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CMN010V Final Exam Questions And
Verified Answers
What happened earlier this decade re: Facebook and Google, concerning the sending of traffic to websites? -Answer Traffic from homepages of media has fallen significantly while social medias share of clicks has more than doubled. In the past, facebook and google were equal powers in sending clicks to Buzzfeed news sites, but now facebook sends 3.5X more traffic.
What are "evergreen" stories? - Answer What journalists consider stories about diets, millennials, coffee, happiness, and beautiful pictures; not news related stories
What does the article conclude about news vs. entertainment in the BuzzFeed top 20 most viral stories? - Answer The vast majority aren't real news. Few are recent events and few are national news stories. The majority are entertainment, not news
The last page of the article makes the point that what's happening now is not new. Specifically, what is the author's claim? - Answer The author points out a book in 1992 that discusses that this is not a new event: voters collect information but forget where the information comes from. "Fast thinking" means that we pick up information throughout our lives but forget where it comes from. What he is saying here is that social media creates an avenue where spreading false information and manipulating voters is very easy because people read and digest information from "friends" or "followers" and mix those ideas with ideas from actual news.
What does the author site as "key difference between the old forms of news and entertainment and Facebook? - Answer The news feed is entirely our creation. Facebook doesn't "make" our newsfeed. The friends and pages we follow contribute to every story, and Facebook organizes them by studying our past behaviors to predict what stories should appear at the top. Since you choose your friends and your interactions to your friends posts, you essentially build your own news feed,
What are the 3 major claims of the article-the 3 suggestions for using social media? -
Answer Re: Claim #1: more and more people rely on social media for news and information
Despite its growing popularity, it is yet uncertain whether social media has had an impact on political participation
Gathering political information via social media brings increased risk of ingesting information from questionable sources
How did people ages 18-29 differ from those 30-49 in their thoughts about political campaign news? - Answer People ages 18-29 said that social media was the most helpful source for news about a presidential election. People 30-49 said social media ranked third, behind cable TV and news websites.
How are older Americans different? - Answer Adults ages 18-49 trust news and political information shared by friends more than news delivered from other sources. Social media is less utilized among voter 50 and older, who depend primarily on TV and other traditional news outlets to learn about elections.
What does the article suggest about the relationship of news via social media and voter turnout? - Answer Youth turnout is lower, and turnout increases with age
What does the article suggest about social pressure via social media and voting? - Answer Social pressure via social media encourages others to vote
What is the point here about voters knowledge of sources of political information? - Answer Voters gather information but forget whence it originates. Bits and pieces of information are retained, sources are not remembered
Read the abstract carefully a couple of times--it contains the gist of the article. - Answer The differences model, which states that males and females are fundamentally different psychologically reigns supreme in the popular media. In contrast, the author here presents a very different perspective-the gender similarities hypothesis-which states that males and females are similar on most, but not all, psychological variables. Results of a review of 46 meta-analytical sets support the gender similarities hypothesis. Gender differences can vary substantially in magnitude at different ages and depend on the context in which measurement occurs. Such overinflated claims of gender
gender differences are strikingly large for incidences of masturbation and for attitudes about sex in a casual, uncommitted relationship.
What does the study reveal about gender differences in aggression? - Answer Aggression has consistently exhibited gender differences of a moderate size. The gender difference in physical aggression is especially dependable and larger than the gender difference in verbal aggression
What are the different arguments about the costs of inflated claims of gender differences? - Answer These costs come in many areas such as in the job, parenting, and relationships. Consequences abound from this overinflated claim of gender differences in nurturance, including the reification of the stereotype of women as caring and nurturant and men as devoid of nurturance. One cost to men is that they might come to believe they cannot be nurturant, even in their role as father. For women, the cost in the workplace can be enormous. Women who violate the stereotype of being nurturant and nice are penalized in hiring and evaluations. A second example of the costs of unwarranted validation of the stereotype of women as caring nurturers comes from studies of gender and the evaluation of leaders.
