CMN 140 Midterm 1

How does cognitive maturation influence how children watch television?

*Cognitive maturation* also influences how children watch television. For example, at 6 months, children begin paying attention to the television. By age 3, children have viewing patterns, but it's primarily exploratory. By age 4, children are spending less time in the exploratory mode and more time in a search mode. In addition, children begin trying to distinguish between ads and programs. By the fourth grade, children have developed a critical and skeptical attitude toward advertising. By ages 8 to 10, most children have developed a good understanding of fictional plots and by age 10 to 12, children have a basic idea of the economic nature of TV

Describe convergence

*Convergence* is the moving together over time of things that were previously separated. In other words, convergence is the blending together of previously separate channels of communication such that the characteristics that have divided those channels into different media have been eroded.

Describe filtering

*Filtering* consists of trying to decide which messages to become aware of. The task of filtering is to make decisions regarding which messages to filter out (and ignore) and which to filter in (and pay attention to). The goal of filtering is to attend to only those messages that are useful and ignore the rest. The focus of filtering is the messages in the environment. It is an automatic process and relies of programmed mental codes.

Describe the difference between knowledge and information

*Information* is composed of facts. Information messages are instruments that deliver information to us. Facts are discrete bits of information. Social information is composed of acceptable beliefs that cannot be verified by authorities in the same way factual information can. On the other hand, *knowledge* requires structure to provide context and meaning

Define knowledge structures

*Knowledge structures* are sets of organized information in our memory. It is composed of information and knowledge (and it is important to note that the two are not interchangeable).

Describe meaning construction

*Meaning construction* requires going beyond the literal meaning of the word. The task is to use our skills to move beyond meaning matching and to construct meaning for oneself in order to personalize and get more out of a message. The goal it to interpret messages from more than one perspective as a means of identifying the range of meaning options, then choose one or synthesize across several. The focus is ones own knowledge structures. Meaning construction is not an automatic process and requires the use of skills. Meaning construction occurs when we do not have a denoted meaning in our memory or when that meaning does not satisfy us

Describe meaning matching

*Meaning matching* consists of pulling out the meaning, and the basic information contained within it. The task of meaning matching is to use basic competencies to recognize referents and locate previously learned definitions for each. The goal of meaning matching is to access previously learned information efficiently, and the focus is the referents of the message. It is a largely automatic process (it often becomes routine) and involves recognizing elements in the message and accessing our memory for meaning.

How do we build media literacy?

*Media Literacy* is a set of perspectives that we actively use to expose ourselves to the mass media in order to process and interpret the meaning of the messages we encounter. Perspectives are built from knowledge structures and in order to build knowledge structures we need tools, raw materials and willingness. The tools are the skills, the raw materials is the information and the willingness is your personal locus. We thus use these perspectives to process and interpret the meaning of messages

Define media literacy.

*Media literacy* is a set of perspectives that we actively use to expose ourselves to the media and interpret the meaning of the messages we encounter. Media literacy is multidimensional and a continuum (meaning it changes as we progress). In addition, age can effect media literacy (for example, old people tend to be less literate than young people). Furthermore, media literacy acknowledges that media can have positive and negative effect on us (meaning that there can be many different perspectives). For example, some scholars may argue that text messaging is inhibiting communication while others may say it pushing people to be more concise in communication. Lastly, media literacy encourages us to adapt to our changing environment. It is important to note that media literacy is a broad approach because it does not just apply to ones ability to read a written word (as the term "literacy" suggests), rather it is used to define many different concepts, such as visual literacy (one's ability to process 2 dimensional shapes), story literacy (ability to follow plot), computer literacy, etc.

What are strategies that help us deal with the information problem?

*Mental hardware*, *mental software* and *automatic routines* allow us to deal with the information problem (and these strategies are more effective than multitasking)

Describe psychological convergence

*Psychological convergence* refers to changes in people's perceptions about barriers that previously existed that are now breaking down or totally eliminated due to recent changes in the media. For example, geographical barriers are no longer barriers since technologies such as email can overcome geographic barriers.

