http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1382873

Experiments on mass communication

"This volume reports on the studies of mass communication, particularly of films, made during World War II by the Army. These studies were part of a giant enterprise in social science research sponsored by the Research Branch, Information and Education Division of the Army, under Major General Frederick H. Osborn. After the war the data were released to a civilian committee of the Social Science Research Council, which was supported by the Carnegie Corporation. The monumental task of preparing the 4-volume "Studies in Social Psychology in World War II" was then undertaken by a brilliant group of sociologists and social psychologists. The primary purpose of the research here reported in Volume 3 was to evaluate various Army films and programs designed to make the soldier aware of the ideological issues behind the war. At the same time the Experimental Section was called upon by other War Department agencies to study the methods that were being used in the mass communication of purely technical instruction. Studies of both these types of communication--the indoctrinational and the instructional--are included in this volume. The authors and others involved in the study were given an unusual opportunity to apply controlled experimental methods in communication study, having at their disposal large samples and realistic conditions which duplicated those of intended use of the media and prevented the men from knowing they were subjects in an experiment. They have sought to report here only the findings having wide general significance beyond the immediate practical objectives of the wartime research. Therefore the methods used and the results obtained are of direct importance to all those interested in establishing a scientific understanding of educational procedures, attitude or opinion change, and the application of psychological principles to the complexities of films and other media of mass communication. The book contributes to the methodology of research in these fields as well as providing findings and hypotheses for communication theory. The contents report on the effects of various educational devices in increasing the amount learned, and also provide surprising findings about the course of opinion change with the passage of time. How effective were the attempts to increase morale by an ideological approach, what part intellectual ability plays in determining a person's reactions to both instructional and indoctrinational methods, how an individual's initial opinion affects his reaction to a communication--these are among the many subjects scientifically examined. Experiments dealing with changes in knowledge, opinions, or attitudes as a result of films and other media are reported on. The authors have here systematized the kinds of research and the problems in the field of mass communication. These findings should prove indispensable to the rapidly expanding group of individuals interested in mass-communication methods for instruction and indoctrination. Social scientists, educators, directors of films and other programs for mass communication, and all those interested in opinion change--whether from the practical or scientific point of view--will find the data a necessary part of their equipment"--Jacket. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

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