Communication TheoriesChapter One

Types of communication

Intrapersonal communication occurs within an individualDay dreams – self dialogue It is the base of any other type of com

Interpersonal communicationoccurs between a few number of

peoplethe most common type

Group communicationinvolves a group of people sermons – class discussion

Mass communicationinvolves a great number of

heterogeneous unanimous audience the source is mostly an institution not a

single personthe content is transmitted publicly ,

timed to reach audience members simultaneously

Effects of Mass MediaCategories of Effects are:

Affective emotions

& Feelings

CognitiveInternal mental

processes

Behavioral

actions

Old Media Environment•Your fathers’ media environment:

Two ChannelsFive main radio stations

Three daily newspapers

New Media Environment•Your Media Environment:

Digital Television

Satellite Channels

Mp3 and I pod

Hundreds of radio stations

Computer

Hundreds of Newspapers and Magazines Internet

Difference between old & new media environments• Old

▫ Media Scarcity▫ Content geared to

mass audience▫ One-way

communication▫ Distinct technology for

each medium (printing for newspapers –– wires for telephone – etc)

• New▫ Media abundance▫ Content tailored to

groups or even individuals

▫ Two-way communication (feedback from receiver – Active audience)

▫ All media use same technology which is digital technology (ex. Mobile phones)

Some features of new media environment

•Digital TV•Internet•Agents •New News •Changes in Advertising

Digital Television

Huge number of channels

a control box that enables viewers to interact

High quality of sound

very high resolution (HDTV)

A unique opportunity to transmit data

Internet

The world wide web. ( WWW.) A system by which information on many computers can be accessed by many other computers

Newsgroups and mailing lists which are electronic message sharing systems

E-mail where millions of people communicate by

electronic messages

Criticism of InternetLess accurate

information

Displacement effects

Change from print culture to electronic culture will lead to impoverishment of language

Assignment 1

•Read in the BOOK:

▫Agents ▫New News▫Changes in Advertising

Will discuss that during the next class

What is a theory ?Chapter One

Why do we have to study MC Theory?

•To explain the different effects of mass media on its audiences

•To explain why do people use mass media.

•To explain how people learn from the media.

•To explain the role of the mass media in shaping people’s values and views.

What is a theory?•It is the ultimate goal of any science. •It is

A general statement that summarizes our understanding of the way the world works.

•It takes one of the following forms: ▫ If …. Then ▫ …….. Is more likely to ▫ The greater the X the greater the y ▫ …… leads to …….

The Role of Perception in Communication Perceptual theory

Chapter Four

What do you think of this sculpture and this picture?

What do you see?

What is the idea behind the illusion?

• Our senses receive the information

• And the mind interprets the data according to previous knowledge and experience.

Perception & Communication

Messages we receive from media are full of words, images, sounds , gestures, colors, and many other forms of expression.

We try to make people perceive our messages in a certain way that makes desired effects.

How can we achieve our goals?

What is perception ?

If people don’t perceive what we say , we are talking to ourselves.

•It is a complex process. Without understanding it, communication goals are difficult to be achieved

What is perception?

It is the Process by which we interpret

what we receive through our senses.

Do we perceive things as they are in the reality ?

Our perception is affected by two major types of influences:

Structural InfluencesWhich come from the physical aspects of the Stimuli to which we are exposed

Functional influencesWhich are the psychological Factors that affect our perception

Influences on perception

Our perception is affected by many other factors :

Assumptions Cultural expectations Motivations MoodAttitudes

Assumption

• Assumption is based on prior experience.

• Ex: An elephant has four legs, so we don’t see the 5th leg until we concentrate.

Cultural Expectations

•People tend to relate or see scenes from their own culture rather than the scenes from an unfamiliar culture.

•Ex: pair of binoculars each representing picture from your culture and another from another culture.

Motivations

• The drive behind an action.

• Ex: Hunger.

Mood

• It’s whether you’re happy, sad, angry, irritated,…etc.

Attitude

•People hold positive or negative attitudes towards persons, objects , or ideas. These attitudes affect the way they perceived all of them.

•Think of your attitude toward this course and its instructor. Again try to examine how such attitude affects your perception of what being said or discussed.

Selective perception Why do we react to the same message in

different ways?

Because

Our perception is affected by our needs , wants , attitudes , and other psychological factors.

Other Selective processes

Selective attention

Selective retention

Selective exposure

Other selective Processes

1- Selective exposure Which tv channels or newspapers do you prefer more?Individuals tend to expose themselves to those messages that are in agreement with their attitudes and to avoid those that aren’t.

