Schematic Processes and the Effect of Television News on theCognitive Complexity of Political Thought

本研究考察了不同呈现方式的效果 新闻事件对观众理解和政治理解的影响 这些事件。 进行了三个实验。 第一 为不同的主题提供新闻广播， 对同一事件有不同的解释。 这是 然后测量受试者思维的复杂性 关于事件，特别是关于 不同的观点在这个问题上，个人能够 考虑. 第二项研究考察了戏剧性的 新闻事件的呈现是情感上的唤起，这是否 唤醒限制了观众对新闻故事的理解。 的 最后一个实验检验了暴力呈现的效果 关于新闻和这样的描绘对观众的影响， 对故事中的事实的理解和回忆。 这些研究的结果将有助于增进科学知识 一般通过检查对个人的影响， 思考如何在大众媒体中看到不同的信息。 这些 研究还应有助于社会科学的理解， 特别是通过研究不同社会认知的运作， 在媒体观看的背景下。 不同政治 “狂热”或“受压迫的少数”等概念意味着 对事件的不同因果解释 做出不同 突出的结构可能会对 人们思考不同的政治事件。 这些 实验有助于理解 语言影响个人对操作的理解， 政治世界。 这项研究的结果也应该做出实质性的贡献。 有助于增进对大众媒体影响的了解 公众对政治事件的看法。 大众媒体 公民获取知识的方式中越来越重要的一部分， 了解公共事务。 如果提交的方式 新闻事件实际上抑制了人们对那些 事件，然后可以采取措施改变媒体的风格， 内容

This research examines the effect of different ways of presenting news events upon viewers' comprehension and political understanding of those events. Three experiments are undertaken. The first presents different groups of subjects with news broadcasts that include different types of explanations for the same events. This is followed by a measurement of the complexity of the subjects' thinking about the events, particularly with respect to the number of different perspectives on the issue that the individuals are able to consider. The second study examines the extent to which the dramatic presentation of news events is emotionally arousing and whether this arousal limits the viewers' comprehension of the news stories. The final experiment examines the effect of the presentation of violence on the news and the effect such portrayals have on the viewers' comprehension and recall of the facts in the stories. The results of these studies will contribute to scientific knowledge in general through an examination of the effects on individuals' thinking of viewing different messages in the mass media. These studies should also contribute to social scientific understanding in particular by examining the operation of different social cognition processes in the context of media viewing. Different political constructs, such as "fanatic" or "oppressed minority" imply very different causal explanations for events. Making different constructs salient will likely have a significant impact on the way in which individuals think about different political events. These experiments contribute to an understanding of the way in which language influences individuals' understanding of the operation of the political world. The results of this research should also make a substantial contribution to increased understanding of the effects of mass media on the public's perception of political events. The mass media are an increasingly important part of the way in which citizens acquire knowledge about public affairs. If the manner of presentation of news events actually inhibits individuals' comprehension of those events, then steps could be taken to change the media's style and content.