Psychology 2075 Midterm: Midterm 1

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2075
• Professor: William Fisher

Document Summary

Gender: state of being male or female. Sexual behavior: behavior that produces arousal and increases the chance of orgasm. Cultivation: view that exposure to mass media makes people think that what they see there represents the mainstream of what really occurs. Agenda-setting: idea that the media define what is important and what is not by which stories they cover. Social learning: idea that the media provide role models whom we imitate. Culture: traditional ideas and values passed down from generation to generation within a group and transmitted to members of the groups by symbols. The major generalization that emerges from cross-cultural studies is that all societies regulate sexual behavior in some way: no society has seen fit to leave sexuality totally unregulated, perhaps fearful that social disruption would result. Attitudes toward masturbation vary widely across cultures: some societies tolerate and some encourage masturbation during childhood and adolescence, whereas others condemn the practice at any age.