key term - Priming

Definition

Priming is a cognitive process in which exposure to a stimulus influences the response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious awareness or intention. It is a fundamental concept in understanding how public opinion is formed and shaped.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Priming can occur through exposure to media content, personal experiences, or even subtle environmental cues.
2. Priming can influence people's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, even if they are not consciously aware of the priming effect.
3. Priming can be used by political actors, such as politicians and interest groups, to shape public opinion on various issues.
4. Priming can lead to biased judgments and decision-making, as people may be influenced by irrelevant or unrelated information.
5. Researchers have found that priming can have both short-term and long-term effects on people's attitudes and behaviors.

Review Questions

• Explain how priming can influence public opinion on political issues.
  • Priming can influence public opinion on political issues by exposing people to certain information or frames that make particular considerations more salient in their minds. For example, if the media repeatedly emphasizes the threat of terrorism, it can prime the public to be more concerned about national security and more receptive to policies that address this issue, even if the actual threat level has not changed. This priming effect can shape how people evaluate political candidates, policies, and events, leading to biased judgments and decision-making.
• Describe the relationship between priming and heuristics in the context of public opinion formation.
  • Priming can interact with heuristics, or mental shortcuts, that people use to make quick judgments and decisions. When people are primed with certain information or frames, they may rely more heavily on heuristics, such as availability heuristic (judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily it comes to mind) or representativeness heuristic (judging the likelihood of an event based on how similar it is to a mental prototype). This can lead to biased judgments and decision-making, as people may be influenced by irrelevant or unrelated information that has been primed, rather than carefully considering all the relevant factors.
• Analyze how the interplay between priming, framing, and agenda-setting can shape public opinion on complex political issues.
  • The interplay between priming, framing, and agenda-setting can have a powerful influence on public opinion on complex political issues. Priming can make certain considerations more salient in people's minds, while framing can shape how those considerations are perceived. Agenda-setting, in turn, can determine which issues receive the most media coverage and public attention. Together, these processes can create a feedback loop where the media and political actors selectively highlight certain aspects of an issue, prime the public to focus on those aspects, and then reinforce the resulting public opinion through continued coverage and framing. This can lead to the public forming opinions on complex issues based on limited or biased information, rather than a comprehensive understanding of the nuances and trade-offs involved.

Related terms

Framing:

The way an issue or event is presented, which can influence people's perceptions and attitudes towards it.

Agenda-Setting:

The media's ability to influence the salience of issues in the public's mind by giving certain issues more prominence and coverage.

Heuristics:

Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that people use to make quick decisions and judgments, often without conscious deliberation.