2- Selective AttentionDo you pay the same level of attention to all parts of a 2 hours movie ? To pay attention to those parts of a message that are consonant with their attitudes, beliefs or behavior and to avoid those parts that go against.

3 -Selective Retention

Why do we recall some of our past experiences, while we fail to recall others?

There is a tendency to recall information in a way that is affected by needs , attitudes, wants, and other psychological factors.

Schema Theory • In general it is a cognitive structure

consisting of organized knowledge about situations and individuals that has been abstracted from prior experience.

• It is used for processing new information and retrieving stored information.

•This term is useful in mass

communication because it helps understand how people process information

• Schemas can help us understand how people may process many news stories. People attempt to match information in a new story to some existing schema. If a match can be found , some parts of information or inferences of information is likely to be stored in the form of a modified schema. If not , information is likely to pass without being assimilated.

Subliminal perception

•People can be influenced by stimuli of which they are not aware.

Problems in Encoding Chapter 5

Problems in Encoding

•Decoding: is an integrated part of any communication process.

•Encoding: is the translation of purposes, intentions, or meaning into symbols or codes.

•These symbols can be in the form of language, pictures (motion picture film or images) or musical notes.

•Encoding is a mysterious process, we can’t even describe.

Characteristics of language

•Language has some characteristics that make it difficult to use carefully, and these characteristics cause some difficulties in encoding and make communication difficult:

1) Language is Static ; Reality is Dynamic: Words do not change over a period of time, but the world around us is full of change. We use static to express and describe dynamic

1 )Language is Static ; Reality is Dynamic cont…

•The idea that the word does not change over time can distract us from the fact that reality is changing.

•EX: A man might spend 20 years dreaming of retiring in Pleasant Valley, a town he visited as a young man, only to go there and find that it has become a busy city.

2 )Language is limited ; Reality is Virtually unlimited

• Any language has a limited number of words compared the facts, events, relationships, and point of views we have to use the language for.

• In telephone calls we use a vocabulary of about 5000 words.5000 words.

• An average novel uses about 10.000 words. 10.000 words. • Can you describe the taste of milk to someone who Can you describe the taste of milk to someone who

has never drunk it?has never drunk it? We do not have enough words for doing such things.

• Some times we have to invent words to describe things “Boom –Chika boom…. Tagh”.

3 )Language is Abstract• AbstractionAbstraction is a process of selecting some

details and leaving out other details.

•What are these objects?•Though each object has certain characteristics

with different material and with different uses, But as language is abstract the answer will normally be chairs. chairs.

Misuses of language

Because language is limited , static , and abstract, certain misuses are likely to occur. There are four common misuses :

1)Dead – level abstraction.2)Undue identification.3)Two – Valued Evaluation.4)Unconscious Projection.

Dead –level Abstraction )Wendell Johnson)There are two levels of abstractions

• High level High level ( peace, freedom , justice, Law…etc).

• Low level Low level ( where messages contain concrete words and details).

• Dead level of abstraction Dead level of abstraction refers to getting stuck at one level of abstraction . This level could be high or low.

• The most effective communication ranges up and down the ladder of abstraction: An effective message contains generalizations at a high level of abstraction , but there are specific details at a low level of abstraction.

Should Range down and up the ladder for effective message

High level of Abstraction

Low level of Abstraction

Undue Identification

•It is the failure to see distinctions between members of a category or class.

•Another term for this is categorical categorical thinkingthinking and sometimes referred to as overgeneralizationovergeneralization.

•One common kind of undue identification is stereotypingstereotyping.

The following statements all show failure to see distinction between members of a class:

•If you have seen one tree, you have seen them all.

•I will never trust another woman.

•You can not believe a thing you read in the newspaper.

•Arabs are Terrorists.

Two-Valued Evaluation•Involves thinking that there are only two possibilities when there are actually a range of possibilities.

•It is also called either -or thinking.•EX:EX: Night and day are two words that do not begin to reflect the many different states that occur during the cycle of the day.

•“ It is not a matter of black and white, there are shades of gray”.

Unconscious Projection

•It means to project our past experiences, purposes , and biases on our perceptions.

•To avoid such problem you are highly recommended to add “ To Me “ To Me at the end of a statement you at the end of a statement you make.” make.”

SlantingSlanting : :•It is another factor that affects objectivity

•SlantingSlanting is selecting details that are favorable or unfavorable to the subject being selected.

