Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T07:55:16.667Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Memory for images intense enough to draw an administration's attention: Television and the “war on terror”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

David Hutchinson  and
Samuel D. Bradley
David Hutchinson
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Northeastern University, 301 Meserve Hall, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 hutchinson.da@neu.edu
Samuel D. Bradley
Affiliation:
Department of Advertising, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
Get access

Abstract

In the recent United States–led “war on terror,” including ongoing engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan, news organizations have been accused of showing a negative view of developments on the ground. In particular, news depictions of casualties have brought accusations of anti-Americanism and aiding and abetting the terrorists' cause. In this study, video footage of war from television news stories was manipulated to investigate the effects of negative compelling images on cognitive resource allocation, physiological arousal, and recognition memory. Results of a within-subjects experiment indicate that negatively valenced depictions of casualties and destruction elicit greater attention and physiological arousal than positive and low-intensity images. Recognition memory for visual information in the graphic negative news condition was highest, whereas audio recognition for this condition was lowest. The results suggest that negative, high-intensity video imagery diverts cognitive resources away from the encoding of verbal information in the newscast, positioning visual images and not the spoken narrative as a primary channel of viewer learning.

Keywords

war on terrortelevisionmemorycognitive capacitypsychophysiology
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , March 2009 , pp. 31 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Smolkin, Rachel, “Photos of the fallen,” American Journalism Review 2004, 26(3):14–15.Google Scholar
2.Sharkey, Jacqueline, “When pictures drive foreign policy,” American Journalism Review 1993, 15(10):14–20.Google Scholar
3.Smolkin, , “Photos of the fallen,” pp. 14–15.Google Scholar
4.Davis, Charles, “Ban on photos of war dead prompts important history lesson,” Quill 2004, 92(7):18–19.Google Scholar
5.Elliott, Deni and Lester, Paul M., “Ethics of patriotism: When is it OK to break the law?” News Photographer 2001, 56(11):10–12.Google Scholar
6.Pfau, Michael, Haigh, Michel M., Logsdon, Lindsay, Perrine, Christopher, Baldwin, James P., and Breitenfeldt, Rick E. et al., “Embedded reporting during the invasion and occupation of Iraq: How the embedding of journalists affects television news reports,” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 2005, 49:468–487.Google Scholar
7.Hall, Jane, “The fire next time: Fighting the next war,” Press/Politics 2004, 9:76–86.Google Scholar
8.Robinson, M. J., “Public affairs television and the growth of political malaise: The case of the selling of the Pentagon,” American Political Science Review 1976, 70:409–432.Google Scholar
9.Sharkey, , “When pictures drive foreign policy,” pp. 14–20.Google Scholar
10.Hariman, Robert and Lucaites, John, “Public identity and collective memory in U.S. iconic photography: The image of ‘accidental napalm,”’ Critical Studies in Media Communication, 2003, 20(1):35–66.Google Scholar
11.Perlmutter, David, Photojournalism and foreign policy: Icons of outrage in international crises. (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998).Google Scholar
12.Ibid.Google Scholar
13.Major, Lesa and Perlmutter, David, “The fall of a pseudo-icon: The toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue as image management,” Visual Communication Quarterly 2005, 12(1,2):38–45.Google Scholar
14.Major, and Perlmutter, , “The fall of a pseudo-icon: the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue as image management,” p. 42.Google Scholar
15.King, Cynthia and Lester, Paul M., “Photographic coverage during the Persian Gulf and Iraqi Wars in three U.S. newspapers,” journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 2005, 82:623–637.Google Scholar
16.Ibid.Google Scholar
17.Cho, Jaeho, Boyle, Michael P., Keum, Heejo, Shevy, Mark D., McLeod, Douglas M., Shah, Dhavan V., and Pan, Zhongdang, “Media, terrorism, and emotionality: Emotional differences in media content and public reactions to the September 11th terrorist attacks,” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 2003, 47:309–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Kratzer, Renee and Kratzer, Brian, “How newspapers decided to run disturbing 9/11 photos,” Newspaper Research Journal 2003, 24(1):34–47.Google Scholar
