LSC 251

14. Outline two reasons why the Internet may help close knowledge gaps around scientific topics.

Accessibility At your own pace Interactive Diversity and volume of searchable content so that people can find content catered to them and what they deem as easy-to-understand Preference-based model: search spirals / self-reinforcing "information spirals" Self-reinforcing "information spiral" is when he talked about our common google searches. We learn based on what we search (google search suggestions), and how we structure our online informational gateways rather than what we are actually trying to find out.

Compare and contrast agenda building and agenda setting. What do they have in common? How do they differ?

Agenda Setting- "the mass media force attention to certain issues... they are constantly presenting objects, suggesting what individuals in the mass media should think about, know about, have feelings about" The deliberate selection or elimination of content from publicly circulated communications, whether the televised news, social media, or newspaper articles Agenda Building- "The broad scope of agenda building requires tracing the evolution of an issue from its inception to its conclusion in public policy. This is difficult to do because many variables influence the creation of public policy" Both deal with salient things in our head. Both concerned with presenting what's i Agenda building has to do with the media choosing what is presented to its audience and what it sees. The rise of the internet/social media allows people to see a more broad range of information with different opinions and information added. Actors Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey bring attention to important things in social media, like vaccines that induce autism.

39. Compare and contrast agenda setting and priming. What do they have in common? How do they differ?

Agenda Setting- Media does not tell us what to think, but rather what to think about Agenda Priming- media provide a context for public discussion of an issue, setting the stage of audience understanding.

18. Compare and contrast cultivation and the spiral of silence. What do they have in common? How do they differ?

Both cultivation and spiral of silence are considered to be (a) theories about media's influence on perceptions of reality; (b) theories about social control; (c) theories of powerful media effects, and (d) macro-social theories One characteristic that cultivation and spiral of silence share is that media is consonant and ubiquitous, meaning the coverage is consistent and "all over the place" (or universal). They also both assume the media has strong, undesirable effects. Media's effects are experienced cumulatively and over time, which therefore cultivate a person's perceptions of reality.

33. Explain two ways in which companies like Google, Facebook, Snapchat, etc., earn revenue from users like us. What implications might each have for science communication?

By collecting data and information about our habits, these sites and applications are able to see into our lives, tailor advertisements to us, and sell our data. Give our information to advertisers in order to make money

9. Describe the Caruso et al. (2009) study (with the edited photos of political candidates). Specifically, how did the liberal and conservative participants respond to the pictures of mixed-race candidates? What heuristic do you think was at play here?

Caruso studied how biracial political candidate's skin color was seen as "lighter" by supporters, and "darker" by opponents. Assumed that regardless of Party ID, participants subconsciously see lighter skin tones as "good" and darker ones as "bad." Many liberals saw the lightened photo of Obama to be the most accurate, and most conservatives connected with the darkened skin picture. The partisan heuristic was in play here.

21. What is cognitive tuning? What phenomenon does it help to counter? Why?

Cognitive tuning- expose you to uncomfortable situations to better prepare with information ADD MORE

16. After 9/11, Scheufele et al. (2005) found evidence of mainstreaming among people who watched lots of television. What exactly were their findings and how can cultivation theory explain them?

Cultivation theory examines the long-term effects of television. "The primary proposition of cultivation theory states that the more time people spend 'living' in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality aligns with reality portrayed on television."[1] The images and ideological messages transmitted through popular television media heavily influence perceptions of the real world. Newspapers presented more on two sides of the issues unlike a consonant message from TV that's continually in your face. Additionally, most newspaper readers are older and therefore stick with their prior views and standings.

7. What are Daniel Kahneman's system 1 and system 2 ways of thinking? Do you think both systems are important? Why?

Dual process theory has two systems. System 1 is a "quick and dirty" system relying on little effort or knowledge, system 2 is a "careful" system consisting of research and knowledge. ADD MORE

8. Compare and contrast stereotypes and heuristics. What do they have in common? How do they differ?

Heuristic - a mental shortcut that helps us make snap decisions/judgments, but is dangerous as it may only focus on one aspect of an issue while ignoring others. Stereotypes-a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. heuristics are based off personal experience and stereotypes are based off of over generalizations

Define heuristics. Then, pick two heuristics that we talked about in class and explain how they work in the context of a recent science-related issue.

Heuristic - a mental shortcut that helps us make snap decisions/judgments, but is dangerous as it may only focus on one aspect of an issue while ignoring others. Religion Growing up with religious beliefs, you may be given information but don't even think about it because they don't align with your values so you do not spend too much time focusing on these other viewpoints Moral Values(Political Ideology) If you have strong, specific moral values that do not align with a politician or political ideology, you will not be open to hearing what they have to say, supporting their policies, etc., because they do not match with your values/mental shortcuts

5. Define the knowledge deficit model. What are its assumptions? Give one explanation for why scientists continue to subscribe to it, even though it is not supported by empirical evidence.