Describe technological convergence

*Technological convergence* describes how innovations about storing and transmitting information have brought about changes to the mass media industry. With technological convergence, the audience needs and message is more important than the channel. Analog coding has beem replaced by digital coding. *Analog coding* is the recoding, storage and retrieval of information that relies on the physical properties of a medium. For example, print recording stored as ink marks on paper. Analog coding is different for every medium. On the other hand, *digital coding* refers to using a sequence of symbols or bytes that are not dependent on the physical characteristics of any one medium. Digital coding is standard and can be read by any medium. The advantage of technological convergence is that a single message can generate many streams of revenue and when the message appears in one channel, it stimulates audience memories to expose themselves to message in other channels.

innovations vs. survivors

*innovators* are always taking in information. They are future oriented, experiment, skeptical about advertising, believe in science, enjoy problem solving, etc. *survivors* are cautious/risk adverse, older, thrifty, find comfort in routine, their needs are greater than their wants, they are loyal to brands/products, etc.

Describe the difference between factual and social information

*social information* is composed of acceptable beliefs that cannot be verified by authorities in the same way *factual information* can.

define denoted meaning

A *denoted meaning* is essentially a definition. When learning to read in elementary school, one is essentially learning how to recognize a longer list of referents and memorize their denoted meanings. Examples of referents include words, numbers, pictures and sounds.

What is a frame?

A *frame* is used to interpret a message. Research shows that the way a story is told in the media (i.e. how it is framed) influences the respondents interpretation of the event.

What Is a Mass Audience?

A *mass audience* is composed of all individuals who share the same needs (not necessarily an audience that is large).

How does moral development influence how children process media?

A lack of moral development means that children can not tell the difference between what is right and wrong when processing media

Why treat children as a special audience?

Children are a special audience because it is believed that children are especially vulnerable to negative effects of the mass media. In addition, children are a special audience due to their lack of experience and lack of maturation

How are children protected from negative TV content?

Children are protected from negative TV content in many ways. It is important to note that Congress has passed no regulations on media violence in 50 years. In 1975, the TV industry tried a self-regulatory policy called the "family hour" and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 required that all TV receivers have a v-chip (ratings).

How are children protected from unfair advertising practices?

Children are protected from unfair advertising practices in many ways. One method is to limit the amount of time devoted to advertising in programs aimed at children. For example, there are limits to the amount of time that can be devoted to advertising: 12 minutes per hour on weekdays and 10.5 minutes per hour on weekends. Another requirement is to keep a clear separation between program content and commercial content on television programs aimed at children. In fact, the FCC requires bumpers, which are 5-second segments before and after commercial breaks to alert young children about the switch in content (from program to advertisements).

What strategies consumers usually use in the game?

Consumers can use *default* and *media literacy* strategies to survive the media game of economics. The default strategy typically runs continuously in our unconscious minds. We keep repetitive habits because they are easy and require little thinking and attention. With the media literacy strategy, people understand the economic game of the media and have higher expectations for a return on the resources they expend. It is important to note that individuals with a weak personal locus will not invest the effort needed to be a better player in the economic game.

How to get better at filtering, meaning matching and meaning construction

If you periodically examine your exposure habits, you can become better at filtering, meaning matching and meaning construction. Also increasing one's media literacy

The book re-examines the case for special treatment of children. What are the three major notions that do not fit into the original set of claims?

In regards to maturation, people keep maturing past adolescence throughout one's life (contrary to Piaget) and in regards to experience, although young people have spent less time on earth than adults, this does not necessarily effect experience. There are many adolescents and adults who have been having the same experiences over and over that as they age, their experience stays the same

Describe the players of the media game of economics

In the media game of economics, the players compete for our attention. The players of the economic game are the consumers, advertisers, media companies and media employers and the goal is to maximize the value of the exchange for themselves. To play the economic game, one must have resources and a willingness to exchange them. 1.) *Consumers* bring resources such as money, time and attention to the game. 2.) The *advertisers* bring money and exchange money for time and space in the media in order to expose ads to target audiences. 3.) the *media companies* bring money, messages and audiences to the game and compete in three different markets simultaneously. These markets are the talent, audience and advertising market. 4.) the *media employees* bring time, skills and talent. They consist of *below the line* and *above the line*. Below the line are low paid and easily replaceable and include lighting technicians, boom mic operators, etc. Above the line employees are usually paid more and include producers, directors, etc.

What are the stages of cognitive development defined by Jean Piaget?

Jean Piaget describes the *stages of cognitive development*. Piaget found that a child's mind matures from birth to about 12 years of age. At age 2, children are in the sensorimotor stage. The pre-operational stage is from 2 to 7 years of age. The concrete operational stage until age 12. Finally, by age 12, they move into the formal operational stage, where they are regarded as having matured cognitively into adulthood.

