Potential Exam Questions for Media Effects Research: A Basic Overview (5th Edition) by Glenn
G. Sparks
Chapter 12
1. According to the text, Marshall McLuhan believed that a major characteristic of the
tribal era was:
2. According to the text, McLuhan’s famous phrase, “the medium is the message,” was
really a play off of the common notion that:
a. nonverbal communication is more important than verbal communication.
3. According to the text, why did McLuhan believe that the Vietnam War was so
unpopular?
a. the violence of war is cool; the medium of TV is hot
4. According to the text, what was McLuhan’s general attitude toward the possibility of
“television addiction”?
© 2016 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in
part.
b. He would have been sympathetic to this idea; he personally claimed to be
physically addicted to TV.
c. He would NOT have been sympathetic to this idea; he believed that TV was a
cool medium and did not have the capacity to foster addiction.
d. He would NOT have been sympathetic to this idea; he pointed out that TV
saturated people and eventually they stopped watching it.
e. He would have been sympathetic to this idea, but only if TV was combined
with a regular dose of heroin during the peak point of arousal during a TV
show.
5. According to the text, McLuhan’s basic perspective was called:
6. According to the text, which statement best summarizes McLuhan’s view of
presidential candidates in America?
7. According to the text, which of the following best explains why McLuhan thought
that today’s educational system was in crisis?
a. The information level in today’s classroom is lower than the information level
e. Effective education must be private to some extent, but today’s media age is
increasingly public.
8. According to the text, Marshall McLuhan tried to market “Prohtex.” What was
“Prohtex”?
a. a cooling gel applied to the forehead to maximize the “cool” experience of
watching TV
b. a warming gel applied to the forehead to maximize the “hot” experience of
reading a newspaper
9. According to the text, why does McLuhan’s “theory” fail as a scientific approach?
a. The data observed over the years clearly disconfirmed too many of his ideas.
10. According to the text, McLuhan compared watching TV to:
a. washing dishes