Final Exam

Question 1

Which of the following genres has an underlying ideological frame that typically supports the preservation of the status quo? (Action films, sitcoms, gangster films, all of the above, or none of the above)

Answer 1

All of the above

Question 2

Narratives in the mass media are important to understand because: a) narratives are rare in the human experience; b) narratives are unique to media; c) narratives offer interpretations that may be influential; d) all; e) none

Answer 2

c) Narratives offer interpretations that may be influential

Question 3

A music video that has high message sensation value should be appealing to which kind(s) of viewers? a) People who enjoy extreme sports; b) people who are afraid to try new things; c) people who are very resistant to peer pressure; d) all; e) none

Answer 3

a) people who enjoy extreme sports

Question 4

According to the article you read by Green & Brock, what characteristic(s) of narratives is the key to their potential influence upon world views? a) the difficulty of the language used in the narrative; b) the narrative’s ability to prompt “transportation”; c) the narrative’s length; d) all; e) none

Answer 4

b) the narrative’s ability to prompt “transportation”

Question 5

True/False: Working within genres limits the potential success of a media product.

Answer 5

False

Question 6

True/False: A political-economy perspective of the mass media advocates for considering the political and economic interests of media owners when interpreting the meaning of mass communication messages.

Answer 6

True

Question 7

Which of the below is an assumption of a political-economy perspective of the mass media? a) there is a power imbalance between media producers and media consumers; b) media businesses are driven by economic interests; c) media messages are a unique product because they contain (or are) meaning; d) all; e) none

Answer 7

d) all of the above

Question 8

Which statement below would both Gordon Gekko and Milton Friedman, the famous economist, agree with? a) free markets lead to freedom; b) market regulation can be healthy; c) media companies should be censored; d) none; e) all

Answer 8

a) free markets lead to freedom

Question 9

According to lecture, the cost of media entertainment has changed in what way(s) in the past 300 years? a) the cost of producing it has risen dramatically; b) adjusting for inflation, the cost of distribution has remained consistent; c) the cost of consuming it has dropped dramatically; d) all; e) none

Answer 9

c) the cost of consuming it has dropped dramatically

Question 10

Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony suggests that: a) cultures are made up of many diverse perspectives and behaviors and these factors all contribute to society; b) it is possible for one class to dominate a society culturally, so that other groups’ interests are subordinated; c) the interests of all people in a society are always represented in its culture; d) none; e) all

Answer 10

b) it is possible for one class to dominate a society culturally, so that other groups’ interests are subordinated

Question 11

Music videos that have elements of a narrative may be particularly appealing to which kind(s) of viewers? a) viewers with a high need for sensation; b) viewers with a high need for cognition; c) viewers with a high need for prediction; d) all; e) none

Answer 11

b) viewers with a high need for cognition

Question 12

True/False: All mediated information contains narratives.

Answer 12

False

Question 13

Concluding that Blue Bloods is a typical police drama without having seen the program is an example of what act by the audience? a) generic selection; b) generic interpretation; c) generic identification; d) all; e) none

Answer 13

c) generic identification

Question 14

Fundamentally, why do media producers like and rely upon genres? a) genres reduce uncertainty in the production process; b) genre texts cost more to produce but are more original; c) using genres helps win critical acclaim; d) all; e) none

Answer 14

a) genres reduce uncertainty in the production process

Question 15

What does hegemony look like? a) conflict; b) normalcy; c) oppression; d) all; e) none

Answer 15

b) normalcy

Question 16

A _______ is a strategy that uses readily accessible, though loosely applicable, information to control problem solving.

Answer 16

heuristic

Question 17

According to the critical perspective of media literacy that we have discussed so far, what is the general relationship between audiences and media organizations? a) audiences are powerful, and media are weak; b) audiences are powerful, and media are powerful; c) audiences are weak, and media are powerful; d) all; e) none

Answer 17

c) audiences are weak, and media are powerful

Question 18

True/False: Scholars have collected conclusive evidence which shows that people who are high in the need for sensation are typically low in the need for cognition.

Answer 18

False

Question 19

Findings from the Murder at the Mall experiment suggest that: a) audiences may be conscious of consuming fiction; b) audiences may only be persuaded by non-fiction; c) audiences may sometimes be influenced by fiction; d) all; e) none

Answer 19

c) audiences may sometimes be influenced by fiction

Question 20

A(n) ________ is an expression or projection of a particular mindset through a system of meanings and values.

