Page 30 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

Chapter 2

Exemplification Theory

of Media Influence

DOLF ZILLMANN
University of Alabama

This chapter provides an overview of the essentials of exemplification
theory and research. After tracing the evolutionary roots of the exemplifi-
cation process and considering its ecological ramifications in contempo-
rary society, the theory and pertinent implications are elaborated. The
focus is on the representational accuracy of reports of relevant social phe-
nomena and on the heuristic processing of exemplar aggregations in
forming assessments of these phenomena. Finally, drawing from research
on the influence of news reporting, a sampling of experimental investiga-
tions is presented to support the theory.

EVOLUTIONARY CONSIDERATIONS

The wisdom of antiquity, the teachings of the Greek philosopher Heracli-
tus in particular, related to us that no two events are ever exactly the
same. Indeed, the contention that reality expresses itself as a continual
stream of events that never repeat themselves, at least not in all their man-
ifestations, is rather compelling intuitively.
On the other hand, it would appear that no organism capable of learn-
ing ever honored such wisdom. Essentially for reasons of cognitive econ-
omy, organisms had to find ways of extracting experiential chunks from
the continual flow of information about their environments. In so doing,
they had to focus on vital events, that is, on events that furthered their
welfare or that placed it at risk. They also had to get a sense of the preva-
lence of vital events under given circumstances. Irrelevant events, in con-
trast, could be ignored without loss. The selective retention of informa-
tion about vital events thus served the welfare of individuals and
secured their survival. The retention of information about the entire
undifferentiated flow of events, inconceivable as it is, could not have
such adaptive value.

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