What are the stages of moral development as defined by Kohlberg?

Kohlberg suggested that there are *three levels of moral development*. The *pre-conventional stage* begins at about age 2 and runs to about age 7 or 8 and this is when children depend on an authority figure to tell them what is right and wrong. During the *conventional stage*, children develop a conscience for themselves as they internalize what is right and wrong. The *post-conventional stage* can begin as early as middle adolescence. Adolescents try to move beyond the conventional norms about what is right and wrong as they encounter moral dilemmas.

Who benefits the most from the way that our code has been programmed? Who's programmed us, where are the mental codes coming from?

Many people can benefit from the way our mind has been programmed. Some of our mental programming come from our friends and family (who typically have our best interests in mind) however, some influence also comes from institutions and society. Some mental programming even comes from media programmers who are concerned about influencing you in order to satisfy their own goals.

How does mass media segment the general population?

Mass media segments the general population into marketing *niches*, then construct niche audiences by creating special content to attract people in each niche so that those audiences can be rented to advertisers. The mass media competes for our attention.

How do media industries appeal to existing needs and interests?

Media industries attract audiences by appealing to existing needs and interests. The mass media does this by creating messages to meet the existing needs and interests of their audience. The media industry knows what needs of audience are based on past consumption patterns. In addition, because programmers know we have a narrow exposure repertoire, they tailor messages to fit our narrow repertoire.

What strategies do media industries use to survive the game

Media industries survive the economic game by maximizing profits and minimizing expenses, but also by constructing and conditioning audiences as well as through reducing risk. 1.) the media game of economics involves *maximizing profits* which consists of increasing revenue, appealing to more than one audience, and wanting to find more than one way to generate money from the same audience 2.) the media game of economics also involves *minimizing expenses*. Expenses can be minimized through *economies of scale* which exist when marginal costs are lower than average costs (when producing an extra unit of a good decreases as scale of output expands) and *economies of scope* which is achieved through multi-product production (which is when variations of a product are produced). 3.) audiences can be constructed through niche audiences. Rely on long tail marketing to construct niche audiences. 4.) media companies must condition their audience members so that they develop a habit of exposure 5.) media companies *reduce risk* through marketing concept. Managers can conduct research to find niche audiences, then media messages are developed to meet previously unmet needs in those audiences.

How is media literacy a continuum (and not a category)?

Media literacy is a *continuum* because like a thermometer, it has degrees. We all occupy some position on the media literacy spectrum, for example, people with lower levels of media literacy have fewer perspectives on the mediac

What are the four dimensions of media literacy

Media literacy requires that we acquire information from four dimensions: cognitive, emotional, aesthetic and moral. The *cognitive* dimension refers to factual info (such as dates, time, etc.). The *emotional* dimension contains info about feelings, such as love. The *aesthetic* domain contains information about how to produce messages (this domain is the basis for making judgments). Lastly, the *moral* domain contains information about values (think of information that resides in your conscience or your soul, consists of the characteristics of good and evil).

What is the difference between cross media and cross vehicle promotion

Media programmers used to build loyalty to vehicles but now they focus on messages. In order to increase media streams, media companies try to market a message through as many media and vehicles as it owns. Convergence represents the blurring and merging of distinct media

What are different strategies in identifying niches?

Niches can be identified in many ways. *Geographic segmentation* is the oldest form of segmentation and describes how location defines interest. This form of segmentation is most important to newspapers as well as broadcast radio and local tv where there are geographical boundaries to coverage areas. This segmentation is mostly outdated because information has the ability to surpass geographic barriers. *Demographic segmentation* focuses on relatively enduring characteristics about each person (such as gender, ethnic background, age, income, education, etc). Demographic segmentation was more useful decades ago than it is today. This is because less women stay home and raise children and more people are college educated. In other words, stereotypical expectations are changing. *Social class segmentation* consists of a mix of characteristics including income and psychological characteristics. One's social class typically impacts how he/she spends their money. *Geodemographic segmentation* is a blend of geographic and demographic segmentation. PRIZM aids in geodemographic segmentation and is based on a complex analysis of US census data. *Psychographic segmentation* consists of the twelve American lifestyles and VALS typology.

How does the media condition its audiences?

