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Chapter 11: Mass Media Effects
Chapter 11: Mass Media Effects
Multiple Choice Single Select
1) All the various theories about the effects of mass media can be grouped into three categories
that do NOT include ________ effects theories.
a) cumulative
b) minimalist
c) passive
d) powerful
2) Walter Lippmann argued that we see the world as
a) it really is with all its blemishes and warts.
b) a conspiracy masterminded by media moguls.
c) a distortion of reality based on our personal world view.
d) pictures in our heads even of things we have not experienced personally.
3) The idea that media have immediate, direct influence on individuals is known as the
a) limited effects theory.
b) two-step flow model.
c) powerful effects theory.
d) immediacy theory.
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4) Which Yale psychologist studied World War II propaganda and developed a model of mass
communication: who says what, in which channel, to whom, and with what effect?
a) Walter Lippmann
b) Harold Lasswell
c) W.P. Davison
d) Paul Lazarsfeld
5) The theory that sees the media as a kind of hypodermic needle, injecting concepts into its
viewers, is essentially the same as the approach called the
a) third person effect theory.
b) two-step flow model.
c) magic bullet model.
d) status conferral theory.
6) Early mass communication scholars wrongly assumed that
a) people are active, not passive media users.
b) people absorb messages like sponges.
c) audiences are intelligent.
d) people review media content critically.
7) Another popular name for the overrated powerful effects theory is the
a) unlimited effects theory.
b) spiral of silence.
c) two-step flow model.
d) magic bullet model.
8) The belief that individuals underestimate the impact media have on them personally but
overestimate the impact media messages have on other people is called
a) the aggressive stimulation theory.
b) the consistency theory.
c) the third-person effect.
d) selective exposure.
9) Which of the following statements is an example of the third-person effect?
a) “I worry that violence on TV is going to change the way I treat my kids.”
b) “Violence on TV doesn’t have much of an effect on society one way or the other.”
c) “Violence on TV makes most people more violent, but not me. I know it’s not real.”
d) “My kids and I fight with each other more after we’ve played a lot of video games.”
10) Sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld conducted voter behavior studies in the 1940s and found that
a) his research supported the powerful effects theory.
b) the bullet theory was essentially true for political issues and candidates.
c) individuals were influenced more by the mass media than by their friends.
d) voters were more influenced by other people than by the mass media.
11) Who was the sociologist who became known for studying the effects of the media on
elections?
a) Walter Lippman
b) Harold Lasswell
c) Paul Lazarsfeld
d) T.E. Lawrence
12) The Lazarsfeld studies in the 1940s found that most voters
a) value friends and acquaintances’ opinions more than editorial endorsements.
b) actively seek out media information in weighing choices of candidates.
c) value media more than friends for advice.
d) check their choices against media recommendations.
13) According to the two-step flow model, we are motivated less by the media and more by
people we know personally and respect. These contacts are known as
a) opinion leaders.
b) researchers.
c) cumulative contacts.
d) network effectors.
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14) Opinion leaders are key in understanding
a) narcotizing dysfunction.
b) the powerful effects theory.
c) the two-step flow model.
d) self-induced passivity.
15) When media decide to cover certain issues and people, the media are producing an effect
called
a) status conferral.
b) agenda setting.
c) two-step flow.
d) the hypodermic needle model.
16) Which phenomenon states that the media tell people what to think about, not what to think?
a) two-step model
b) bullet model
c) mean-world theory
d) agenda-setting theory
17) The notion that the media lull people into passivity is called the
a) passivity premise.
b) nonactivity notion.
c) narcoticizing dysfunction theory.
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d) hypodermic needle model.
18) People so overwhelmed by the high volume of news available to them that they withdraw
from involvement in public issues are examples of
a) cumulative withdrawal.
b) information anxiety.
c) narcoticizing dysfunction.
d) passive participation.
19) Who was the German scholar whose media studies resulted in the cumulative effects theory
that says the media may not have immediate effects, but their effects over time are
profound?
a) Herbert Schiller
b) Don Shaw
c) Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann
d) Max Ernst
20) The redundancy of advertising takes advantage of Noelle-Neumann’s
a) information overload theory.
b) cumulative effects theory.
c) spiral of silence model.
d) uses and gratifications theory.
