CMN 2170 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Social Learning Theory, Frankfurt School, Technological Determinism
6 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
Lecture 7: theories of media uses and impacts. Worldviews, preserving social values and the status quo. Boosts consumerism and produces social consent on political issue. A shifting sense of time and space, redefining the notion of friendship and family, how we live our lives. Technology and mass media as agents of and the cause of changes. Mass communication seen as external to people. Focus on the effects of mass communication. Short-term effects of individual behaviour examined in social learning theory, experimental research. Implies humans and societies are internally stable and even resistant to change. Adoption of the methodology of social science (quantitative methods) Belief that opinions, impacts, etc. can be measured. 1) micro vs. macro-level effects of mass media. Micro: only a few direct effects at individual level, ie. increased aggression. Macro: significant, long term impact on societies at the cultural level, ie. shifting social attitudes. Administrative: individual level effects are observable, so interest is finding cause and effect link.
