Chapter 14: Proactive Perspective on Media Effects

1. Media Effects Are Constantly Occurring

a. Manifested Effects and Process Effects
i. Manifested Effects: media effects we can easily
observe
ii. Process Effects: all other effects due to the media
influencing us how to think, feel, and act
iii. If we focus only on manifested effects, we will
underestimate that the media can influence us
iv. The more we understand process effects, the more
we control media influence
b. Baseline Effects and Fluctuation Effects
i. Baseline: typical degree of risk that continues over
time
ii. Fluctuation: usually temporary, break through the
manifestation level, observable changes in behavior
or knowledge
iii. Could be many effects occurring under manifestation
level, and seldom the fluctuation is strong enough to
break through
iv. If we only examine fluctuations that broke through
the manifestation level, we can miss opportunities
that take place underneath the manifestation level
v. Baseline levels are dependent upon people, and can
be either close or far away from the manifestation
level
2. Factors Influencing Media Effects
a. Baseline Factors
i. Developmental Maturities
1. With age we mature cognitively, emotionally,
and morally helping us become better at
making inferences
2. Not everyone of the same age has reached the
same maturity level of developing cognitive,
emotional, and moral views
ii. Cognitive Abilities
1. Not everyone who has the same potential
exhibits the same level of cognitive abilities
2. Four cognitive abilities relevant to media
literacy: field dependency, type of intelligence,
type of thinking, and conceptual differentiation
iii. Knowledge Structures
1. Knowledge Structure: when people have a welldeveloped knowledge on a specific topic

2. If a persons knowledge structure is mainly

based on information from the media they start
to feel like the relate to all of the situations on
TV even though they will most likely never
encounter those situations
3. The more television a viewer watches increases
their perception of the experiences as real
iv. Sociological Factors
1. Those who have had consistent values for a
long time have a baseline resistant to change
2. We learn norms through observations of
other people and media
3. People are influenced by their peer groups
v. Lifestyle
1. Active people are less affected by media
2. Those with fewer real life experiences have a
higher media exposure
vi. Personal Lotus
1. Personal Lotus: combination of an individuals
goals and drives for media exposures
2. A person with a strong personal lotus has more
awareness of the effects process
vii. Media Exposure Habits
1. We all have media exposure habits that focus
attention on specific media and certain types
of messages
b. Fluctuation Factors
i. Content of the Messages
1. It matters what you expose yourself to in an
exposure session
2. Ex: if you want a highly violent program, more
likely to move to toward manifestation level
ii. Context of Portrayals
1. Meaning of messages arises from the way they
are portrayed through social lessons
2. Ex: a good guy teaches violence is essential
to resolve conflict
iii. Cognitive Complexity of Content
1. When there are few cognitive demands for
viewers to process it makes it easier for them
2. People remember information better when
emotional cues are also used
iv. Motivations
1. People have a high chance of a learning
experience when they actively seek out certain
information in the media

v. States
1. State: drive or emotional reaction that occurs
in response to some temporary stimuli; short
lived
2. When viewers are aroused, their experience is
more vivid, as well as their attention more
focused
vi. Degree of Identification
1. People pay more attention to characters they
identify with
3. Media Literacy and Blame
a. A single element hardly causes an effect, there are many
influences that contribute
b. No one factor is solely responsible
c. We should not allow any one influence to be responsible
because it was not the only influence
4. Media Literacy: Controlling The Media and Effects Process
a. Low-level media literacy misleads people into a false sense
of awareness
b. To control effects one has to understand how they work
and what factors influence those workings
5. Summary
a. Media effects are always occurring since we are always
being influenced both directly and indirectly
b. Media pairs with other factors in our lives to escalate the
influence
c. We can learn to control the effects if we understand how
the process works