Slanting Estimates

• If a demonstration opposing governmental policies is described in the newspapers, how how this demonstration can be described by this demonstration can be described by different newspapers in terms of size and different newspapers in terms of size and power.power.

• Pro- government newspapers for example “AL- “AL- Ahram”Ahram” will choose small estimatesmall estimate while anti – government newspapers for example “El “El Masry EL Youm” Masry EL Youm” will choose large estimate. large estimate.

Slanting with statistics

•StatisticsStatistics are often used selectively to slant or spin information.

•EX:EX: “10,000 flats are available “10,000 flats are available now for youth recently married.” now for youth recently married.” This number compared to the number of youth recently married is too small.

Studies of objectivity Read page 102 to know more about objectivity.

• Objectivity is to separate opinions from facts.EX: EX:

America calls for a new peace conference in Washington. ( This is a fact )

Why do Americans call for this conference now? ( This is an analysis)

Arabs should not participate in such conference. ( This is a commentary)

Propaganda DevicesChapter 6

Propaganda• There had been a great concern about the

propaganda between the world wars. Propaganda was extensively and effectively used in the two wars.

• What is Propaganda?The term was derived from Congregatio de propaganda Fide that was established by the Catholic Church in 1622 to counter the reformation.

Definition of Propaganda• In 1937 Lasswell defined propaganda as

“ The technique of influencing human action by the manipulation representation”

•The representations may take spoken, written, pictorial, or musical form.”

•This definition include the practices of persuasion and advertising.

Functions of propaganda

According to lasswell , objectives of propaganda are :

To mobilize hatred against enemy To preserve the friendship of allies To procure the cooperation of neutrals To demoralize the enemy

Propaganda & Education

•The main difference between propaganda and education or information is:

- Propaganda is for the benefit of the source

- Education or information is for the benefit of the audience

Propaganda Devices

There are seven devices 1. Name calling: It is used to make us

reject the idea without examining the evidence. It is not used in advertising but it is widely used in politics and public discourse. ( ex. Terrorism Vs freedom fighter )

2. Glittering Generality

It is to associate something with a virtue word.

• In Advertising: Imperial Margarine, Super Shell. In politics and business: Law of national integrity

• Some times glittering generality used by advertisers involve deception to such a degree that legal action is taken

3. Transfer

•This technique depend on linking an idea, or product or cause with something that people admire.

4. Testimonial

• It consists in having some respected or hated person say that a given idea or program or program is good or bad.

• This technique could use celebrities, professionals or regular street persons.

5. Plain Folks

•It is a method by which a speaker attempts to convince that he and his ideas are good because they are of the people.

6. Bandwagon •The propagandist tries to convince others that all members of a group to which we belong accepts his program and that we must therefore follow our crowd and jump on the band wagon.

7. Card Stacking •It is similar to slanting. It involves the

selection and use of facts or falsehoods, illustrations or distractions, and logical or illogical statements in order to give the best or the worst possible case for an idea, program, person, or product.

Assignment •Read pp. 111-124 and give at least two examples for each device we have studied and try to evaluate their effectiveness.

Theories of Persuasion Chapter eight

Persuasion •One of the most basic forms of

communication is persuasion.• Persuasion is a critical concept for any

society all over the world. •In a free market and democratic society,

persuasion is the hard core for commercial and political activities.

• Persuasion is an integrated part of competitiveness.

Definition of Persuasion•Persuasion is:

“Attitude change resulting from exposure to

information from others”•A great deal of research has been

conducted with communication aimed at changing attitudes.

What is an attitude?•An attitude refers to whether or not we like something.

•Attitudes are important because they influence our actions.

•When we are able to change attitudes, we maintain the control over behaviors.

What is a belief?•Belief, or the statements that people assume to be true.

•It is another concept that is closely related to attitudes.

•A man who believes that smoking is likely to cause lung cancer may avoid smoking.

Components of Attitudes• Attitudes are often thought of as having

three components: - An Affective component: liking or feeling about an object.- A cognitive component: beliefs about an object.- A behavioral component: actions toward the object.

•All those three components together refer to the final evaluation of the object toward which the attitude is held.

When components are consistent

Ex: A man who feels pleasure or likes to smoke may

believes that nothing is true about the harms of tobacco,

he will smoke.

When they are inconsistent•What happens is, pressure is generated for one of them to change.