Answer 20

ideology

Question 21

Herman and Chomsky identify five media filters. Identify and explain 2 of them.

Answer 21

Control: handfull of companies control most of the media in the U.S.; Anti-communism: by perpetuating the conversation about anti-communism, subdominate groups are led to believe this is a continual threat and a bad thing, supporting the dominant ideology.

Question 22

In the article you read from the Atlantic, Sandels outlines two problems with our reliance upon free-markets. Identify and explain these two problems.

Answer 22

1) Corruption of the product: putting a price on something like freedom corrupts the idea and fundamentals of it; 2) Inequality: Those who don’t have access get the short end of the stick. Has a cascading effect

Question 23

Explain the findings of the Brain Scan Study. How do these findings affect our understanding of media literacy/effects?

Answer 23

Brain processes narrative the same way it processes memory. React to narrative the way we’d react if it was actually happening, even if we know the narrative is fictional. Media can use this to manipulate viewers.

Question 24

What was argues to be the dominant ideology in America? How is it reflected in media content?

Answer 24

Market populism: advertising pays for television, television perpetuates the desire to buy more.

Question 25

How does a cognitive miser behave? Provide an example of one in action.

Answer 25

Make snap decision on which information to take in and/or choices to make; ex: not spending time worrying about what to wear so the miser can have more time to make more important decisions about the day.

Question 26

Pick one of Tversky and Kahneman's 3 major heuristics. Briefly explain it and then connect your understanding of the heuristic to mass media.

Answer 26

Availability: calls upon personal experiences and past knowledge; don't question a media representation as long as it meets our expectations; dumb cheerleader more believable than a cheerleader that wins the Nobel.

Question 27

There are 3 dimensions of power. First dimension is force, second is coercion. Identify and explain the third dimension of power.

Answer 27

Propoganda?: filters embedded in the system; negative and positive attention sends the message for you.

Question 28

When creating PSAs about risky behaviors, what kind of psychological profile should be targeted? Why? Explain a technique we have covered that may be useful in developing successful PSAs for this audience.

Answer 28

Targeted at high sensation seekers (more likely to seek out and take part in risky behaviors). High sensation value messages are the best technique (flashy and loud video and audio)

Question 29

Two paths through which narratives could be persuasive and/or influential. Identify both and explain how each works.

Answer 29

Transportation: unconsciously adopt those feeling sand ideals. Interpretation: believe what the narrative is telling you as long as the narrative makes sense.

Question 30

What is the illusion of validity? How does it relate to stereotypes and the media?

Answer 30

Data seems valid only based on what you would expect. Because there is a stereotype that black people are poorer than white people, audiences are more apt to accept statistics that affirm this even if they are misleading or untrue.

Question 31

In the Candidate Skin Tone Study, researchers found that: a) only conservatives/Republicans evaluated candidates differently based on skin tone; b) respondents rated candidates from the opposing party more negatively when skin tones were darker; c) an unknown candidate was evaluated negatively based on skin tone, but Obama was not affected; d) all; e) none

Answer 31

b) respondents rated candidates from the opposing party more negatively when skin tones were darker

Question 32

True/False: The experiments in The Right Angle found that a low-angle sideview of the SUV prompted subjects to think of the SUV's owner as powerful.

Answer 32

False

Question 33

Which of the following studies found that footage from the subjective camera angle (vs an objective angle) was more engaging for an audience? a) the butcher footage experiment; b) the potato chip pitch experiment; c) the video game involvement comparison; d) all; e) none

Answer 33

a) the butcher footage experiment

Question 34

The anchoring function of a syntactic message serves to: a) supply meaning that an image can't provide on its own; b) prompt an emotional response in the viewer; c) focus the reading of an image towards a particular interpretation; d) all; e) none

Answer 34

c) focus the reading of an image towards a particular interpretation

Question 35

Which of the below was true of the Tissue Ad Experiment? a) the text stating the softness of the tissues was most persuasive; b) it is more convincing to tell an audience your message in words than to have them infer it from images; c) visuals can draw an analogy between relevant images more effectively than words; d) all; e) none

Answer 35

c) visuals can draw an analogy between relevant images more effectively than words.

Question 36

True/False: Audiences derive only the intended, explicit message from advertisements.