Abstract The first paragraph is the abstract of the study--read it closely. - Answer Presents a study of children's wishful identification and parasocial interaction with favorite television characters. Sex differences; Perception of character traits; Implications for socialization effects. Of all the socializing influences to which the American child is regularly exposed, television has become one of the most constant and pervasive. Whereas children usually find their models of behavior among adults, such as parents and teachers, television presents a variegated procession of attractive models
Following the introductory paragraph, this paper is a literature review of prior research. As you read through it, observe the observations about TV and socialization, identification, character attributes, sex and parasocial interaction. - Answer Television is playing an increasingly major role in the socialization of American children. children usually view adults-most especially parents and teachers-as behavioral models, but television also offers a vast number of appealing models. One result of television viewing that is thought to mediate the socialization process is identification with selected characters. Identification has been defined in a number of ways but is commonly used to refer to the process whereby a viewer shares a character's perspective and vicariously participates in his/her experiences during the program. This process extends to the wish to be like or behave in ways similar to the character, which
has been referred to as "wishful identification." Physical strength and activity level were the most important determinants of identification for boys whereas physical attractiveness predicted identification for girls and, to a lesser extent, boys. A number of studies found that children imitated and/or wishfully identified with successful characters, even though they disapproved of the characters' behaviors. Sex of character is important, too; viewers identify more readily with characters of the same sex. Indeed, several studies found that male characters were chosen as role models by girls more often than female characters were chosen by boys. Parasocial interaction involves coming to know and imaginatively interacting with characters. Over time, viewers of a serialized drama come to feel they know the series' characters in many of the same ways they feel they know their friends or neighbors. In fact, the process of developing parasocial relationships has been likened to the process by which people come to know others in real life
Basic Approach The basic approach of the study was as follows: -Answer In the present study, children named their favorite TV character, and answered questions regarding the character[a]s traits and their wishful identification and parasocial interaction with the character. Asking children to name their favorite characters should yield a different type of character sample than the sets of familiar characters chosen by researchers. This present research also explored the predictors of wishful identification and parasocial interaction for male and female characters separately.
What are the characteristics researched in the study? - Answer physical attractiveness, strength, humor, intelligence, social behavior
Note analysis of predictors. - Answer • Good looks were an important predictor of identification for both boys and girls rating female characters and for girls rating male characters.
- Strength predicted wishful identification only for boys rating male characters - Good looks predicted para -social interaction desired friendships for all four groups - Strength was not a predictor for any group for para -social interaction
Look at each of the hypotheses and research questions. - Answer H1 : Boys will select same-sex favorite characters more often than girls will.
H2: Children will report greater wishful identification with same-sex characters than with opposite-sex characters
What is Scarcity? Note example of the Concorde. Answer The easy way to understand it is that people desire more of those things they can have less of. So, when it comes to the effective use of the Scarcity Principle in persuading others, the science is relatively clear. Merely telling people the gains they will get if they choose one's products and services is just not enough. You'll also have to emphasize what is unique about your proposition and what they will forfeit if they do not act on your proposal. When British Airways announced in 2003 that they would no longer be operating the twice daily London — New York Concorde flight because it had become uneconomical to operate, sales the very next day took off.
What is the persuasive principle of Authority? Note all those examples for instance: uniforms, diplomas etc. - Answer It is an idea, where people follow what credible knowledgeable experts lead. Physiotherapists, for instance, are capable of persuading more of their patients to comply with the recommended programs of exercise if they display their medical diplomas on the walls of their consulting rooms. The people are more likely to give a change for a parking meter to a complete stranger if that requester wears a uniform rather than casual clothes.
What is Consistency as a persuasive principle? Be able to identify examples. - Answer People like to be consistent with the things they have previously said or done. So when seeking to influence using the consistency principle, the detective of influence looks for voluntary, active, and public commitments and ideally gets those commitments in writing.
What is Liking? What kinds of people do we like? - Answer People like to say yes to those that they like.
What is Consensus? Be familiar with examples in the article. - Answer Especially when they are unsure, people will look to the actions and behaviors of others to determine their own. But it was found that the most powerful message was a simple revision of words on a sign honestly pointing out what similar past guests had done, which now resulted in a 33% increase in reuses. The science is telling us that rather than rely on our own ability to persuade others, we can point to what many others are already doing, especially many similar others.