21) How does the spiral of silence model function?
a) Overloaded by media messages, audience members increasingly tune out until they have
surrounded themselves with silence.
b) As messages accumulate, fewer and fewer are heard until a virtual silence develops.
c) The lack of immediate feedback in many media discourages two-way communication.
d) The vocal majority intimidates opposing views into silence and thereby makes the
majority view appear to be a universal consensus.
22) Which media function is served when people use the media to learn about how to fit in with
other people?
a) surveillance
b) diversion
c) entertainment
d) socialization
23) When a child walks by a television set or a computer screen that contains adult images and
themes, the child is involved in
a) prosocialization.
b) intergenerational eavesdropping.
c) anti-social behavior.
d) role modeling.
24) People who picked up the phrase “yadda yadda” from watching Seinfeld are intentionally or
unintentionally demonstrating the effects of
a) role modeling.
b) socialization.
c) status conferral.
d) third-person effect.
25) When a movie director puts a white hat on a cowboy to depict a “good guy,” that shorthand
communication is known as
a) product placement.
b) evocation.
c) historical transmission.
d) stereotyping.
26) All of the following statements about stereotyping in the mass media are true EXCEPT
a) benign stereotypes are not objectionable and pose few, if any, problems.
b) the FCC has banned any broadcast of demeaning stereotypes over the public airwaves.
c) newspapers typically use lots of stereotypes in their headlines.
d) stereotypes are a kind of shorthand that can communicate a lot quickly and easily.
27) The communication of cultural values to later generations is called
a) contemporary transmission.
b) historical transmission.
c) diffusion of history.
d) cataloguing history.
28) What is it called when the mass media communicate cultural values to different cultures?
a) contemporary transmission
b) historical transmission
c) role modeling
d) cultural imperialism
29) The process through which news, ideas, and information are spread is called
a) historic transmission.
b) intercultural communication.
c) diffusion of innovations.
d) transmittal transformation.
30) Which is the term for the dominance of one culture over another?
a) cultural imperialism
b) revisionism
c) exocentrism
d) diffusion of culture
31) Concerns about American cultural imperialism are now being reconsidered in light of all of
the following EXCEPT
a) Al-Jazeera’s transition from a small regional news medium into a global news channel.
b) changes that have occurred in four decades since Schiller first published his book.
c) the impact of Pokémon, Manga comics, and other Japanese imports in the United States.
d) the worldwide expansion of MTV and ESPN and overseas editions of USA Today.
32) Which Austrian psychiatrist theorized that the human mind is unconsciously susceptible to
suggestion?
a) John Milton
b) George Schultz
c) Sigmund Freud
d) Ernest Dichter.
33) Ernest Dichter’s interviewing method called motivational research was used to
a) seek subconscious appeal that can be used in advertising.
b) seek subliminal messages that propel audiences to react.
c) create color schemes that trigger positive feelings.
d) design Internet ads.
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34) Which type of message can be effective even though it cannot be consciously perceived?
a) motivational
b) viral
c) subliminal
d) suggestive
35) Which market researcher said subliminal messages can affect media consumers?
a) Jim Vicary
b) Wilbur Schramm
c) Ernest Dichter
d) Richard Branson
36) Which prosocial theory states that people learn behavior by seeing it in real life?
a) contemporary transmission
b) observational learning
c) cultural behaviorism
d) uses and gratifications theory
37) Which theory dates to Greek philosopher Aristotle and says that people who watch violence
actually release their violent inclinations by seeing them portrayed?
a) aggressive stimulation theory
b) desensitizing theory
c) cathartic effect theory
d) scapegoating theory
38) A positive effect of media violence, as evidenced by reaction to The Burning Bed, is that it
a) frightens people into violent acts.
b) encourages people in risky situations.
c) prompts people to engage in socially positive action.
d) reduces violence in schools.
39) The theory that people are inspired to violence by media depictions is called
a) aggressive stimulation.
b) mirrored behavior.
c) role modeling.
d) violent reaction.