Once a mass media organization has attracted you to a message, it immediately tries to condition you to repeated exposure. The cost of attracting an initial audience is high. It is important to note that media exposure is inertial. When we are paying attention to a message, we tend to focus on that message and filter our everything else around us. For example, when you are watching a video on YouTube, YouTube wants to hold onto you as a continuing audience member. Thus, recommendations on future videos to watch are made based on what you have viewed before.

Define personal locus

One's *personal locus* is composed of goals and drives. *Goals* shape information processing by determining what gets filtered in and what gets ignored. *Drive* affects the amount of effort put into achieving a goal. The stronger one's drive, the the more effort you will put in to attaining one's goals. The more you engage in your locus, the more you will be increasing your media literacy because if you know about your personal locus more, you will make more conscious decisions to shape it. Thus, you will have more control over the media's influence. (Note: people with a weak locus default to media control)

Define mental hardware and describe how it aids in information processing

Our *mental hardware* is our brain. Our brain is composed of 100-billion neuron cells and each cell is linked by synapses to as many as 100,000 others. Because the human brain is constantly monitoring the environment through our senses, our neurons must decide whether to ignore or respond to a surplus of specific signals.

Define mental software and its function

Our *mental software* is what programs our brain to fulfill certain functions. For example, the brain constantly oversees the body's internal state by monitoring organs to keep them functioning properly. It has also been programmed with a *fight or flight* reflex which is important for survival. When a potential threat is encountered, the body is automatically ready to fight threat or flee due to this reflex (which has the ability to increase heart rate and blood pressure). The brain also accumulates additional programming through experience such as logical reasoning and arithmetic, but also how to control one's emotions and expand relationships.

Define automatic routines and describe its advantages and disadvantages.

Our mind can perform many everyday tasks quickly thanks to *automatic routines*. Automatic routines are sequences of behaviors or thoughts that we learn from experience and then apply again and again with little effort. Examples of everyday sequences include brushing teeth and tying shoes (once these sequences have been learned, they can be repeated with little effort). This state of automaticity allows our minds to operate without conscious effort from us. Because there are too many messages for our mind to consider at once, our brain must go on "auto pilot" to guide this information filtering process (and only bring the most important information to our conscious awareness). The biggest advantage to automatic routines is that it increases efficiency. However, there are disadvantages to automatic routines, for example, if we rely on them to heavily, we may miss out on information that could be helpful or enjoyable. Another disadvantage is that we may experience message fatigue. When we feel overwhelmed by two many media messages, we may try to protect ourselves even more by filtering out even more information.

What are the four kinds of treatment that parents generally use to aid children.

Parents generally use one of four kinds of treatments: *imposing restrictions*, *co-viewing*, *active mediation*, or using *program ratings*. For example, media exposure can be limited by rules about how much, when, and which types of television children are allowed to watch. *Co-viewing* involves parents and children watching TV together. *Active mediation* consists of conversations that parents or other adults have with children about television. *Positive mediation* is pointing out the good things in television messages as well as encouraging children to emulate/copy those good things. *Negative mediation* is pointing out the bad behaviors of characters and being critical of what is portrayed. Lastly, while *program ratings* are provided, few parents use the program ratings developed by the MPAA. It is important to note that these treatments are not very useful.

What is Twelve American Lifestyles?

The *Twelve American Lifestyles* is a form of psychographic segmentation that was developed by William Wells. Each of the 12 lifestyles represents an individual with a certain career and social class as well as media and purchasing habits. For example, "Joe the factory worker" describes one American lifestyle.

What is the *Information Problem* in modern society and what three factors that contribute to it?

The *information problem* is that there are more people producing information and that there is more information available than there ever has been before. The three factors that contribute to the information problem is that growth is accelerating, there is a high degree of exposure and that we have to keep up. One reason why growth is accelerating is because half of all scientists who have ever lived are alive today and producing information. Also, degree of exposure is increasing, especially thanks to the device-ification of technology. Lastly, we keep up with this information through multitasking.

What are the seven skills of Media Literacy?