In consideration to the understanding of science, there is public scepticism or hostility towards science and technology because of a lack of understanding, which results from a lack of information Belief that the more the public learns about science the more they will support it. Effective communication is through explaining the science better. Not enough info to inform audiences on new technologies Scientists think that if there was a more informed audience then there would be more support for new technology

6. Compare and contrast the knowledge deficit and low information rationality models. What do they have in common? How do they differ?

Low info rationality is using shortcuts to make decisions, knowledge deficit relies on the public's participation. They're similar in that cognitive misers are being used instead of scientific knowledge to solve complex problems. They're different because low info rationality does not necessarily rely on becoming more informed, but rather using the existing pictures and stereotypes in our heads.

27. Define motivated reasoning and describe how it works.

Motivated reasoning is the idea that you look at facts, weigh more heavily on facts that fit what you already believe in, and discount the ones that don't fit your beliefs. Motivated reasoning also further creates biased assimilation - which is when you assimilate reality into your belief system. The same facts mean different things to different people. Conservatives vs liberal Even though you know all 10 facts of something, you engage biased assimilation Same scientific facts mean different things to different people

26. What is native advertising? Outline two reasons why it is controversial.

Native advertising is material in an online publication which resembles the publication's editorial content but is paid for by an advertiser and intended to promote the advertiser's product. Can be controversial because people may be unaware that they are being sold on a product Can be controversial because this information can be misleading to consumers.

23. How has the rise of the Internet/social media affected agenda building? List and defend your choice of two of the actors influencing the media agenda today.

Native advertising is the material in an online publication that resembles the publication's editorial content but is paid for by an advertiser and intended to promote the advertiser's product. Can be controversial because people may be unaware that they are being sold on a product Can be controversial because this information can be misleading to consumers. Actors Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey bring attention to important things in social media, like vaccines that induce autism.

Compare and contrast newswork and news values. What do they have in common? How do they differ?

News values is the idea that some characteristics make an event more likely to be covered, more valuable. While news work refers to the journalists and communicators ultimately choosing what does and doesn't get covered by thinking about what the audience will find interesting and important.

25. Define news values. Pick two news values and explain how they work.

News values is the idea that there is an inherent quality to almost every news issue; there are certain things about news that makes something more likely to be covered. Two values: location, unexpectedness Something nearby is more likely to be covered Same with something unexpected- like cop shooting rabbit

29. Describe one solution to motivated reasoning that was covered in class. What did we discuss as a challenge to implementing this?

Obama study Cognitive tuning- expose you to uncomfortable situations to better prepare with information Challenge: The tribal effect causes us to be comfortable living in groups just like us

15. Define quasi-statistical sense and describe how we use it in the context of the spiral of silence.

People have a sixth sense that allows them to know the prevailing public opinion, even without access to polls, people have a fear of isolation and know what behaviors will increase their likelihood of being socially isolated. Spiral of silence is the tendency of people to remain silent when they feel that their views are in opposition to the majority view on a subject. It can be used in the context of spiral of silence by the fear people may feel to speak up when their views are the minority opinion, so they are aware of the prevailing public opinion and keep their thoughts to themselves in order to avoid isolation.

17. Evidence shows that recent local temperatures can influence Independents' belief in climate change. What media model explains this? Give a one-sentence explanation of how the model works, especially in this context.

Priming explains this because independents' become more likely to believe in climate change when a temperature anomaly in recent days is of higher numbers and vice versa Priming explains this because when an independent is exposed to an anomaly, they are more likely to respond to that stimulus, believing that climate change is real because of this recent change in temperature.

19. Give an example of an issue that has been framed in different ways by the media, interest groups, politicians, etc. (this can be an example from lecture). Mention at least two frames that have been used. How might these different frames influence people's attitudes?

Pro-life vs anti-choice Using the word "anti" has more of a negative connotation to it than the word "pro" does. By using anti over pro, there can be more negative connotations associated with this viewpoint, rather than saying a person is pro an issue - which may make it seem that they are more open minded. By manipulating the way in which this phrase is said, people can have different attitudes about these beliefs. Frankenfood vs food of the future By calling food made in the lab "Frankenfood," people will see it as wrong and immoral, by subtly manipulating the language to change people's attitudes. By calling it "food of the future," people will have a more open attitude just by changing the way it is phrased with a more positive connotation.

37. Define the spiral of silence and provide an example of the spiral of silence at play in the 2016 election.

Spiral of silence is the tendency of people to remain silent when they feel that their views are in opposition to the majority view on a subject.

28. Define the 'fortress of our tradition' that was discussed in class. Describe a current example of this at work on the public's attitudes about science.

