Passive Audience Models

Question 1

What negative effect does on-screen violence have on young audiences?

Answer 1

It exerts an overwhelmingly negative effect on impressionable young audiences.

This belief has led to increased state control over and censorship of the media in Britain.

Question 2

Who sees a cause-effect relationship between screen violence and real-life violence?

Answer 2

Gerbner (2002).

Some feminists sociologists (Dworkin and Morgan) also suggest a strong relationship between pornography consumption and sexual crime.

Question 3

What do Orbach and Wolf argue about media representation?

Answer 3

They argue that there’s a causal link between the representation of size zero models in magazines and eating disorders.

Question 4

How can media coverage of political issues influence behavior?

Answer 4

It can influence voting behavior, as claimed by Norris.

Question 5

What do neomarxists argue about media transmission?

Answer 5

Media transmit a mass culture through ideologically conditioning making audience vulnerable to ruling class propaganda

Particularly the Frankfurt school like Marcuse

Question 6

What is the Hypodermic Syringe Model?

Answer 6

It believes there is a direct correlation between media violence and antisocial behavior.

This model suggests that children and teenagers are particularly vulnerable to media content.

Question 7

Which theorists are associated with the Hypodermic Syringe Model?

Answer 7

Adorno and Horkheimer.

They noted similarities between the propaganda industry in Nazi Germany and the culture industry in the US.

Question 8

What is the ultimate function of the culture industry according to Adorno and Horkheimer?

Answer 8

To manipulate audiences into becoming good consumers and maintaining capitalism.

Consumption of simple content creates passivity and false psychological needs that can only be satisfied by capitalism

Question 9

What is the hypodermic syringe model?

Answer 9

Person controlling the needle is the media generators
- message is the liquid inside
- person on the recieving end is the passive unaware patient (audience)

Question 10

What does the Hypodermic Syringe Model imply about the audience?

Answer 10

Its a homogeneous mass (all the same) thats passive and uncritical of media content.

Makes possible for content creators to use media production to manipulate vulnerable audiences into thinking/acting certain ways

Question 11

What is an example of media causing panic among audiences?

Answer 11

The original radio adaptation of ‘War of the Worlds’.

Some listeners believed they were hearing a news report and fled.

Question 12

What kind of advertising was used in campaigns behind Trump and Brexit?

Answer 12

Sophisticated targeted advertising to influence voters.

Question 13

What are methodological critiques of the hypodermic syringe model?

Answer 13

• • Artificial behaviour in lab conditions (invalid - Gauntlett)
• **Cumberbach **looked at 3500 studies into the effects of diff types of media and found no conclusive evidence that violence shown affects peoples behaviour

Question 14

What is a ‘drip drip effect’ of desensitization?

Answer 14

Prolonged exposure to media violence may desensitize young people to violence.

Means that violence is seen as a normal problem solving device leading to weaker moral codes and anti social behaviour

Question 15

What is evidence for the drip drip effect of desensitisation?

Answer 15

Violent age ratings have decreased

Fast and furious has been downgraded to a 12A from 15 for ‘infrequent strong language, moderate violence and sex references’

Question 16

What led to increased censorship in the film industry in 1985?

Answer 16

Newson’s report led to the passing of the Video Recordings (Labelling) Act 1985.

Question 17

Who critiques the hypodermic syringe model and the drip drip effect of desensitisation?

Answer 17

Fesbach and Sanger
Young

Question 18

What is ‘catharsis’ in the context of media violence?

Answer 18

The idea that watching screen violence provides a safe outlet for aggressive tendencies.

Found by Fesbach and Sanger

Question 19

What does Young argue about the depiction of violence?

Answer 19

Sensitisation to crime and the effects of violence may make people responsible, more aware and less inclined to commit violent acts

Question 20

What is Bandura’s bobo doll experiment?

Answer 20

Exposed children to adults behaving aggressively towards bobo dolls and observing their behaviour

Also consisted of a control group that was exposed to a non aggressive adult playing with a bobo doll

Question 21

What were the findings of Bandura’s Bobo Dolls experiment?

Answer 21

Children exposed to aggressive behavior were more likely to behave aggressively themselves.

Question 22

What did Bandura et al’s experiment demonstrate?

Answer 22

Violent media content could lead to imitation or copycat violence.

Question 23

Who further supported copy cat violence and imitation?

Answer 23

McCabe and Martin

Media violence has a dis-inhibition effect: convinces children that in some social situations, ‘normal’ rules that govern conflict and difference can be replaced by violence

Question 24

What is a limitation of Bandura’s study?

Answer 24

It has very low ecological validity due to its artificial nature.

The aggressive behavior shown was not reflective of real-life situations making it hard to generalise to wider social life

Question 25

What ethical issues are associated with Bandura’s Bobo Dolls experiment?

Answer 25

Exposing children to aggressive behavior and frustrating them may have long-term effects on their well-being.