The *seven skills of media literacy* are analysis, evaluation, grouping, induction, deduction, synthesis and abstracting. 1.) *analysis* means breaking down a message into meaningful elements. When one encounters a message, they can either accept it as it, or dig deeper by breaking it down and examining it. 2. )*evaluation* means making a judgement about the value of a message element. One can compare the element to a standard and either accept or reject it. 3.) *grouping*means determining elements which are alike and which are different. This requires you have a classification rule. 4.) *induction* means inferring a pattern across a small number of elements and then generalizing the pattern to all elements in a larger set. People tend to use elements from media to infer patterns in real life. 5.) *deduction* means using general principals to explain particulars, usually with the use of syllogistic reasoning 6.) *synthesis* is the assembling of elements into a new structure. This is an essential skill for building and updating our knowledge structures. 7.) *abstracting* is creating a brief, clear and accurate description that captures the essence of a message in a significantly smaller number of words than the message itself. This skill captures the "big picture"

What are the Three Building Blocks of Media Literacy?

The *three building blocks of media literacy* are skills, knowledge structures and personal locus.

What are the advantages of developing a higher degree of Media Literacy?

The advantages of developing a *higher degree of media literacy* is that one gains an appetite for a wider variety of media messages, more self programming of mental codes and more control over the media. One gains an appetite for a wider variety of media messages because the media literacy perspective encourages you to explore a wider range of messages. In addition, by reducing the power of media in programming your codes, you can re-program your mental codes to open yourself up to new experiences. Lastly, increasing your level of media literacy gives you more power to control media exposures and its eventual effect on you (remember, at lower levels of media literacy, you default to media control)

What are the characteristics of the game

The characteristics of the media game of economics include valuing resources well, indirect and direct support, complex interdependency, digital convergence, nature of competition, advertising as the engine 1.) *valuing resources well* consists of assessing how well a resource will achieve a particular goal. 2.) *indirect and direct support* are equally important. Direct costs are financial payments made directly to media companies. Indirect costs are typically payments of time you make when you expose yourself to media. In addition, direct support comes from consumers in form of payments to mass media and indirect support comes from consumers who buy advertised products. 3.) there is a *complex interdependency* among players of the economic game. Decision makers are often conflicted because they are experiencing cross purposes. When a person at one media company makes a decision, it can often have an impact on other companies in the same industry (the media game is highly dynamic and interrelated). 4.) *Digital convergence* has created opportunities to market content simultaneously across all channels. Digitization has lowered barriers to entry for entrepreneurs 5.) The *nature of competition* means that many businesses compete for few resources. Media businesses mostly compete on product images (rather than product features). sometimes monopolistic competition evolves. 6.) advertising is the engine of the media game of economics. Advertising is important to our economy. High levels of employment give people resources (money) to buy goods and services. Advertising also makes it possible for new goods to enter the market.

What are the primary characteristics of the computer industry?

The computer medium is currently moving into dominance. There are three categories of media businesses in this industry. The first is the developer of hardware and software (such as Microsoft and Apple). The second is the conglomerates that acquires many media companies (such as Walt Disney and Time Warner) and the third is the companies that provide the internet based services (such as facebook and twitter).

Describe the goal of the media game of economics.

The goal of the media game of economics is to maximize the value of the exchange for themselves. *Net winners* have negotiated resource exchanges so well that their payoffs are greater than their costs. Net losers give up resources.

Can a single person be a member of more than one audience niche?

The idea of a niche audience is that media programmers can construct special kinds of messages to appeal to different kinds of people. A single person can be a member of more than one niche audience.

Why was the idea of mass audience rejected?

The idea of mass audience was rejected around 1950 because scholars realized that the assumptions of mass audience is wrong. This is because members of the audience actually communicate interpersonally. In addition, rather than one mass audience, there are actually many audiences.

Describe the profile of the mass media workforce

The mass media workforce employs <1% of US adult population. The largest employer within the mass media industry has been newspaper along with film and video production. There are more men than women working in mass media. The highest percent of women employed in mass media industries is magazines and books. Most journalists are male, white and young. Most tv writers are also male and young. Women in media industries usually are in a lower status position, earn less money and have less education.

Describe the three aspects of maturity

The three aspects of maturation consist of cognitive development, emotional development and moral development. When we are young, our minds have not *cognitively developed* meaning our minds are not developed enough to allow for an understanding of abstract thoughts. In addition, young minds lack *emotional development*. We gain higher levels of emotional literacy by gaining experience with emotions. For example, young children typically do not understand suspense because they have had no experience with that emotion. Lastly, young children lack *moral development*. We are not born with a moral code or a sensitivity to what is right and wrong, therefore we must learn

What are the four characteristics of mass audience?