What is agenda-setting? - Answer Agenda-setting theory describes the "ability to influence the importance placed on the topics of the public agenda;" tells public what to
think about
What is priming? - Answer Refers to the ability of the media to affect which issues or traits voters use to evaluate political figures
What is framing? The material following the definition deals with attribution theory, and it will make farming easier to understand. - Answer the power of the media to influence how events and issues are interpreted; the way the media frames something influences how the public perceives it
What is the public agenda? [This is on p. 181 in the Types of Agenda-Setting section.] - Answer What citizens as a collective thought was important
What is the main finding/claim, summarized in the first sentence of the Conclusion? - Answer Research on agenda setting, priming, and framing provides considerable evidence that the media provides more than a little effect on public opinion
What does the author believe about the role of mass media in the choice of elected officials and the choice of public policies? - Answer Mass media influences what issues individuals believe are influential. Citizens tend to evaluate public figures on the basis of the issues that are emphasizes in the mass media. The nature of media coverage helps structure individuals beliefs about the appropriate policy responses of government
For whom do agenda-setting effects tend to be strongest? - Answer Those more vulnerable to the issues at hand, such as women, elderly, union members, etc.
Whom are the agenda-setting effects unsusceptible to? - Answer Individuals whose values differ from that of the medium o0r have little confidence or trust in the outlet. Also, individuals with access to alternative information sources
What is the author's view on active and passive audience? - Solution Active audiences shift from a more societal view to a more individualistic view because the individualistic nature allows them to play a greater role in the assessment of the problem
campaign managers. - Answer While managers rarely jump from party to party, it's not uncommon to see some intraparty switching of support. Ultimately it comes down to who has the best chance of winning
How much of the world is on the net, and at what speed is it growing? - Answer Today, only 2.7 billion people-a little more than one-third of the world's population-have access to the internet. Even more amazing, internet adoption is growing slower than 9% every year, slow given that we are early in its development and it is expected to continue to slow further.
What is the point about the gap between smartphone ownership and data access? Answer: It is far too convenient to think that as people are getting smartphones they will also have data access. It's hard to even think of what it means to have a smartphone without data. Yet, it is not a given. While projections are showing most may soon have smart phones, the majority of them still won't have data access. That is because, in most of the countries, the price of a data pack remains many, many folds costlier as compared to the price of the smartphone itself.
What is a zero sum point according to the article? -Answer Most of the dynamics of resource-based economies are zero-sum. Example, if an oil field is owned by me, then you cannot own the same oil field. This would provide an incentive for those in possession to hoard rather than share resources. But a knowledge economy is different and encourages worldwide prosperity. It's not zero sum. If you know something, that doesn't stop me from knowing it too. In fact the more things we all know, the better ideas, products and services we can all offer and the better all of our lives will be.
What four arguments are made to substantiate the claim about connectivity? Answer Most people in the world don't have very much disposable income to devote to data access. Any plan for making internet access widely available will have to involve significant technology and business model improvements that enable some access to be either very cheap or free for people who otherwise can't afford it.
These costs need to come down in order to pass savings along; all these companies have to make profits if they're going to continue to build out these networks. If we can provide people with access to these services, then they'll find other content they want and actually start to use and understand the broader internet.
Most of them do not have phones; many are either very young or old, while most cannot afford one.
Q: Why does the author believe that the efficiency of delivering data is on the cusp of increasing enormously? A: We believe that with an organized effort, it is reasonable to expect the overall efficiency of delivering data to increase by 100x over the next 5- years. It would do this via two types of innovation: bringing the underlying costs of delivering data down and using less data by building more efficient apps.
What would be included in the list of basic internet services according to the author? Answer Non-data-intensive, which is to say text-based and very simple apps such as weather; need to be tools that people use to discover other content; The services like messaging, social networks, search engines, and Wikipedia could fit into this quite well, but we don't really prescribe a particular set of basic internet services. Instead, we think that the more effective this model can be, the more access the industry collectively can provide to basic services.
