Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This study employed cultivation theory and the theory of reasoned action to explore the cultivation process where television viewing of sexual content might influence behavioral intentions through its effects on beliefs and attitudes regarding sex. A priming methodology was also used to examine whether cultivation effects could be reduced or eliminated under priming conditions, and whether the possible minimization of television effects on beliefs could influence people’s subsequent behavioral intentions about sex. The results indicated that priming moderated the cultivation effect such that the television effect on beliefs showed the greatest in the no-priming condition but was dampened in the source and relation priming conditions. However, the resulting effect of television on behavioral intentions was not eliminated through the use of priming. Implications for the psychological process of cultivation effect and the measurement issues are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: 40 of 41 episodes of “American Idol,” season five were content analyzed in order to determine if priming and agenda-setting plays a role in the show’s results throughout the season. Frequencies and seconds each of the “Top 24” contestants were shown in episodes where they were still viable contestants, as well as the framing of contestants and judges’ impressions of performances were coded and analyzed. Results indicate basic priming functions appear. Implications are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Numerous studies have found that campaign and media messages can cause people to place more importance on a particular issue opinion when forming an evaluation of presidential performance or deciding for whom to vote, a process often called priming. I argue that researchers have not paid sufficient attention to alternative explanations for these findings. I consider possible alternatives to priming and discuss simple techniques to test for them with panel data. I then investigated four cases where previous research found evidence consistent with priming and that used panel data. These include Krosnick and Brannon’s (1993) study on the Gulf War; research from a few studies that vote choice increasingly corresponds with the economy as campaigns progress; Johnston and his colleagues’ (1992) analysis of a debate and a free-trade agreement in the 1988 federal election in Canada; and finally Berelson, Lazarsfeld, and McPhee’s (1954) finding that Truman’s 1948 campaign caused voters to shift the basis of their decisions to New Deal issues. In reanalyzing these studies, I find little evidence of priming. However, I do find some evidence that people change their issue opinions so that they are consistent with their approval of the President or with their choice of candidates in an election. I also find some evidence of learning effects.

Publication Type: Invited Paper
Abstract: The police genre takes us back to the beginning of theatre. Numerous productions have presented the lives of criminals in both sympathetic and insensitive ways. Since the premier of “Law and Order”, contemporary television has dwelt on crime and the lives of the criminals who come through the various systems. This paper examines the representation of prison inmates in prime time television since 1990 in the light of those who lived the lives presented on the TV shows. The views of ex-offenders address the ways in which prime time crime dramas created heightened levels of fear in non-offender populations. The paper gives voice to offenders who found that their greatest fears came from their television viewing prior to incarceration. The offenders make it clear that as television tries harder to present an accurate portrayal of life behind bars, it continues to perpetuate a one-dimensional image of the life of inmates that they have to live up to behind bars and break free of when they are released.

Publication Type: Proceeding