• In some cases an individual can hold an ambivalent attitude made up of favorable and unfavorable components toward the same object.

Attitude change•Many attitudes are difficult to change, while some others are not.

• Whenever the attitudes are tied to person’s ego or sense of identity, any attempt to change a person’s attitudes is seen as a threat and is met with resistance.

Techniques of Attitude Change

1.One – sided and Two-sided Message

2.Source Credibility 3.Fear Appeal

1. One – sided and Two-sided Message.

• This technique is used whenever the issue has arguments or controversial.

• One sided message is most effective with persons initially favorable to the message or with people of less education.

• Two sided message is most effective with persons initially opposed to the message or with people of greater education.

• The characteristics of audience is critical with the use of this technique.

2. Source Credibility • There is a wide spread belief that having

the right source can increase the effectiveness of the message.

• When you select an effective source to speak for your idea or product, you are using the propaganda device of testimonial.

• This technique is widely used by commercials.

• This extensive use ignores the effects of long run.

Source Credibility •Research findings indicated that results

immediately after test show that the high credibility source did produce more opinion change than that of low credibility source.

• But after four weeks the amount of opinion change retained was approximately equal for the high credibility and low credibility sources.

Source Credibility

•This is not due to the forgetting of the source, but to a tendency after the passage of time to dissociate the source and the opinion.

Dimensions of Source Crediblity•Source credibility has four dimensions:1- Trustworthiness.2- Professionalism or competence: but it

deals more with manner of presentation, than with the actual knowledge that a person posses.

3- Dynamism.4- Objectivity.

Mistakes of using this technique•The most common one is the case of Micheal Jordan who was at one time endorsing products of 14 companies.

•So making multiple endorsements can reduce the effectiveness of a high credibility for all audience members.

Fear Appeal

•It is to threaten or arouse some fear in the audience.

•This appeal is being extremely used in public campaigns. (ex. AIDS, smoking, dental hygiene and others)

•The results of the researches concerning the effectiveness of fear appeal are controversial.

The amount of fear injected in a message

•We had research findings that low and high levels of fear in a message will lead to a small amounts of attitudes changes and moderate levels of fear will lead to the greatest amount of attitude change.

The success of Fear Appeal campaigns

depends on )Smoking Campaign): • The characteristics of the target

audience. (teenagers perceive the threat of death as remote.)

• Fear appeal strategy used in these campaigns. (The more immediate consequences of smoking or the long run effects).

• Amount of support that come from other sources (interpersonal sessions).

Making attitudes resistant to change

•Sometimes our goal might not be to change attitudes but to make attitudes resistant to change.

• Antismoking campaigns are good examples for such goals .

•One of the most prominent theories in that fields is called inoculation theory.

Inoculation Theory

•This theory assumes that many people have many unchallenged attitudes but these attitudes can be often easily changed once they are attacked because they are not used to defending them.

•Ex: When a person is brought up in a germ-free environment and is suddenly exposed to germs.

•That person’s body is subject to infection because it has not developed any resistance.

•Such a person can be given resistance either by supportive treatment or by inoculation a deliberate exposure to weakened form of the germ that stimulates the development of defenses.

Refutation Strategy

•It is trying to identify as many attacks as possible and refute them before they are presented to the target audience

In an Anti-Smoking Campaign•The most common attacking arguments are:1-Smoking is cool.2- Experimental smoking is not addicting.3-Smoking will not harm me.

•Since the effect persuasive message tends to decrease overtime, it might be necessary to repeat the inoculation from time to time through boaster time.

Weaknesses1. Inoculation effect is tentative.2. General resistance that would make the

basic belief unlikely to change is not assured if different attack strategy was used.

3. While threat plays a role in inoculation by increasing people’s desire to defend them, the salience of attitude object may affect inoculation- that is if the attitude object is not a salient one , inoculation will probably not take place.

Agenda SettingChapter 11

What is agenda setting?

•The agenda-setting function refers to the media’s capability, through the repeated news coverage, of raising the importance of an issue in the public’s mind

•Mass media attention to an issue cause that issue to be elevated in importance to the public.

Chapel Hill Study

•The first systematic study of the agenda-setting hypothesis was reported in 1972 by McCombs and Shaw.

•They studied how mass media set the how mass media set the agenda for each political campaign, agenda for each political campaign, influencing the salience of attitudes influencing the salience of attitudes toward the political issues. toward the political issues.

•The study focused on the “undecideds” voters in Chapel Hill during the presidential elections of 1968.

