Final Exam. Comm Theory

Front 1

o George Gerbner
• Television is the key storyteller in our culture.
• Although other media have violent content, TV is the most significant.
• Heavy viewers believe that the world is mean and scary.

Back 1

Cultivation Theory
Introduction

Front 2

o Violence is the overt expression of physical force
o The annual index of violence is remarkably stable.
o 2/3 contain violence

Back 2

Cultivation Theory
Index of Violence

Front 3

o Gerbner found that the portrayal of violence varies little from year to year.
o Marginalized people are under represented, but overly victimized.

Back 3

Cultivation Theory
Violence and Risk

Front 4

o Light viewers
• Up to 2 hours per day
o Moderate viewers
• Between 2 and 4 hours per day
o Heavy viewers (television type)
• 4 or more hours per day
o Light viewers are more selective
o Heavy viewers will regard the world as more dangerous than light viewers.

Back 4

Cultivation Theory
The Viewer Profile

Front 5

o Compares the attitudes of light and heavy viewers.
o Four attitudes
• Chances of involvement with violence (1% vs. 10%).
• Fear of walking alone at night.
• Perceived activity of police.
• General distrust of people (the mean world syndrome)

Back 5

Cultivation Theory
Cultivation Differentiation

Front 6

o is the process by which heavy viewers develop a commonality of outlook through constant exposure to the same images and labels.

Back 6

Cultivation Theory
Mainstreaming

Front 7

o The congruence of symbolic violence on TV and real-life experiences of violence
o Resonance amplifies fear of the world

Back 7

Cultivation Theory
Resonance

Front 8

o Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw
o The mass media have the ability to transfer the salience of items on their news agenda to the public agenda.
o Original agenda: what to think about

Back 8

Agenda-Setting Theory
Introduction

Front 9

o A close match
o First media agenda, then public agenda?
o 1976: Carter/Ford
o McCombs demonstrated a correlational time-lag between media coverage and the public perception.
o Correlation does not equal causation

Back 9

Agenda-Setting Theory
Media Agenda & Public Agenda:

Front 10

o News editors or “gatekeepers”
o Politicians and their spin doctors
o Public relations professionals
o Interest aggregations
o Compelling events

Back 10

Agenda-Setting Theory
Who sets the agenda?

Front 11

o High need for orientation (or index of curiosity)
o Need for orientation arises from high relevance and uncertainty.

Back 11

Agenda-Setting Theory
Who is affected most by the agenda-setting?

Front 12

o Transferring the salience of attributes
o Two levels of agenda setting:
o The transfer of salience of an attitude object
o The media makes the event seem prominent in the world so it becomes prominent in our heads.
o The transfer of salience of a bundle of attributes within an attitude object.
o New development:
• Not just what to think about, but how to think about it

Back 12

Agenda-Setting Theory
Framing?

Front 13

o Some findings suggest that media priorities affect people’s behavior.
o McCombs claims that “Agenda setting the theory can also be agenda setting the business plan.”

Back 13

Agenda-Setting Theory
The behavioral effect

Front 14

o Howard Giles:
• In intercultural communication, people tend to accommodate to each other.
• Accommodation: move toward OR move away

Back 14

Communication Accommodation Theory
Introduction

Front 15

adapt to become similar
o Audience-centered
o Discourse management (topic selection)

Back 15

Communication Accommodation Theory
Convergence

Front 16

accentuating the differences
o Under-accommodation (maintenance)
o Over-accommodation

Back 16

Communication Accommodation Theory
Divergence

Front 17

o Desire for approval (personal identity) → Convergence → Positive response
o Need for distinctiveness (social identity) → Divergence → Negative response

Back 17

Communication Accommodation Theory
Motivation

Front 18

o Collectivistic cultural context
o Distressing history of interaction
o Stereotypes
o Norms of treatment of groups
o High group solidarity/dependence

Back 18

Communication Accommodation Theory
Initial Orientation

Front 19

o Subjective vs. objective accommodation
o Listener evaluation
o Ability
o Constraint
o Effort

Back 19

Communication Accommodation Theory
Recipient Evaluation

Front 20

• Deborah Tannen
o Male-female communication is cross-cultural
o Male and female conversational styles are equally valid.
o Women seek human connection.
o Men are concerned mainly with status.

Back 20

Gender Styles
Introduction

Front 21

o Public speaking versus private speaking.
o In the public arena, men vie for ascendancy and speak much more than women.
o Women talk more than men in private conversations.

Back 21

Gender Styles
Rapport Talk vs. Report talk

Front 22

• Men tell more stories and jokes than do women.
• Men are the heroes in their own stories.
• When women tell stories, they downplay themselves.

Back 22

Gender Styles
Rapport Talk vs. Report talk
Telling a story.

Front 23

• Women show attentiveness through verbal and nonverbal cues.
• Men may avoid these cues to keep from appearing “one-down.”

Back 23

Gender Styles
Rapport Talk vs. Report talk
Listening

Front 24

• Men don’t ask for help because it exposes their ignorance.
• Women ask questions to establish a connection with others.

Back 24

Gender Styles
Rapport Talk vs. Report talk
Asking questions

Front 25

• Men usually initiate and are more comfortable with conflict.
• To women, conflict is a threat to connection.

Back 25

Gender Styles
Rapport Talk vs. Report talk
Conflict

Front 26

• Adopt the other’s voice
• Alter their linguistic styles

Back 26

Gender Styles
Rapport Talk vs. Report talk
Better Understanding

Front 27

o Sandra Harding and Julia Wood
• A standpoint is a place from which to view the world around us.

Back 27

Standpoint Theory
Introduction

Front 28

• The social groups to which we belong shape what we know and how we communicate.
• People at the top of the societal hierarchy have the power to define others
 Top: Rich Heterosexual White
 Bottom: Marginalized people (women, minority, poor, disabled, homosexual people)

Back 28

Standpoint Theory
Major tenets

Front 29

• Culture is NOT experienced identically by all members of society.
• Societal inequalities generate distinctive accounts of nature and social relationships.
• Strong objectivity:
 The perspectives of the less powerful are more objective than those of the more powerful
• Truth is NOT value-free; knowledge is situated.
• All scholarly inquiry should start from the lives of women and others who are marginalized.

Back 29

Standpoint Theory
Major tenets (CONT)