There are *four characteristics of a mass audience*. 1.) Although society is heterogenous, everyone has the same lifestyle and therefore, everyone has the same needs in a mass audience 2.) In a mass audience, individuals in a mass society are anonymous to media business and advertisers. 3.) In a mass audience, there is no interaction among members of audience. 4.) lastly, mass audiences have no social organization, no body of custom/tradition, no established set of rules/rituals, no organized group of sentiments and finally, no structure or status roles.

What are the three information processing tasks

There are *three information processing tasks* we engage in to process media messages. In our information saturated culture, individuals are constantly processing media messages as they make decisions either consciously or automatically through *filtering*, *meaning matching* and *meaning construction*

What are the stages in the Development of Media Literacy

There are approximately eight stages in the *development of media literacy*: acquiring fundamentals, language acquisition, narrative acquisition, developing skepticism, intensive development, experiential exploring, critical appreciation and social responsibility. 1.) *acquiring fundamentals* takes place in the first year and consists of leaning that there are human beings and other physical things apart from one's self 2.) *language acquisition* takes place at age 2 to 3 years and consists of recognizing speech sounds and attaching meaning to them 3.) *narrative acquisition* takes place at age 3 to 5 years and consists of developing an understanding of differences (such as the difference between fiction and nonfiction) and how to connect plot elements 4.) *developing skepticism* takes place at age 5 to 9 years and consists of discounting claims made in ads. 5.) *intensive development* consists of having a strong motivation to seek out information on certain topics -The following stages are considered advanced stages- 6.) *experiential exploring* is the exposure to a wider range of messages 7.) *critical appreciation* is when one considers themselves an expert on the media and accepts messages on their own terms and then evaluates those messages within their own sphere 8.) *social responsibility* is when one can take a moral stand that certain messages are more constructive for society than others. There is a critical appreciation for a wide range of media messages.

What are the four states of exposure

There are four states of exposure: automatic, attentional, transported and self-reflexive. 1.) The *automatic* state occurs when people are in environments where they are exposed to media messages but they are not aware of those messages. Often occurs while multitaking 2.) The *attentional* state refers to people being aware of the messages and actively interacting with the elements in the messages 3.) The *transported* state occurs when people are so involved in a message that they lose awareness of being apart from the message and cross over into a transported state. They are often swept away with the message and lose their sense of separateness of the message. 4.) lastly, in the *self-reflexive* state, people are hyper aware of the message and of their processing of the message. In this stage, there is the fullest degree of awareness and the viewer is able to reflect on the message

Analyze the different forms of exposure, and how does it relate to attention

There are three exposure types: Physical, perceptual and psychological. *physical exposure* occurs when the message and the person occupy the same physical space at the same time. However it is important to note that physical proximity is a necessary but not sufficient condition for media exposure. *Perceptual exposure* refers to our ability to receive appropriate sensory input through the visual and auditory senses. For example, our eyes perceive light and that is why we can see. Lastly, *psychological exposure* occurs when there is some trace element created in the mind. This element can enter the mind consciously or unconsciously. In order for *attention* to occur, all three types of exposure must take place

What are the three forms of emotional abilities that adolescents vary on?

There are three forms of emotional abilities that adolescents vary on: emotional intelligence, tolerance for ambiguity and non impulsiveness. *Emotional Intelligence* is our ability to understand and control our emotions. For example, empathy is our ability to read others' emotions. *Tolerance for Ambiguity* is our ability to deal with people and situations unfamiliar to us. Lastly, *non-impulsiveness* refers to how quickly people make decisions about messages.

Describe the patterns of mass media development and its stages

To begin, mass media industries have followed a *life cycle pattern* of development. The stages of this life cycle include innovation, penetration, peak, decline and adaptation. While the life cycle pattern is a useful template for showing patterns of development, it is not perfect. For example, some mediums never reach their peak. 1.) the *innovation stage* is characterized by technological innovation that makes a channel of transmission possible. 2.) The *penetration stage* is when a media channel must appeal to a very large, heterogenous population. It is characterized by publics growing acceptance of that medium. The public's reaction to a new medium is based on the mediums ability to satisfy needs. 3.) The *peak stage* is reached when the medium commands the most attention from the public and generates the most revenue compared to other media. When a medium is at its peak, it is usually the dominant medium 4.) The *decline stage* is when the medium is characterized by a loss of audience acceptance and therefore a loss of revenue. Eventually a peak medium will be challenged by a newer medium and thus the decline stage comes into being. 5.) The *adaption stage* is when a medium begins to redefine it's position in the media market place. This can be achieved by identifying a new set of needs. For example, radios stopped its entertainment programs (like soap operas) and now focuses on music based on stations

How does emotional development influence how children watch television, especially advertising?