19.Aday, Sean, Livingston, Steven, and Hebert, Macye, “Embedding the truth: A cross-cultural analysis of objectivity and television coverage of the Iraq War.” Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 2005, 10(1):3–21.Google Scholar
20.Griffin, Michael, “Picturing America's “war on terrorism” in Afghanistan and Iraq: Photographic motifs as news frames,” Journalism 2004, 5(4):381–402.Google Scholar
21.Griffin, Michael and Lee, Jongsoo, “Picturing the Gulf War: Constructing an image of war in Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report,” Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 1995, 72(4):813–825.Google Scholar
22.Robertson, Lori, “Images of war,” American Journalism Review 2004, 26(5):44–51.Google Scholar
23.Ravi, Narasimhan, “Looking beyond flawed journalism: how national interests, patriotism, and cultural values shaped the coverage of the Iraq War,” Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 2005, 10(1):45–62.Google Scholar
24.King, and Lester, , “Photographic coverage during the Persian Gulf and Iraqi Wars in three U.S. newspapers,” pp. 623–637.Google Scholar
25.Perlmutter, , Photojournalism and foreign policy: Icons of outrage in international crises.Google Scholar
26.Pfau, et. al., “Embedded reporting during the invasion and occupation of Iraq: How the embedding of journalists affects television news reports,” pp. 468–487.Google Scholar
27.Aday, et al., “Embedding the truth: a cross-cultural analysis of objectivity and television coverage of the Iraq War,” p. 18.Google Scholar
28.Ibid.Google Scholar
29.Zelizer, Barbie, “Photography, journalism, and trauma,” in Zelizer, Barbie and Allan, S., eds., Journalism after September 11th, (New York: Routledge, 2002), pp. 48–68.Google Scholar
30.Patrick, Brian A. and Trevor Thrall, A., “Beyond hegemony: Classical propaganda theory and presidential communication strategy after the invasion of Iraq,” Mass Communication and Society 2007, 10:95–118.Google Scholar
31.Aday, Sean, Cluverius, John, and Livingston, Steven, “As goes the statue, so goes the war: The emergence of the victory frame in television coverage of the Iraq War,” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 2005, 49:314–331.Google Scholar
32.Manheim, Jarol B., Strategic public diplomacy and American foreign policy: The evolution of influence (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994).Google Scholar
33.Billeaudeaux, Andre, Domke, David, Hutcheson, John, and Garland, Philip, “Newspaper editorials follow the lead of the Bush administration,” Newspaper Research Journal 2003, 24:166–184.Google Scholar
34.Coe, Kevin, Domke, David, Graham, Erica S., John, Sue Lockett, and Pickard, Victor W., “No shades of gray: The binary discourse of George W. Bush and an echoing press,” Journal of Communication 2004, 54:234–252.Google Scholar
35.Domke, David, God willing? Political fundamentalism in the White House, the “war on terror” and the echoing press. (Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 2004).Google Scholar
36.Manheim, Jarol B., “Going less public: Managing images to influence U.S. foreign policy,” in Iyengar, S. and Reeves, R., eds., Do the media govern? Politicians, voters, and reporters in America (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997), pp. 379–390.Google Scholar
37.Lance Bennett, W. and Paletz, David L., eds., Taken by storm: The media, public opinion, and U.S. foreign policy in the Gulf War, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994).Google Scholar
38.Schwalbe, Carol B., “Remembering our shared past: Visually framing the Iraq War on U. S. news websites,” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 2006, 12: 264–289.Google Scholar
39.Kalb, Marvin, “Dissent: Public opinion, media reaction,” Nieman Reports 2003, 57(4):71–73.Google Scholar
40.Hutcheson, John, Domke, David, Billeaudeaux, Andre, and Garland, Philip, “U.S. national identity, political elites, and a patriotic press following September 11,” Political Communication 2004, 21:27–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
41.Cho, et. al., “Media, terrorism, and emotionality: Emotional differences in media content and public reactions to the September 11th terrorist attacks,” pp. 309–327.Google Scholar
42.Johnson, Peter, “TV anchors pin on flags with pride,” USA Today, (September 17, 2001), p. 4C.Google Scholar
43.Lance Bennett, W., “Towards a theory of press-state relations in the United States,” Journal of Communication 1990, 40:103–125.Google Scholar
44.Herman, Edward and Chomsky, Noam, Manufacturing consent: The political economy of the mass media. (New York: Random House, 1988).Google Scholar
45.Niven, David, “An economic theory of political journalism,” Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 2005, 82:247–263.Google Scholar
