Page 108 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

Chapter 5

Media Priming:

A Synthesis

DAVID R. ROSKOS-EWOLDSEN
University of Alabama

BEVERLY ROSKOS-EWOLDSEN
University of Alabama

FRANCESCA R. DILLMAN CARPENTIER
University of Alabama

The focus of research on media priming has shifted. Twenty years ago,
research addressed the straightforward study of the influence of media
content on people’s thoughts, beliefs, judgments, and behavior. During
the last 20 years, the emphasis among media scholars has moved toward
the development of theories that specify the psychological mechanisms
by which the media exert their influence. In other words, research has
shifted from whether media priming exists to how media priming works.
In this chapter we discuss the few empirical tests of media priming. We
also consider explanations of media priming from the standpoints of mass
communication and psychology. We conclude by arguing that using tradi-
tional psychological explanations of priming (i.e., priming within net-
work models of memory) has limited our progress toward understanding
media priming. Instead, we argue that a mental models approach pro-
vides a better explanation for media priming.

MEDIA PRIMING RESEARCH

Priming refers to the effect of some preceding stimulus or event on how
we react, broadly defined, to some subsequent stimulus. As applied to the
media, priming refers to the effects of the content of the media on people’s
later behavior or judgments related to the content. The ubiquitous nature
of the media in our lives makes it a powerful tool for priming how we

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