Understanding the connection between cognitive development and emotional development is important when it comes to helping children understand advertising. A lack of cognitive development can be barrier to appropriate emotional reactions to media messages. Thus, a lack of cognitive development means that children's minds are not developed enough and this inhibits them from distinguishing between fantasy and reality.

How does the lack of experience contribute to children's' lack of maturity?

Until children have developed many knowledge structures, they don't have many perspectives from which to view the world, therefore, they need to develop knowledge structures about the media.

What is VALS typology?

VALS typology was developed at SRI by Arnold Mitchell. Mitchell argued that people's values strongly influence their spending patterns and media behaviors. Mitchell made SRI famous and brings in lots of money because of its prominent clients, such as AT&T, Coke and GM. VALS has changed over the years to keep up with changes in American culture. In essence, the VALS typology argues that peoples values strongly influence their spending patterns and media behaviors

Why do we need knowledge structures?

We need knowledge structures because knowledge structures provide the context we use when trying to make sense of each new media message. The more knowledge structures we have, the more confident we can be in making sense of a wide range of messages.

How do people keep up with large amounts of information and does multitasking work?

We tend to keep up with large amounts of information through *multitasking*. However, it is important to note that multitasking is not a good strategy for helping us keep up with information.

Indicators that a medium is at its peak

When a medium is at its peak, it is usually the dominant medium. For example, broadcast television was at its peak for approximately 40 years but was replaced by cable tv. The medium of computers is almost at its peak because it can deliver many types of content through one medium. Good indicators that a medium is at its peak include the amount of money the media generates and amount of time people spend with that medium. In addition, when one medium reaches its peak, it means that it affects another medium. For example, television surpassed newspapers as a peak medium, but it is important to realize that newspapers have survived because they have adapted. The fastest growing medium at the moment is the computer.

Describe marketing convergence

With *marketing convergence*, companies are more geared toward marketing their message through as many channels as possible rather than defining themselves by only one medium. Companies has broadened marketing by thinking about how they can distribute their message through as many channels as possible. Media companies used to rely on on the principals of *lowest common denominator* (LCD) meaning the message is tailored to appeal to everyone. However, recently, programming has shifted to *long tail marketing* which involves attracting the small, niche audience that is at the end of the tail of the bell curve.

What are the five areas that need strong knowledge structures?

With media literacy we need strong knowledge structures in five areas: *media effects*, *media content*, *media industries*, *the real world* and *the self*. With good knowledge in these areas, a person will be able to make better decisions about seeking out information, working with that information and constructing meaning from it.

What are the four forms of natural cognitive abilities that adolescents vary on?

Young adults are a special audience and vary on four forms of natural cognitive abilities. These four natural cognitive abilities are field independency, crystalline intelligence, fluid intelligence and conceptual differentiation. *Field independency* is ones natural ability to distinguish between the noise and the signal in any message. Field dependent people pay attention to everything, but retain less while field independent people can program attention triggers to maximize the filtering in of signal and filtering out of noise. *Crystalline intelligence* is the ability to memorize facts. People who have a strong crystalline intelligence are good at vertical thinking. Vertical thinking is systematic, logical thinking that proceeds in an orderly progression. Crystalline intelligence helps with meaning constructions tasks. Lastly, *fluid intelligence* is the ability to be creative, make leaps of insight and perceive things in a fresh and novel manner. People who have a strong fluid intelligence are good at lateral thinking. Lateral thinking does not proceed in a step by step straight line like vertical thinking. *Conceptual Differentiation* refers to how people group and classify things. A high conceptual differentiation ability means being able to classify objects into a large number of mutually exclusive categories.

What is the difference between marketing innovation and technological innovation

the *innovation stage* is characterized by technological innovation that makes a channel of transmission possible. It is important to note that there is a difference between marketing innovations and technological innovations. Strategic innovations involve *marketing innovations*. This innovation creates new ways to identify audiences and their needs, attract their attention and present messages in a way that holds their attention and conditions those audiences for repeated exposure. On the other hand, *technological innovations* are engineering type innovations that have created new ways to capture, store and transmit information in print, graphic, photographic, audio and video formats. Successful innovation begins when an entrepreneur recognizes a need for the technology in a population