46.Hutcheson, et. al., “U.S. national identity, political elites, and a patriotic press following September 11,” pp. 27–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
47.Newhagen, John, “TV news images that induce anger, fear, and disgust: Effects on approach-avoidance and memory,” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 1998, 42(2):265–277.Google Scholar
48.Newhagen, John and Reeves, Byron, “The evening's bad news: Effects of compelling news images on memory,” Journal of Communication 1992, 42(2):25–41.Google Scholar
49.James Potter, W. and Smith, Stacy, “The context of graphic portrayals of television violence,” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 2000, 44:301–323.Google Scholar
50.Bradley, Samuel D., Maxian, Wendy, Wise, Wes T., and Freeman, Jessica D., “Emotion trumps attention: Using startle prepulse methodology to assess cognitive processing of television,” Communication Methods and Measures 2008, 2:313–322.Google Scholar
51.Detenber, Benjamin H., Simons, Robert F., and Bennett, Gary G. Jr., “Roll 'em!: The effects of picture motion on emotional responses,” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 1998, 42:113–127.Google Scholar
52.Reeves, Byron and Nass, Clifford, The media equation: How people treat computers, television, and new media like real people and places. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996).Google Scholar
53.Lang, Peter J., “What are the data of emotion?” in Hamilton, V., Bower, G. H., and Frijda, N. C., eds., Cognitive perspectives on emotion and motivation (Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988), pp. 173–191.Google Scholar
54.Bradley, Margaret M., “Emotion and motivation,” in Cacioppo, J. T., Tassinary, L., and Berntson, G., eds., Handbook of psychophysiology. 2nd ed. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 602–642.Google Scholar
55.Cacioppo, John T. and Gardner, Wendi, “Emotion,” Annual Review of Psychology 1999, 50:191–214.Google Scholar
56.Lang, Peter J., Bradley, Margaret M., and Cuthbert, Bruce N., “Emotion, motivation, and anxiety: brain mechanisms and psychophysiology,” Biological Psychiatry 1998, 44(12):1248–1263.Google Scholar
57.Lang, Peter J., Bradley, Margaret M., and Cuthbert, Bruce N., “Emotion and motivation: measuring affective perception,” Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology 1998, 15(5):397–408.Google Scholar
58.Newhagen, , “TV news images that induce anger, fear, and disgust: Effects on approach-avoidance and memory,” pp. 256–277.Google Scholar
59.Cacioppo, John T. and Berntson, Gary, “The affect system: architecture and operating characteristics,” Current Directions in Psychological Science 1999, 8(5):133–137.Google Scholar
60.Cacioppo, and Gardner, , “Emotion,” pp. 191–214.Google Scholar
61.Marcus, George E., Russell Neuman, W., and MacKuen, Michael, Affective intelligence and political judgment. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000).Google Scholar
62.Lang, Annie, “Using the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing to design effective cancer communication messages,” Journal of Communication 2006, 56:S57–S80.Google Scholar
63.Bradley, , “Emotion and motivation,” pp. 602–642.Google Scholar
64.Bradley, Margaret M., Codispoti, Maurizio, Cuthbert, Bruce N., and Lang, Peter J., “Emotion and motivation I: Defensive and appetitive reactions in picture processing,” Emotion 2001, 1(3):276–298.Google Scholar
65.Lang, et. al., “Emotion, motivation, and anxiety: brain mechanisms and psychophysiology,” pp. 1248–1263.Google Scholar
66.Bradley, et. al., “Emotion and motivation I: Defensive and appetitive reactions in picture processing,” pp. 276–298.Google Scholar
67.Mehrabian, Albert and Russell, James A., An approach to environmental psychology. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1974).Google Scholar
68.Osgood, Charles, Suci, George, and Tannenbaum, Percy, The measurement of meaning. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1957).Google Scholar
69.Smith, Craig A. and Ellsworth, Phoebe C., “Patterns of cognitive appraisal in emotion,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1985, 48:813–838.Google Scholar
70.Bradley, , “Emotion and motivation,” pp. 602–642.Google Scholar
71.Bradley, Samuel D., Angelini, James R., and Lee, Sungkyong, “Psychophysiological and memory effects of negative political ads: Aversive, arousing and well remembered,” Journal of Advertising 2007, 36(4):115–127.Google Scholar
72.Cacioppo, and Gardner, , “Emotion,” pp. 191–214.Google Scholar
73.Ibid.Google Scholar
74.Ibid.Google Scholar
75.Bradley, et. al., “Emotion and motivation I: Defensive and appetitive reactions in picture processing,” pp. 276–298.Google Scholar