•They made a list of the issues voter perceive as important and the issues the media emphasis.

•Results: Results: The correlation between the two lists was highhigh.

The findings supported an Agenda Setting effect.

Chapel Hill Study cont…

The Media Agenda and RealityThe Media Agenda and Reality•This study focuses on the 1960s where many

issues were prominent.•G. Ray Funkhouser was interested in the

relationship between the news coveragenews coverage, the public perception public perception and the issues in realityissues in reality.

•He obtained his data as follows:The media content: The media content: by counting the number of

articles on each issue in 3 weekly local news papers.

The issue in reality: The issue in reality: based on statistics taken from a statistical Abstracts of the US.

Results of the study:

•Funkhouser looked at the relationship between public opinion and media content, and the relation ship between media content and reality.

•The results of the study showed a strong correlation between public ranking of an issue as important and the amount of coverage given the issue by the media. On the other hand, On the other hand, it seemed to be that media coverage did not correspond very well to the realities of the issues.

Priming

•TV newscast might be having an impact on presidential elections.

• It is the process in which the media attend to some issues and not others and thereby alteralter the standards by which people evaluate election candidates.

•By setting the agenda of election campaigns the media also sets the criteria by which the candidate will be evaluated.

The obtrusiveness of issues

•Zucker suggested that the obtrusiveness of the issue may be an important factor in agenda setting.

• Obtrusive issues:Obtrusive issues: are the issues that the public experience directly, EX:EX: unemployment, crime and cost of living.

• Unobtrusive issues:Unobtrusive issues: are the issues that the public may not experience directly, EX:EX: pollution, energy crisis and drug abuse.

•The study demonstrated that agenda setting may take place for unobtrusive issues but not the obtrusive issues.

•Zucker also argues that since the only way people can find out about unobtrusive issues are through the media or through talking to other people who have been exposed to the media.

The obtrusiveness of issues cont…

Abstract and Concrete issues

•Yagada and Dozier speculated that the audience could find it harder to visualize the abstract issues, and this may affect the happening of agenda-setting.

•Abstractness: Abstractness: is the degree to which an issue is difficult to conceptualize of be made sensible.

•Results: The study concluded that media may not set the public agenda for abstract issues (ex: nuclear arms (ex: nuclear arms race)race), unlike the concrete issues (ex: (ex: energy and drug abuse).energy and drug abuse).

Abstract and Concrete issues cont…

Agenda Building

• It’s a collective process in which media, government and the public influence one another in determining what issues are considered to be important.

• It’s a six step process:It’s a six step process:1. The press highlights some events.2. Different issues need different kind

and amount of news coverage.

3. Events should be “Framed” or given a field of meanings within which they can be understood.

4. Language used affects the perception of the importance of an issue.

5. The media links the events to secondary symbols to make it easier to take sides.

6. Agenda building is accelerated when will-known and credible individuals speak out on an issue.

Agenda Building cont …

Why do some issues receive more attention than the others?

• In addition to the actual flow of actual flow of eventsevents,, Funkhouser suggested five mechanisms that operate to influence the amount of attention an issue might receive:

1. Adaptation of the media to a stream of events

2. Over reporting of significant but unusual events.

3. Selective reporting of the newsworthy aspects of otherwise nonnewsworthy situations.

4. Pseudo events or the manufacturing of newsworthy events.

5. Event summaries or situations that portray nonnewsworthy events in a newsworthy way.

Who sets the agenda for the MEDIA?

• There are several factors that affect the media agenda:

1.1. Inter-media agenda setting: Inter-media agenda setting: It’s when the Elite media set the agenda for other media.

2.2. Communicators: Communicators: their characters, attitudes, personal and professional background,etc.

3.3. Media Routines: Media Routines: deadlines, space or time constraints, reliance on official sources.

4.4. Organizational influencesOrganizational influences: : all media organizations have specific goals they want to achieve, which affects the content.

5.5. Influences from outside media Influences from outside media organizations: organizations: ex, pressure groups, interest groups.

6.6. Society Ideology: Society Ideology: it represents a society-level phenomenon.

Who sets the agenda for the MEDIA? Cont…

The knowledge-Gap HypothesisChapter 12

What is Knowledge-Gap?

•Knowledge like other forms of wealth is not distributed equally throughout the society.

•People who are struggling with financial poverty are also often information-poor.information-poor.

The Role of Mass Media

• Mass media targets the public or the masses, so hypothetically it could be a very good agent in decreasing the knowledge gap.