What do you consider the 3 important elements of what the author has described as "the rough plan" for internet access? - Answer Making internet access affordable by making it more efficient to deliver data; Using less data by improving the efficiency of the apps and experiences we use; Helping businesses drive internet access by developing a new model to get people online.
How are first-order innovations different from second-order innovations? First-order innovations are those that take place only infrequently and at unpredictable times; the myriad of subsequent second-order inventions, improvements, and perfections which could not have taken place without such a breakthrough and which both accompany and follow - sometimes with great rapidity, often rather tardily - the commercial maturation of that fundamental enabling advance. But his electric system remains Edison's greatest achievement: an affordable and reliably available supply of electricity has opened doors to everything electrical, to all great second-order innovations ranging from gradually more efficient lighting to fast trains, from medical diagnostic devices to refrigerators, from massive electrochemical industries to tiny computers governed by microchips.
Smil offers two examples of first-order innovations or what he calls "technical solutions" saltsion is from the Latin word for "leap" and refers to a sudden change from one generation to the next, that is large, or very large, in comparison with the usual. What are the two saltations he describes? Answer The oldest example of such a technical saltation was when our hominin ancestors began using stones to fashion other stones into sharp tools (axes, knives, and arrows). And there has been no more fundamental, epoch-making modern innovation than the large-scale commercial generation, transmission, distribution, and conversion of electricity.
which Smil compares the iPad. - Answer electricity, vaccination, hybrid crops, or synthetic nitrogen fertilizers? According to the author, what would the world be like without the iPhone or iPad? - Answer I have no doubt that the world without iPhone or iPad would be perfectly fine.Read the story about the child and his response to the games. There will not be questions from this section, but you must read it to understand what follows in the second half of the article - Answer As the play continues, Aiden's brain and psyche become over-aroused and excited-on fire! His nervous system goes into high gear and stays there as he works at mastering various situations, strategizing, surviving, collecting weapons, and protecting his turf. His heart rate rises from 80 to well over 100 beats per minute; his blood pressure rises from a normal 90/60 to 140/ — he's ready to do battle, except that he's just sitting on the couch, not moving much more than his eyes and thumbs.
What is the effect of video games [the first few paragraphs of the Perceived Threat section]?
Answer Playing video games replicated the type of sensory attack we are wired to associate with mortal danger.
When the brain senses danger, hard-wired, primitive survival mechanisms swiftly kick in high gear to safeguard us against harm. The entire process happens within a fraction of a second; it is instinctive and programmed into our genes and indispensable for survival. Remember, the threat doesn't have to be real; the brain and body react to a perceived danger. When that instinct has been tripped, our nervous system and hormones influence our state of arousal by immediately going into hyperarousal: the fight-or-flight response.
These are hard feelings to turn off once the provocative incident has passed and the threat---real or imagined---has passed. Review the material in the section entitled "higher thinking" and "more primitive" parts of the brain. Answer Once chronic stress sets in, blood flow is directed away from the higher thinking part of the brain-the frontal lobe-and toward the more primitive deeper areas necessary for survival, causing impairment in functioning. In children, whose nervous systems are still in development, this sequence of events happens much quicker compared to adults and the chronically stressed child soon starts to struggle. View the diagram below on stressors. Based on your reading, - Answer many screen related factors activate the processes that lead to stress: reward/addiction pathways; intense sensory stimulation, bright and blue toned light, media multitasking interactivity and rapid pace, electromagnetic radiation What does the article say the affects are on sleeping? - Answer That night, after he does finally fall to sleep, Aiden wakes up repeatedly in states of panic — his heart racing,
blood pounding in his ears. He's afraid of the dark and anxious that his angry outburst has upset and alienated his parents. All these are compounded further by screen-time's disruption of the body's clock and interference with deep sleep. In fact, the effects on sleep alone could explain a large amount of mood, cognitive, and behavior issues associated with screens, and also explain how screen effects can build over time, making them easy to miss.