76.Lang, Annie, Dhillon, Kuljinder, and Dong, Qingwen, “The effects of emotional arousal and valence on television viewers' cognitive capacity and memory,” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 1995, 39(3):313–329.Google Scholar
77.Bradley, et al., “Emotion and motivation I: Defensive and appetitive reactions in picture processing,” pp. 276–298.Google Scholar
78.Basil, Michael D., “Multiple resource theory I: Application to television viewing,” Communication Research 1994, 21:177–207.Google Scholar
79.Basil, Michael D., “Multiple resource theory II: Empirical examination of modality-specific attention to television scenes,” Communication Research 1994, 21:208–231.Google Scholar
80.Grimes, Thomas, “Mild auditory-visual dissonance in television news may exceed viewer attentional capacity,” Human Communication Research 1991, 18:268–298.Google Scholar
81.Kahneman, Daniel, Attention and effort. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1973).Google Scholar
82.Lang, Annie, “The limited capacity model of mediated message processing,” Journal of Communication 2000, 50: 46–70.Google Scholar
83.Lang, Annie, Bradley, Samuel D., Park, Byungho, Shin, Mija, and Chung, Yongkuk, “Parsing the resource pie: Using STRTs to measure attention to mediated messages,” Media Psychology 2006, 8:369–394.Google Scholar
84.Basil, , “Multiple resource theory II: Empirical examination of modality-specific attention to television scenes,” pp. 177–207.Google Scholar
85.Lang, Annie, Potter, Deborah, and Grabe, Maria E., “Making news memorable: Applying theory to the production of local television news,” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 2003, 47(1):113–121.Google Scholar
86.Lang, Annie, Potter, Robert F., and Bolls, Paul D., “Something for nothing: is visual encoding automatic?” Media Psychology 1999, 1(2):145–163.Google Scholar
87.Lang, Annie, Newhagen, John, and Reeves, Byron, “Negative video as structure: Emotion, attention, capacity, and memory,” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 1996, 40(4):460–477.Google Scholar
88.Lang, et. al., “The effects of emotional arousal and valence on television viewers' cognitive capacity and memory,” pp. 313–329.Google Scholar
89.Newhagen, , “TV news images that induce anger, fear, and disgust: Effects on approach-avoidance and memory,” pp. 265–277.Google Scholar
90.Newhagen, and Reeves, , “The evening's bad news: effects of compelling news images on memory” pp. 25–42.Google Scholar
91.Lang, et. al., “Negative video as structure: Emotion, attention, capacity, and memory,” pp. 460–477.Google Scholar
92.Newhagen, and Reeves, , “The evening's bad news: Effects of compelling news images on memory,” pp. 25–415.Google Scholar
93.Lang, , “Using the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing to design effective cancer communication messages,” pp. 57–80.Google Scholar
94.Basil, , “Multiple resource theory II: Empirical examination of modality-specific attention to television scenes,” pp. 208–231.Google Scholar
95.Drew, Dan and Grimes, Thomas, “Audio-visual redundancy and TV news recall,” Communication Research 1987, 14(4):452–461.Google Scholar
96.Fox, Julia R., “A signal detection analysis of audio/visual redundancy effects in television news video,” Communication Research 2004, 31(5):524–536.Google Scholar
97.Lang, Annie, “Defining audio/visual redundancy from a limited capacity information processing perspective,” Communication Research 1995, 22(1):86–115.Google Scholar
98.Lang, et al., “Parsing the resource pie: Using STRTs to measure attention to mediated messages,” pp. 369–394.Google Scholar
99.Lang, et. al., “Making news memorable: Applying theory to the production of local television news,” pp. 113–121.Google Scholar
100.Schneider, Walter and Shiffrin, Richard M., “Controlled and automatic human information processing: I. Detection, search, and attention,” Psychological Review 1977, 84: 1–66.Google Scholar
101.Shiffrin, Richard M. and Schneider, Walter, “Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending, and a general theory,” Psychological Review 1977, 84:127–190.Google Scholar
102.Lang, et. al., “Negative video as structure: Emotion, attention, capacity, and memory,” pp. 460–477.Google Scholar
103.Lang, Annie, Bolls, Paul, Potter, Robert F., and Kawahara, Karlynn, “The effects of production pacing and arousing content on the information processing of television messages,” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 1999, 43:451–475.Google Scholar
104.Lang, Annie, “What can the heart tell us about thinking?” in Lang, A., ed., Measuring psychological responses to media messages, (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1994), pp. 99–111.Google Scholar