Answer 36

False

Question 37

The primary discourse of an advertisement, according to O'Barr, is typically: a) explicit; b) implicit; c) insignificant; d) all; e) none

Answer 37

a) explicit

Question 38

True/False: Gombrich and Barthes would agree that meaning is made by the audience.

Answer 38

True

Question 39

In Barthes' Panzani advertisement, the idea of a "still life" painting is part of which level of messaging? a) coded iconic; b) non-coded iconic; c) linguistic; d) all; e) none

Answer 39

a) coded iconic

Question 40

What type of political leaders, leading what type of governments, are most likely to rely on low-angle photographs?

Answer 40

dictator/dictatorships

Question 41

How prevalent are subliminal elements in advertising? a) they are likely present in more than 50% of all advertising; b) they are likely present in about 30% of all advertising; c) they are likely present in less than 10% of all advertising; d) none

Answer 41

c) they are likely present in less than 10% of all advertising

Question 42

True/False: The connection between all signifiers and signifieds is natural, inherent, and inevitable.

Answer 42

False

Question 43

According to Gombrich, visual communication has an advantage compared to verbal communication in its ability to: a) express; b) arouse; c) describe; d) all; e) none

Answer 43

b) arouse

Question 44

What is Nike's signifier and what does it signify?

Answer 44

Nike swoosh, signifying the Nike brand and "Just Do It"

Question 45

Which of the following is an example of an indexical sign? a) a footprint; b) a fingerprint; c) a thermometer; d) all; e) none

Answer 45

d) all (footprint, fingerprint, thermometer)

Question 46

The findings of the Sex Sells Experiment suggest that: a) the presence of sexual content can boost audience recall of advertised products; b) high-info advertisements generated the highest post-exposure purchase intentions; c) more sexual content resulted in more positive brand-evaluations by the audience; d) all; e) none

Answer 46

e) none

Question 47

High angle shots are often used to suggest what about the person shown? a) they are weaker than the audience; b) they are the audience's equal; c) they are stronger than the audience; d) all; e) none

Answer 47

a) they are weaker than the audience

Question 48

According to Barthes, without a caption the syntactic indeterminacy of images may lead to what response from audiences? a) joy; b) excitement; c) terror; d) all; e) none

Answer 48

c) terror

Question 49

What is the unconscious imitation, by an audience member, of a behavior exhibited for them in real life or through media called? a) classical conditioning; b) mirror reflex; c) pavlovian conditioning; d) all; e) none

Answer 49

b) mirror reflex

Question 50

True/False: The subjective camera angle is always more engaging for the audience than the objective camera angle.

Answer 50

False

Question 51

Define invisible style. When is invisible style employed and generally speaking, for what purpose? Are there any potential downsides of invisible style for the audience?

Answer 51

Used to create a visual narrative that maintains the illusion of normalcy. Employed to give the audience context and anchoring and to aid in transportation. Can be alarming if not executed entirely correctly.

Question 52

What's the difference, according to Barthes, between coded and non-coded iconic messages?

Answer 52

Coded iconic are not explicit. Non-coded iconic is more direct; immediate and visceral; don't need cultural knowledge or awareness to interpret.

Question 53

Explain the Angles & Evaluations experiments from Getting an Angle in Advertising. What was the general finding in this study? What moderated this finding? Why?

Answer 53

Experiment 1: Students rated the product, each group seeing a different camera angle. Extra credit in class only. Experiment 2: Students were asked to rate an item they were interested in and were told they could win that bike through a lottery if they participated. Processing motivation was low, evaluations were most favorable for low angle, least favorable for high angle, and moderate for medium angle. Processing motivation was moderate, medium shots were most favorable.

Question 54

Define direct address and subjective camera, then contrast them.

Answer 54

Direct address addresses the audience directly to engage them in the discourse of the story. Subjective camera puts the audience in the scene as a way of engaging. Direct address: to the audience; subjective camera: brings the audience to the visual.

Question 55

Briefly define syntactic indeterminacy and explain why it is helpful for advertisers. Illustrate your explanation with an example.

Answer 55

Allows for many different meanings and interpretations to be illustrated; advertisers take advantage of this to get around legal and social restrictions (can't say that cigarettes are healthy, but can show a healthy image.)

Question 56

What did the Boot Experiment prove and why does this matter? How confident can advertisers be in applying the logic from this experiment to their work?