Stereotypes as defense: stereotypes may not provide "a complete picture of the world, but they are a picture of a possible world to which we are adapted ... They are the fortress of our tradition, and behind its defenses we can occupy ourselves safe in the position we occupy" (Lippmann, 1922) Saying we need stereotypes because otherwise, we'd need to rediscover reality every day Can surmise that it's about facets in society that stem from the beginning of time, they persevere throughout time and are a common factor in society. They are normal in our society because they have always been used/something we can hide behind.

13. Define the knowledge gap concept. What are two reasons that knowledge gaps emerge?

The knowledge gap explains that highly-educated people are able to extract information more efficiently from mass media and therefore learn more quickly than less-educated people. Knowledge gaps are emerging because of pre-existing information, social networks, communication/receptive skills, and selective exposure, acceptance, and retention. Ads are targeted toward high SES viewers

31. What is the Nasty Effect? Describe the study's two key findings.

The nasty effect was seen by a perfectly neutral story having uncivil comments, which polarized its readers. The readers saw the article as more biased because of the comments. 1. People saw the article as "more biased" when there were negative comments (although the article was neutral and the same in both conditions) and also that it 2. Polarized readers - they ended up having more positive or more negative feelings on the topic because of the comments.

34. What is a filter bubble? Explain how filter

The term "filter bubble" refers to the results of the algorithms that dictate what we encounter online. According to Eli Pariser, those algorithms create "a unique universe of information for each of us ... which fundamentally alters the way we encounter ideas and information." Many sites offer personalized content selections, based on our browsing history, age, gender, location, and other data. The result is a flood of articles and posts that support our current opinions and perspectives to ensure that we enjoy what we see. Even when a site is not offering specifically targeted content, we all tend to follow people whose views align with ours. When those people share a piece of content, we can be sure it will be something we are also interested in.

10. Define the Third-Person Effect and explain how it relates to support for censorship.

The third-person effect predicts that people tend to perceive that mass media messages have a greater effect on other people more than themselves, based on personal biases. Because of this, people tend to take action to counteract the message's influence Leads to support for censorship because of exaggerated expectations about media effects on others. More social distance leads to more support for censorship.

1. Name two ways in which think tanks - according to "Merchants of Doubt" - affect Americans' perceptions of whether there is scientific consensus around climate change.

Undermining the science "scientists don't actually know" or "not all scientists agree on climate change" even though it's 97% Ignoring the data, showcasing facts...(the hottests year to date was 1980?)- cherry picking data to make an inaccurate portrayal of climate science

What is the concept of cognitive misers? Why don't we just invest some effort to collect all available information?

We use as little info and effort to make any decision. We process thousands of things a day and collecting more information about each topic would take too much time and effort → this is the basis of "low-information rationality", so we can spend our mental energy wisely

30. Describe Facebook's A/B testing. Provide two reasons why the study conducted by Facebook was controversial.

When Facebook put happier stories on some people's timelines and sad stories on others to test if they had an effect on what people would post about after - depressing timelines. Their study was controversial because it messed with the boundaries of ethics and privacy as well. Facebook's way of advertising to you what you want to see. There are random algorithms that get assigned to you randomly and it takes your data based on age/location. Facebook, without you knowing, is testing what you want to see instead of what you should be seeing. Depressing meets depressing and happy meets happy posts. Is this ethical? If someone was clinically depressed then randomly assigned the more depressive timeline what are the effects?

12. Is it true that fewer Americans believe in evolution/the Big Bang compared to other developed countries? Why or why not?

Yes, America is one of the most religious countries in the world and therefore, compared to other countries, believes less in evolution/Big Bang and more towards intelligent design. America is more religious than other catholic countries like ireland and italy However, a slight change in wording can change persuasiveness. a) "human beings as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals" VERSUS "according to the Theory of Evolution, human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals"

32. Do you think the results of the Nasty Effects study justify closing comment sections on sites like Popular Science? Outline two reasons why or why not.

Yes, because it will allow people to gain information without feeling that the content is polarized/biased. People will be unable to share their opinions and beliefs, making the article neutral and a space where people will not feel attacked for their values and beliefs.

11. Two partisans (one liberal and one conservative) read the same news story. According to the Hostile Media Effect, how will they each respond when asked if the story is biased? How would a nonpartisan person respond? Why?

hostile media perception, is a perceptual theory of mass communication that refers to the tendency for individuals with a strong preexisting attitude on an issue to perceive media coverage as biased against their side and in favor of their antagonists' point of view. Partisans from opposite sides of an issue will tend to find the same coverage to be biased against them. Partisans frequently claim to perceive hostile bias in news coverage because they feel very strongly about their stances and viewpoints, and are more likely to see information as biased. Nonpartisans are people who do not feel a strong sense to a group/have no devotion to a side. This leads to no true affiliation in a group, and they are more likely to see things unbiased.