• Example of the media efforts are:1. The Knowledge Gap on Public

Affairs. (read from the book P.250)(read from the book P.250)2. Sesame Street.(read from the book .(read from the book

P.251)P.251)

•Tichenor, konohue and olien suggest that knowledge gap is likely to occur in general interest areas (EX: EX: Public affairs, Science and the like)

•While it is less likely to occur in more specific areas of people’s interests (EX:EX: Sports, Garden care, Lawn and the like)

Possible Reasons for Knowledge-Gap•Different Communication Skills between

those high and low in socioeconomic status.•Previously acquired background knowledge.•People of high socioeconomic status might

have more relevant social contact.•Mechanism of selectivity (exposure,

acceptance and retention).•Mass media itself, as it is geared to people

of higher socioeconomic status.

Refinement of the Hypothesis

• There are certain conditions under which knowledge-gap might decrease:

1. Conflict on local issues.2. In Homogenous societies, unlike

(Pluralistic) (Pluralistic) Heterogeneous societies.3. When the issue has a strong and

immediate impact.

Effects of Mass CommunicationChapter 13

General Trends in Effects Theory

• The Bullet Theory (Hypodermic Needle or Transmission Belt Theory): It was influenced by the power of Propaganda in WWI and was very popular in the years prior to WWII.

The Limited Effect Model:• Certain studies led to the view that mass

communication typically has small effects.1.It’s effective in transmitting information

not changing attitudes2.Selective perception could reduce the

effectiveness of the message3.There are some mediating factors that

reduces the effects of mass communication (selective processes, group processes, group norms and opinion leadership)

Conditional effect model:

•Some media has some effects on some people in some situations.

Powerful Effect Model•Under certain circumstances, the mass

media can have a significant effect on large number of people.

•It was presented by Elizabeth Noelle-Newmann.

•Her spiral-of-silence Theory would fit under the powerful effect model.

Specific Theories of Media Effects•Cultivation theory•Spiral of Silence•Third-Person Effect•Social Learning Theory•Media Framing

Cultivation Theory

•It was developed by Geroge Gerbner and his colleagues.

•He argues that for heavy viewers, television virtually monopolizes and subsumes other sources of information, ideas and consciousness.

• The original research was comparing between heavy and light viewers.

• Television citizenship: the teaching of a common worldview, common roles and common values based on television content.

• Gerbner added that heavy television viewing has different outcomes for different social groups:

Refinements on the Theory1. Mainstreaming: said to occur when heavy

viewing leads to convergence of outlooks across groups (ex: fear of crime is spread among low-income and high-income)

2. Resonance: it occurs when the cultivation effect is boosted for a certain group of the population (ex: heavy viewers are more likely to agree that crime is a serious problem than light viewers)

The spiral of Silence• It was developed by Elizabeth Neumann,

who argues that the media has powerful effects which were underestimated in the past.

• She argues that the media has three major characteristics:

1. Cumulation2. Ubiquity3. consonance

•Cumulation: is the buildup of certain themes or messages over time

•Ubiquity: is the widespread presence of the mass media.

•Consonance: is the unified picture of an event or issue that can develop and is often shared by different media

Theory

Amount of people not openly expressing deviant opinion

and/or changing from deviant to dominant opinion

Interpersonal support for

deviant opinion

Opinion expressed as dominant by mass media

Mass Media Effect• The mass media can affect the spiral of

silence in three ways:1. They shape the impressions about which

opinions are dominant2. They shape impressions about which

opinions are on the increase3. They shape impressions about which

opinions one can utter in public without becoming isolated

Social Learning Theory

•It was developed by Bandura.•It suggests that learning takes place

through observing the behavior of others.•It acknowledges that human beings are

capable of cognition or thinking and that they can benefit from observation and experience.

Theories on the Effects of media Violence

• A number of different hypothesis have been suggested concerning the possible effects of television violence:

1. Catharsis Hypothesis: it suggests that viewing television violence causes a reduction of aggressive drive through a vicarious expression of aggression.

2. Stimulation hypothesis: it predicts that television violence leads to an increase in actual aggressive behavior.

3. Imitation or Modeling Hypothesis: it suggests that people learn aggressive behaviors from television and then go out to reproduce them.

4. Disinhibition Hypothesis: it suggests that television lowers people’s inhibitions about behaving aggressively toward other people, which means that television is teaching a general norm that violence is an acceptable way to relate to other people.