Answer 56

Attempted to train subjects to be aroused by looking at boots. Boot, sex, boot, sex images; measured arousal when the subjects were only shown boots. It worked, showed advertisers they can successfully use images to affect consumers without their knowledge. It's hard to measure in advertising, but brand recognition can be loosely measured.

Question 57

Explain the process of commodity fetishism and provide a concrete example of the process. What, from the corporate/marketing perspective does the process accomplish?

Answer 57

Puts more value on commodities than they're often worth, giving the commodities inflated values of status. Ex: Nantucket Reds. This process actually devalues the work put in to manufacturing the product.

Question 58

What brought about the end of Puritanism? Why was this transition an important event for modern society?

Answer 58

Advertising. Without advertising, the pace of consumption (mass manufacturing) couldn't keep up with the production rate.

Question 59

Identify a symbolic sign and explain the process that makes it a symbolic sign.

Answer 59

Stop sign (does not look like its signified meaning). An image that was collectively accepted. The process depends on the symbol, but is usually just sociological forces at work.

Question 60

What, conceptually, are marketers trying to accomplish by creating montages? How (or why) does this work?

Answer 60

Creating connections between two objects or ideas. Montages can say something without actually saying it; promoting cause and effect.

Question 61

Music: Conditioning Theory

Answer 61

Emotion is exogenous to music; we bring meaning to the music.

Question 62

Music: Characteristics Approach

Answer 62

Emotion is endogenous to music; aspects of music drive different responses.

Question 63

How consistent are the emotional reactions that songs prompt?

Answer 63

Our reactions are as similar or different as we are similar or different.

Question 64

Hindustani Raga Experiment

Answer 64

Joy, sadness, anger, peacefulness; Hypothesis: able to identify emotional content of previously unheard music by the music alone. Fast song = joy, even when it was anger; Joy, sadness, peace consistent; sadness and peace rated high with each other; could only really tell fast from slow (not timbre or melodic complexity)

Question 65

Oxy and singing

Answer 65

If singing affects one hormone, what other hormones could be affected? Levitin: chopped up songs, moved around; music makes us feel good (dopamine)

Question 66

Supermarket Shopping Experiment

Answer 66

slower music, more time in store, more product bought

Question 67

Wine Store Shopping Experiment 1

Answer 67

Classical vs Top 40: no difference except classical, more time spent in store.

Question 68

Wine Store Shopping Experiment 2

Answer 68

Nationality/flags: had some effect, though only 44% believed the music had a bearing.

Question 69

Music and Consumption Results

Answer 69

high volume traffic, play fast music (keep the flow going); low volume traffic, play slow music (keep people in store longer)

Question 70

5 Violence Gratifications

Answer 70

Revenge, tough guys, masochistic, sadistic, aesthetic

Question 71

Revenge

Answer 71

closure; you want the bad guy to get what he has coming to him; vicarious revenge

Question 72

Tough Guys

Answer 72

audience identifies with the tough guy on screen; they're able to deliver violence you can't; anti-authoritarian gratification

Question 73

Masochistic

Answer 73

identify with a hero protagonist as he/she gets beaten up; self-punishing; sweeter win; strength in enduring punishment

Question 74

Sadistic

Answer 74

want to feel power over someone else; predisposed to feel aggression toward people not like us

Question 75

Aesthetic

Answer 75

it looks cool; entertainment (violence is starting to be glorified)

Question 76

Non-Fiction Violence

Answer 76

Sensationalism/profiting; base level pandering to a beast within the audience; letting the conventions of fiction leak into the portrayal of nonfiction.

Question 77

Romance and Gratification

Answer 77

woman finds perfect love, but...; hardship, disappointment, failure (contributes to the conclusion). End is supposed to be happy but 8/10 of the top romances aren't. Drama creates passion, passion creates desire; love conquers all

Question 78

The Reverse Dean Martin Effect

Answer 78

Feel better about your own sex life when you see others fail on screen

Question 79

When is good sex appreciated on screen?

