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Theories of Mass Communication

Terms in this set (29)

Agenda Setting
"The mass media may not be successful in telling us what to think, but they are stunningly successful in telling us what to think about."
Critical Cultural Theory
The idea that media operate primarily to justify and support the status quo at the expense of ordinary people
Cultivation Theory
The idea that television constructs a version of the world that, despite its potential inaccuracies, becomes the accepted reality simply because the culture believes it to be true
Dependency Theory
The idea that media's power is derived from the audience's dependency on that media
Hypodermic Needle Theory
According to this theory, mass media have a direct, immediate, and powerful effect on their audiences
Limited Effects Theory
Media's influence on an audience is limited by individual differences between audience members, social categories, and personal relationships
Magic Bullet Theory
Another version of hypodermic Needle Theory
Mainstreaming
Television's ability to move people toward a common view of the world is known as what?
News Production Research
The study of how economic and other influences on the way the news is produced distort and bias news coverage toward those in power
Reinforcement Theory
The idea that if media have any impact at all, it is only in terms of reinforcing current behavior and/or beliefs
Selective Exposure
The idea that people only willingly expose themselves or attend to messages that are consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs
Selective Perception
The idea that people only interpret messages in a manner that is consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs
Social Cognitive Theory
the idea that people learn by observation
Uses and Gratifications Approach
the idea that media don't do things to people, people do things with media
Agenda Setting Theory
According to this theory, when the media concentrate on a few issues or subjects, the public will perceive those issues as more important than others
Cultivation Theory
Mass media are responsible for shaping, or "cultivating" their viewers' conceptions of social reality
Dependency Theory
In this theory, media are not used equally. Which medium is most heavily relied on depends on the number of needs the medium meets and societal factors surrounding the medium.
Framing
According to this construct, media focuses attention on certain events and then places those events within a larger field of meaning.
Framing
This extension of agenda-setting theory examines the way media and media gatekeepers organize and present the events and issues they cover, thus influencing the audience's perceptions of and attitudes towards those events.
Gatekeeper(s)
The person or people who decides which information will go forward, and which will not
Knowledge Gap
According to this concept, information in society is not evenly acquired; people of a higher socioeconomic status acquire more information more easily and more frequently than people of a lower socioeconomic status.
Marshall McLuhan
According to this theorist, "the medium is the message."
Medium Theory
In this theory, the primary sense used by a medium influences the way the messages conveyed by that medium are perceived by the audience.
Modernization Theory
This theory examines the effects of the modernization process on human communication
Social Network Theory
The study of how the social structure of relationships around a person, group, or organization affects beliefs or behaviors
Priming
According to this off-shoot of agenda-setting theory, the effects of the media are enhanced by offering the audience a prior context that is used to interpret subsequent information
Social Cues Approach
According to this approach, Computer-Mediated Communication leads to a deregulation of behavior because it diminishes awareness of the self and the other.
Social Presence Theory
This new-media theory argues that a medium's social effects are principally caused by how much it allows its users to sense the presence of an interaction partner.
Spiral of Silence
This term refers to how people tend to remain silent when they feel that their views are in the minority. As the perceived distance between public opinion and an individual's opinion grows, the likelihood of that individual openly expressing their opinion shrinks.
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