• media theory
• predicts and explains the long-term formation and shaping of perceptions, understandings, and beliefs about the world as a result of consumption of media messages
• TV causes conceptions of reality

TV is essentially and fundamentally different from other forms of mass media

• requires no literacy/mobility
• free
• ageless
• primary storyteller of our society
• ability to gather different groups of people

TV shapes our society's way of thinking and relating

• TV's major cultural function is to stabilize social patterns and to cultivate resistance to change
• doesn't persuade us as paint a convincing picture of what the world is like

the influence of TV is limited

• observable, measurable, independent contributions of TV to the culture are small
• "ice age" analogy:  although the effect is small, it only takes a small shift to make a significant impact

message system analysis

• conduct detailed content analysis of programs in order to demonstrate recurring images, themes, values, and portrayals
• ex:  count the number of times characters engage in violence

formulation of questions

• questions about viewers' social realities
• ex:  how many times/week does an average student engage in violent acts?

surveying the audience

• survey audience by asking questions developed in the second step
• also ask how much TV they watch

comparing social realities

• compare realities of light and heavy viewers
• Gerbner argues that a cultivation differential exists between light and heavy viewers and perceptions of violence

• tendency for heavy viewers of TV to perceive a similar culturally dominant reality that is pictured in the media and differs from actual reality
• heavy viewing moves people's social realities closer to mainstream

• a TV viewer's lived reality coincides with the reality pictured in the media
• amplifies mainstreaming

• first order effects:  the learning of facts from the media
• second order effects:  the learning of values and assumptions from the media

1. most people are just looking out for themselves
2. you can't be too careful in dealing with people
3. most people would take advantage of you if they got the chance
1. heavy viewers will see the world as a meaner place than will light viewers
2. cultivation theory suggests that the amount of TV viewing is a better predictor of people's answers than variables like income and education

• learing from TV not only produces perceptions of a mean world, but also warps perceptions of political, social, and cultural discourse
• argues that warped perceptions fuel a self-fulfilling prophecy as people's distrust of others cuases an atmosphere of future distrust

• blurs traditional distinctions among people's views of the world
• blends people's realities into TV's cultural mainstream
• bends the mainstream to the institutional interest of TV and its sponsors

weaknesses

• logical consistency:  research supporting CT employs social scientific methods typically identified with limited effects paradigm
• utility:  explaination for how people see the world isn't always accurate
• violence isn't as uniformly presented as CT says
• CT ignores perceived realism of TV
• people might not pay attention to TV when on
• test of time:
• heavy viewing might create more diversity of opinion
• difficult to distinguish between light and heavy viewers
• assumes people view TV nonselectively
• media use is changing