Answer 79

beginning of a romance; idealized circumstance; sets the scene; living vicariously

Question 80

Violence and Zapping Experiment

Answer 80

Half the children exposed to violent video, half to non-contact sport then asked to zap another child behind a partition or give him/her candy; violent = zapping; non-contact = candy; boys more violent than girls; boys more violent as they aged, girls less violent

Question 81

Sex and Zapping Experiment

Answer 81

3 kinds of videos: talk show, erotic, erotic and aggressive; asked to shock their confederates (half men, half women), had control over how much shock; Neutral: women shocked slightly more; Erotic: men shocked more; Erotic/Aggressive: women shocked significantly more. Seeing sex doesn't just lead to sex and violence, it may just lead to violence. Transfer of excitation.

Question 82

Bobo Doll Experiment 1

Answer 82

Kids who didn’t see violence didn’t imitate the violence because they hadn’t seen it. Kids who did see violence imitated the violence. Kids who saw the violence were more likely to be drawn to the fake gun. No external validity.

Question 83

Bobo Doll Experiment 2

Answer 83

A graduate student dressed as a bobo doll. Addressing the concern that there was no real pain being inflicted. Boys in pairs were more violent than those alone.

Question 84

Bobo Doll Experiment 3

Answer 84

The end of the film had a message from an authority figure contextualizing the violence. Either discouraging, encouraging, or no added on end. The kids that saw neutral or encouraging were more violent; kids who were discouraged were less violent. Media are influential, but probably not as much as parents

Question 85

Copycat Violence in Real Life

Answer 85

Most people are not affected like this. Exception to the rule, not the exception that proves the rule.

Question 86

Disinhibition

Answer 86

We’re more inclined to take part in these acts; we lose inhibitions if we’re exposed to these behaviors in a mediated context. Not limited to violence (sex, drugs, drinking). If there are no perceived consequences, people are more likely to lower inhibitions. Subtly shifts what we believe is risky and what we're willing to do.

Question 87

Teacher Zapping

Answer 87

One student is the student, the other is the teacher; teacher gets to zap when student is wrong; later they switch after watching either a revenge film or non-violent film; new teachers who watched revenge film zapped more and/or longer.

Question 88

Cultivation and Romance

Answer 88

Overall television consumption had no correlation with ideology of marriage. Heavier viewers of romantic and soap operas had more expectations of marriage and higher intention to marry. Romance ultimately raises the audience’s expectations.

Question 89

Cultivation: Porn Expectations Study

Answer 89

Took place over six weeks, brought same subjects into the lab showing them a video (porn, porn and travelogues, travelogues). In the 7th week, the subjects were asked to take a survey: Family values, gender roles, sexual gratification. Results: porn condition were less interested in getting married, in having children, greater importance to having sex without emotional development, more apt to female subservience. Kicker: Results were the same whether the subject was a man or a woman.

Question 90

Cultivation and Sex Results

Answer 90

Collectively suggest that media does have a cultivation effect on people’s understanding of gender roles, relationships, etc.

Question 91

Catharsis

Answer 91

In participation, there is a release. Dramas could restore, renew, and revitalize the audience. Released emotion, trained to associate the proper emotions to the proper events

Question 92

Boys Camp Experiment

Answer 92

Controlled television consumption (half violent, half non-violent). Originally suggested no television violence = more violent in real life than the kids that did see the television violence. Really, only the lower class boys showed catharsis in verbal aggression with each other.

Question 93

Dominant Encoding/Decoding

Answer 93

The receiver receives the message as it was intended, primary discourse.

Question 94

Oppositional Encoding/Decoding

Answer 94

Disagree with the intended decoding and decode it with the opposite intention.

Question 95

Negotiated Encoding/Decoding

Answer 95

The receiver incorporates the message with other elements; a little of the dominant, a little of the oppositional.

Question 96

Polysemy

Answer 96

Fiske. "Many signs". "floating chains of signifiers" (Barthes). Semiotic excess doesn’t lead to terror it is actually critical; allows for many interpretations to appeal to many different audiences. Mass media messages can become more meaningful to people and have broader success.

Question 97

Wall Street (Dominant vs Oppositional)

Answer 97

Dominant: it’s okay to be greedy; greed is good; to be rich, to succeed, you need to break some rules, make hard decisions; capitalist is progressive; greed gets results. Oppositional: Rich people are greedy and think they can do whatever they want; capitalism has consequences; succeeding requires sacrificing your emotions and morals.

Question 98

Open Text

Answer 98

allows the receivers to watch the same movie and take different meanings from it.

Question 99

Preferred Reading

Answer 99

the audience who reads this way, it is easily and more rewarding