are exposed to media aggression that is easily replicable and socially rewarding viewers, (especially young) are more likely to turn to violence themselves
• Observational Modeling and Media Violence
  o Modeling is not inherently good or bad
  o Violent depictions grab attention
  o Violence is easy to remember and reproduce
  o Enticement of a positive reward is a strong link between observation and motivation

Question 8

What is the Social Cognitive Theory?

Answer 8

Theory to study the media’s influence on behavior and to understand the relationship between media use and violent behavior.

Question 9

What is Direct Motivation?

Answer 9

When you perceive you will be rewarded as a consequence of modeling an observed behavior.

Question 10

What is Vicarious Motivation?

Answer 10

Motivated by the successes of others who are similar to you

Question 11

What is Self-Produced Motivation?

Answer 11

Individuals rely on their own personal standards

Question 12

What are the assumptions of Encoding/Decoding Theory?

Answer 12

• Media is just one mechanism for the dissemination of cultural ideologies
• The meaning of a message is not fixed or determined entirely by the sender
• All messages are encoded using an ideology
• Active audiences can challenge ideologies

Question 13

What is the Dominant Ideology?

Answer 13

A view of the world’s that supports the status quo

Question 14

What is Encoding?

Answer 14

The process of putting an idea into symbolic form

Question 15

What is Decoding?

Answer 15

The interpretation of the message

Question 16

What is Negotiated Code?

Answer 16

When the receiver accepts the dominant ideology in general but engages in some selective interpretation in order to better fit his/her view of the world

Question 17

What is the Oppositional code?

Answer 17

When an Individual recognizes the ideological bias in the message. Individuals who use the oppositional code identify the preferred reading but deconstruct the message and reconstruct it form a different point of view.

Question 18

What are the three ways to interpret or read a message?

Answer 18

• Engage in preferred reading using Dominate Code
• Using Negotiated Code
• Using Oppositional Code

Question 19

What is the Dominant Code?

Answer 19

A preferred reading; interpretation a message is using dominant ideology.

Question 20

Which is the more important, according to the theory, encoding or decoding?

Answer 20

Decoding process