40) The Bobo doll studies found that children playing with dolls after watching a violent movie
a) were less violent.
b) were more violent.
c) demonstrated no difference from those who didn’t watch the movie.
d) became quiet and withdrawn.
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41) Which researcher conducted the Bobo doll studies?
a) Seymour Feshbach
b) Aristotle
c) Albert Bandura
d) Walter Lippmann
42) Which theory holds that media violence plays a contributing role in violent behavior, but not
a triggering one?
a) catalytic theory
b) aggressive stimulation theory
c) cathartic effect theory
d) accessory influence theory
43) In the catalytic theory, the chances of media violence triggering real-life violence is affected
by how the media violence is seen. Which of the following is NOT a factor in triggering
real-life violence?
a) whether the violence in the media is rewarded
b) whether the media exposure is heavy and frequent
c) whether the media violence is watched during the day or at night
d) whether a violent person fits other behavioral profiles
44) Which of the following is a plausible alternative explanation for a correlation between
media-depicted and actual violence that does not blame the media for real-life violence?
a) People who are otherwise passive can suddenly erupt into violent behavior.
b) Media-depicted violence conveys the message that violence solves all problems.
c) Media-depicted violence mellows out a person who’s had a bad day.
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d) People whose general view tends toward aggressiveness gravitate to violent media fare.
45) Which of the following does George Gerbner view as an end result of violence in the media?
a) People demand more aggressive police protection, and even accept police violence, to
ensure public safety.
b) Depictions of violence will drive people to self-reliance as they seek to protect
themselves.
c) Depictions of violence will exaggerate people’s fears of a police state.
d) The freedom to express anything, including violence, strengthens the principles of
violence.
46) Who concluded that media-depicted violence scares far more people than it inspires to
violence, leading them to believe the world is more dangerous than it really is?
a) Paul Lazarsfeld
b) Wilbur Schramm
c) Hadley Cantril
d) George Gerbner
47) Which of the following suggests that media-depicted violence has a numbing and callusing
effect?
a) aggressive cues research
b) desensitizing theory
c) catalytic model
d) catharsis theory
48) What have studies performed by the Violence Assessment Monitoring Project found?
a) a steady presence of violent acts on prime-time television
b) a dramatic increase of violence on television
c) fewer incidences of serious violence on television than previously thought
d) children exposed to violence on television being more likely to perform violent acts
49) ___________ , after reviewing the literature on violence studies, concluded most media
violence research is flawed.
a) William McQuire
b) George Gerbner
c) Sigmund Freud
d) Elizabeth Peers
50) Which is an example of overt media socialization?
a) A PSA discusses the realities of date rape.
b) An advertisement features a beautiful woman eating a hamburger.
c) A sitcom features a same-sex couple.
d) A news program gives more attention to a riot than to a political candidate.
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51) By the time teenagers reach 18, they have spent more hours watching television than any
other activity EXCEPT
a) sleeping.
b) eating.
c) talking.
d) studying.
52) With the emergence of a 9–5 service industry economy, which has essentially disappeared?
a) evening newspapers
b) morning cartoons
c) weekly magazines
d) weekend newscasts
53) What caused lodge and club membership to plummet during the 1950s?
a) the invention of the television
b) the increasing cost of living
c) the movement of women into the workforce
d) the decline of the population of men after the war
54) Which can precipitate a fast change in public opinion?
a) a catastrophe
b) a social media blitz
c) an interesting story
d) an opinion leader
55) In general, the media’s impact on changing public opinion occurs
a) slowly.
b) quickly.
c) immediately.
d) rarely.
56) What impact do talk shows have on teenager viewers?
a) They teach cautionary tales.
b) They increase deviant behavior.
c) They desensitize teens to violence.
d) They create unusual role models.
57) Which action is an example of the online disinhibition effect?
a) Through texting, Mario threatens another boy with violence.
b) Lucy meets her future boyfriend through Match.com.
c) Through social media, Virginia brags about her son’s academic awards.
d) Aaron sends a political meme to his political science professor.