105.Bolls, Paul D., Lang, Annie, and Potter, Robert F., “The effects of message valence and listener arousal on attention, memory, and facial muscular responses to radio advertisements,” Communication Research 2001, 28:627–651.Google Scholar
106.Lang, et. al., “Negative video as structure: Emotion, attention, capacity, and memory,” pp. 460–477.Google Scholar
107.Lang, et al., “The effects of production pacing and arousing content on the information processing of television messages,” pp. 451–475.Google Scholar
108.Zillmann, Dolf, “Television viewing and physiological arousal,” in Bryant, J. and Zillmann, D., eds., Responding to the screen: Reception and reaction processes, (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991), pp. 103–133.Google Scholar
109.Basil, , “Multiple resource theory I: Application to television viewing,” pp. 177–207.Google Scholar
110.Basil, , “Multiple resource theory II: Empirical examination of modality-specific attention to television scenes,” pp. 208–231.Google Scholar
111.Bergen, Lori, Grimes, Thomas, and Potter, Deborah, “How attention partitions itself during simultaneous message presentations,” Human Communication Research, 2005, 31: 311–336.Google Scholar
112.Bucy, Erik P. and Bradley, Samuel D., “Presidential expressions and viewer emotion: counterempathic responses to televised leader displays,” Social Science Information 2004, 43(1):59–94.Google Scholar
113.Drew, and Grimes, , “Audio-visual redundancy and TV news recall,” pp. 452–461.Google Scholar
114.Grimes, , “Mild auditory-visual dissonance in television news may exceed viewer attentional capacity,” pp. 268–298.Google Scholar
115.Bucy, and Bradley, , “Presidential expressions and viewer emotion: Counterempathic responses to televised leader displays,” pp. 59–94.Google Scholar
116.Grimes, , “Mild auditory-visual dissonance in television news may exceed viewer attentional capacity,” pp. 268–298.Google Scholar
117.Lang, et al., “Negative video as structure: emotion, attention, capacity, and memory,” pp. 460–477.Google Scholar
118.Reeves, Byron and Geiger, Seth, “Designing experiments that assess psychological responses to media messages,” in Lang, A., ed. Measuring psychological responses to media messages, (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1994), pp. 165–180.Google Scholar
119.Jarvis, Blair, MediaLab research software. Version 2002 [Computer Program]. (New York: Empirisoft, 2006).Google Scholar
120.Cook, Edwin, VPM reference manual. (Birmingham, AL: Author, 1997).Google Scholar
121.Shapiro, Michael A., “Signal detection measures of recognition memory,” in Lang, A., ed., Measuring psychological responses to media messages, (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1994), pp. 133–148.Google Scholar
122.Bradley, Samuel D., “Exploring the validity and reliability of the acoustic startle probe as a measure of attention and motivation to television programming,” Dissertation Abstracts International 2005, 66(8)4527B.Google Scholar
123.Jarvis, , MediaLab research software. Version 2002.Google Scholar
124.Bradley, Margaret M. and Lang, Peter J., “Measuring emotion: The Self-Assessment Manikin and the semantic differential,” Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 1994, 25(1):49–59.Google Scholar
125.Bradley, et al., “Emotion and motivation I: Defensive and appetitive reactions in picture processing,” pp. 276–298.Google Scholar
126.Bucy, and Bradley, , “Presidential expressions and viewer emotion: counterempathic responses to televised leader displays,” pp. 59–94.Google Scholar
127.Lang, et al., “Something for nothing: is visual encoding automatic?” pp. 145–163.Google Scholar
128.Dawson, Michael, Schell, Anne, and Filion, Diane, “The electrodermal system,” in Cacioppo, J., Tassinary, L., and Berntson, G., eds., Handbook of psychophysiology. 2nd ed. (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 200–223.Google Scholar
129.Hastie, R., “A primer of information-processing theory for the political scientist,” in Lau, R. R. and Sears, D. O., eds., Political cognition: The 19th annual Carnegie symposium on cognition (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1986), pp. 11–39.Google Scholar
130.Kraus, S. and Perloff, R. M., eds., Mass media and political thought: An information-processing approach (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1985).Google Scholar
131.Ibid.Google Scholar
132.Perlmutter, , Photojournalism and foreign policy: Icons of outrage in international crises.Google Scholar
133.Bucy, Erik P. and Grabe, Maria E., “Taking television seriously: A sound and image bite analysis of presidential campaign coverage, 1992–2004,” Journal of Communication 2007, 57:652–675.Google Scholar
134.Grabe, Maria E. and Bucy, Erik P., Image bite politics: News and the visual framing of elections, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009).Google Scholar