Chapter 11: Media Influence on Attitudes and Behavior

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. When we say the media engages in political socialization, what do we mean?

A. News presents facts, but also presents general values and behavior models.

B. Information from the media is often the basis of attitudes and opinions.

C. Media convey basic values and orientations that prepare individuals to fit into their cultural environment.

D. All of these

2. Agenda setting in the media can be described as which of the following?

A. Media change our minds about issues with persuasive commentary.

B. Media change the criteria we use to evaluate political issues.

C. Those issues that get the most coverage are ranked as most important.

D. All of these

3. Which of the following is NOT one of the strengths of television news?

A. Television is most readily comprehensible for people with limited education.

B. It reduces information inequalities.

C. It provides factual details.

D. It is powerful in transmitting realistic and emotional stories.

4. Learning from social media is certainly possible, but largely dependent on ______ which of the following?

A. user behaviors

B. social network composition

C. social network preferences

D. whether you choose Twitter or Facebook

E. A, B, and C only

5. When researchers studied the effects of mobile news consumption, which of the following did they find?

A. People learn more from news on mobile devices.

B. People pay attention to more news on mobile devices.

C. Mobile news requires more cognitive processing.

D. Mobile news reduces attention to news and information recall.

E. C and D only

6. Uses and gratifications tries to explain which of the following?

A. why people consume or ignore media messages

B. partisan persuasion from news

C. media bias

D. low levels of political knowledge

E. all of the above

7. Schemas and scripts are ______.

A. perceiver determined

B. stimulus determined

C. organizing devices that help people to assimilate information

D. all of these

E. none of these

Short Answer

1. What is media agenda setting? How does it work?

2. What does the uses and gratifications approach tell us about individuals’ news use?

3. What are the three main categories of uses and gratifications?

4. What do cognitive balance theories tell us about news avoidance?

5. What is partisan selective exposure?

6. Describe the agenda-setting process.

7. Name some common deterrents to political learning.

8. How is learning from print media different from audiovisual media?

9. What is political socialization?

Essay

1. Do media stories really shape the thinking and behavior patterns of countless Americans? Are people’s values and attitudes about social and political issues influenced substantially by what they read, hear, and see? Do desirable and undesirable behaviors in television fiction and news programs produce imitations in real life? How much do people learn from the media, and what, precisely, do they learn?

2. Are mass media effects on attitudes and behaviors minimal or substantial? Explain.

3. Compare and contrast the societal ills of partisan selective exposure versus general news avoidance. Which is the bigger problem? Why?