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Media Effects: This is Water
Holly Morganelli

1 Sec�on

View two videos below:

1. the first is a 7 min long synopsis of late author David Foster Wallace’s predictions about media and its
effects dating back to the mid-1990s.

2. the second is a 22 minute commencement speech given in 2005 at Kenyon College.

In the comments (and replies to comments), reflect on media effects and predictions in the first and their
relation to the commencement speech.

You may add comments generally addressing the theme of This is Water: why it matters to be a critical thinker
and how that correlates to being a good person. In PowerPoint Chapt 4 in Module 4, you will see a number of
media effects listed. I will post a few comments to explain the comparison or parallels I notice between the
Chapt 4 media effects and the video content.

**beneath the video links are notes from the PPT to organize concepts in one place (to add to the PPT and
your textbook.)

1. How’s the water?

media predictions + David Foster Wallace (https://youtu.be/qxW6zg6FmCE)

2. This is Water.

https://youtu.be/xoblutORPNA (https://youtu.be/xoblutORPNA)

(https://youtu.be/xoblutORPNA)

(https://youtu.be/xoblutORPNA)

social media addiction: brain (https://youtu.be/DcIgk94Fp6Y?si=d7OWOTNNV11QkxXT)

Module 4: PPT

1. Factors Influencing Media Effects

Manifestation level: if the baseline reaches this level, it indicates that the degree of the effect has reached a
level where there are spontaneous observables.

3. manifest, process, baseline, and fluctuation effects

1. Manifested Effects and Process Effects
1. Manifested effects are those that we can easily observe.

Manifest effects: spontaneous observables; evidence of an effect is easy to observe and to link to media
exposures.

2. Process effects are those that are constantly occurring.
1. Process effects are more difficult to observe.
2. The more we understand about process effects, the more we can control media influence.

Process effects: changes in the level of elasticity of a person’s baseline; because these things occur below the
manifestation level, they cannot be directly observed

1. Baseline Effects and Fluctuation Effects

1. Baseline effects express longer term influence patterns that serve as an indicator of how close a person
typically is to a manifestation level for an effect being observed.

Baseline pattern effect: The best estimate of a person’s degree of effect at any given time. It is

formed over the long term by the continual interaction of three types of factors: psychological traits of the
person, sociological experiences of the person, and media exposure patterns.

2. Fluctuation effects are typically immediate effects expressed as a temporary deviation off a baseline.
Fluctuation pattern effect: Observed in research studies in which there is a change between a

person’s pre-exposure and post-exposure effect level scores.

Fluctuations have three characteristics:

1. Duration: how long the fluctuation lasts before returning to the baseline.
2. Magnitude: how far the fluctuation spike deviates from the baseline.
3. Direction: whether the fluctuation spike moves upward or downward.
4. Baseline Factors

1. Developmental Maturities: As we mature more cognitively, emotionally, and morally, we are able to
process more information and to apply more sophisticated skills well.

2. Cognitive Abilities: Developmental potentialities are not the same as actual abilities; not everyone who
has the same potential exhibits the same cognitive abilities.
1. Field independency
2. Type of intelligence
3. Type of thinking
4. Conceptual difference

3. Knowledge Structures: With more knowledge, you learn more from media and better integrate
information
1. With many topics, we rely on media information.

4. Sociological Factors: The degree of socialization is related to the amount of influence the media will
have.
1. We learn norms by observing other people in real life and through the media.
2. We are influenced by institutions, parents, and friends.

5. Lifestyle: People with active lifestyle and high levels of interaction are generally less affected by the
media.
1. Particularly susceptible groups include the poor, those with low SES, minorities, and elderly

individuals.
6. Personal Locus: The personal locus is the combination of an individual’s goals and drives for media

exposures.
1. Personal locus determines exposure habits.
2. Those with a strong locus are more aware of the effects process.

7. Media Exposure Habits: Each of us has a set of media exposure habits that focuses our attention on
certain media and certain types of messages presented by those media.
1. Different messages have different influences on baseline levels.

8. Fluctuation Factors
1. Content of the Messages: what you expose yourself to in a given exposure session.
2. Context of Portrayals: The meaning of the messages arises from the way they are portrayed,

especially social lessons.
3. Cognitive Complexity of Content: When the message makes few cognitive demands on viewers,

people can process its meaning easier.
1. TV is easier to process than print because there are several channels at once (pictures, words,

and sound).
4. Motivations: We learn more when we actively seek information.
5. States: A state is a temporary drive or emotional reaction that occurs in response to some stimuli.
6. Degree of Identification: We pay more attention to the characters with whom we identify.

1. The stronger the attachment, the stronger the probability of an effect.

4. it focuses on manifest, process, baseline, and fluctuation effects instead of the four-dimensional
perspective of media effects.

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