Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Blog #7 Pictures in Our Heads
In "Pictures in Our Heads" by Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson, the power of the media is really explained. People in America are broken into two groups: heavy viewers, and light viewers. Heavy viewers are classified by watching four hours of television or more each day. Light viewers are classified as those who watch two hours or less of television each day. Heavy viewers are more likely to view women as having fewer abilities and interests, more people being employed as an athlete, and there being more violence than there really is. Television is a huge tool in shaping the populations beliefs and views. Iyengar and Kinder were able to prove that exposure to certain things in the media make viewers have more concern for that issue. In their studies, they found that editing programs to show certain types of material made the viewer more concerned for that topic and made it their job to help that cause. The people believed that the issue they were exposed to was now the main problem that needed to be solved. The media can be a very manipulative tool to get society to believe something.
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You summarized the article very well. I agree that the media/ the television can be manipulative of the worlds thought and beliefs. People are highly influenced by what they see on T.V., whether it be fiction or non-fiction. Very interesting article, good job!
ReplyDeleteAwesome summary! It is scary to think how manipulative something so easily available and used can be towards viewers. Great Job
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to find out there is actually a classification of t.v. viewers. It was also a little weird to find out that people who watch more t.v. picture women more often as having fewer abilities and interests. I agree that t.v. can be very manipulative and most people don't catch the manipulation. The article seems like it makes some interesting points. Overall well done!
ReplyDeleteTelevision can really be manipulative and I never thought too much into that before I read this article. Television really is a huge tool in shaping the population's beliefs and views. You picked out some very good points from the article. Good job.
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