Anthony Pratkanis And Aronson Pictures In Our Heads Summary

Mind in the Media Today many people are affected by what the media puts into their heads. Many others, including myself, judge the media as hearsay and propaganda. In the essay " Pictures in Our Heads" Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson, on page 157, ask the question "To what extent do we let our fictions guide our thoughts and actions?". In my opinion Pratkanis' and Aronson's question does not apply to me, but it does pertain to some others. Their supports should be backed by better studies, yet some of the supports seem to be quite accurate. "Pictures" is an essay on two men's view of how the media causes people to change their ways. Most of their supports are based on "so called" scientifical studies. These "studies", that can be performed by the average person, can very from one study to the next, which leaves a lot of room for error. Pratkanis and Aronson write in "Pictures", "Those who watch more than four hours a day over estimate the number of people employed as physician, lawyers,
They may not be able to force people to think something, but they are surprisingly efficacious in persuading some people what to think about ( Pratkanis and Aronson, 162 ). When some people view certain things on the news or any where else they, consciously or subconsciously, think about it. Although it might be in their mind all day, what they see can not coerce but only influence their opinion on the subject to change. The media is almost able to "brainwash" people to believe what they say. If the nine o'clock news says that rap music has caused a child to turn in to a murderer, then some parents are not going to let their children listen to rap. In the following week if that same news station says that rap music is good, then those same parents might give their children permission to listen to rap again. While those parents went by the what they heard on the news, my parents never changed their