Which sequence states Lasswell’s communication formula?
A Who, what, channel, whom, effect
B Who, audience, source, impact
C Message, channel, noise, feedback
D Event, perception, meaning, context
Answer: A. Who, what, channel, whom, effect. Lasswell’s five questions ask who communicates, what is said, through which channel, to whom, and with what effect.
In the Westley–MacLean model, what does C represent?
A Audience member
B Media gatekeeper
C Environmental event
D Original communicator
Answer: B. Media gatekeeper. C represents the intermediary or gatekeeping role through which events and messages are selected for an audience.
Under Westley–MacLean, what does X stand for?
A The audience’s response
B A media organization
C Events or objects
D A communication channel
Answer: C. Events or objects. X denotes events or objects in the environment that may become the subject of communication.
How does Westley–MacLean extend a simple sender–message model?
A It removes the audience
B It treats messages as events
C It excludes media selection
D It adds mediation and feedback
Answer: D. It adds mediation and feedback. The model adds an intermediary or gatekeeper and feedback paths to a basic communication sequence.
Within Westley–MacLean, which symbol marks the audience?
A B
B A
C C
D X
Answer: A. B. The model conventionally labels the audience or receiver as B.
Which Westley–MacLean element can filter content before publication?
A A
B C
C B
D X
Answer: B. C. C is the media intermediary or gatekeeper, which can select and shape what reaches B.
When a reader’s response reaches a newsroom, what is illustrated?
A An environmental event
B A message form
C Feedback
D A source’s perception
Answer: C. Feedback. A response sent back from an audience member is a feedback path in the model.
Newcomb’s ABX model relates which three elements?
A Source, channel, noise
B Sender, media, effect
C Event, editor, audience
D A, B, and X
Answer: D. A, B, and X. Newcomb’s model examines two people, A and B, in relation to an object or issue, X.
Why is Newcomb’s model drawn as a triangle?
A It links people with X
B It shows three channels
C It ranks three media
D It maps three message stages
Answer: A. It links people with X. The triangle represents the relationships of A and B to each other and to X.
If A and B discuss an issue, which model highlights their orientations toward it?
A Lasswell’s formula
B Newcomb’s ABX model
C Gerbner’s model
D Dance’s helix
Answer: B. Newcomb’s ABX model. Newcomb’s ABX model focuses on A’s and B’s orientations toward a shared object or issue, X.
In Gerbner’s model, what does E denote?
A A media channel
B An audience group
C An event
D A feedback message
Answer: C. An event. E denotes the event being perceived and potentially described in a communication act.
What does E′ signify in Gerbner’s model?
A Published headline
B Audience feedback
C Media organization
D Perceived event
Answer: D. Perceived event. E′ represents the event as perceived by a communicating agent, not the event independently of perception.
How is S/E best read in Gerbner’s model?
A Statement about event
B Source and effect
C Signal entering audience
D Situation and environment
Answer: A. Statement about event. S/E denotes a statement or signal about an event: S conveys or refers to E.
Why might two people describe one event differently in Gerbner’s model?
A The event changes channels
B Their perceptions can differ
C Every signal is identical
D Context has no influence
Answer: B. Their perceptions can differ. Gerbner makes each agent’s perception an element of the process, so a message reflects a particular way of perceiving an event.
Within Gerbner’s model, what does M identify?
A A mass audience only
B A message’s medium
C A communicating agent
D An external event
Answer: C. A communicating agent. M represents a communication agent, such as a person or organization that perceives, reacts, or communicates.
Which Gerbner dimension examines means and controls?
A Audience-perception dimension
B Event-context dimension
C Feedback-analysis dimension
D Means-and-controls dimension
Answer: D. Means-and-controls dimension. Gerbner’s means-and-controls dimension concerns how communication is produced through available channels and controlled processes.
Because the same message can be read in different settings, what matters?
A Context
B Only the sender’s title
C The number of options
D A fixed audience size
Answer: A. Context. Gerbner’s model treats context as relevant to how a statement is produced and perceived.
Dance’s helix portrays communication as what?
A A fixed one-way path
B An evolving process
C A repeated closed circle
D A list of media channels
Answer: B. An evolving process. The helical image presents communication as dynamic development shaped by prior communication.
Unlike a closed circle, what does Dance’s helix emphasize?
A A return to the start
B The absence of history
C Change over time
D One permanent audience
Answer: C. Change over time. The helix continues forward while being affected by its earlier course; it does not simply return to an identical starting point.
From a Riley and Riley perspective, mass communication belongs within what?
A An isolated sender
B A channel-only sequence
C A private message loop
D A social system
Answer: D. A social system. Their sociological approach places mass communication within a wider social structure and its relationships.
How can social groups matter in a communication process?
A They shape participants’ responses
B They erase media channels
C They prevent audience interpretation
D They replace every message
Answer: A. They shape participants’ responses. A social-system view considers how group relations and affiliations can influence communicators and audiences.
In media research, what does gatekeeping describe?
A Measuring message length
B Selecting material for publication
C Counting audience members
D Repeating a broadcast
Answer: B. Selecting material for publication. Gatekeeping concerns selecting, filtering, or shaping material before it reaches an audience.
Suppose an editor removes unverified claims before broadcast. Which role is being performed?
A Audience member
B Environmental event
C Gatekeeper
D Feedback source
Answer: C. Gatekeeper. The editor is selecting and filtering material before it is disseminated, a gatekeeping function.
After a broadcast, audience responses inform the next edition. Which process is present?
A Event perception only
B Channel encoding
C One-way transmission
D Feedback
Answer: D. Feedback. Audience responses returning to the communicator are feedback, which can influence later communication.
Lasswell’s final question, “with what effect,” directs attention to what?
A Communication outcomes
B The sender’s job title
C The message’s font
D The channel’s ownership
Answer: A. Communication outcomes. The effect question asks what consequences or outcomes follow from communication.
Why can Lasswell’s formula be limited for interactive communication?
A It omits the message
B It does not show feedback
C It has no audience
D It excludes channels
Answer: B. It does not show feedback. The five-question formula is useful for organizing analysis, but it does not explicitly depict a feedback loop.
Which model explicitly distinguishes an event from its perception?
A Gerbner’s model
B Lasswell’s formula
C Newcomb’s ABX model
D Riley and Riley’s approach
Answer: A. Gerbner’s model. Gerbner’s model distinguishes an event, E, from an agent’s perception of it, E′.
For a study of how editors select stories, which model is especially useful?
A Dance’s helix
B Newcomb’s ABX
C Westley–MacLean
D Lasswell’s formula
Answer: C. Westley–MacLean. Westley–MacLean explicitly represents a gatekeeping intermediary between events, communicators, and audiences.
When a newsroom chooses one event from many, which Westley–MacLean element performs the intermediary role?
A A
B B
C X
D C
Answer: D. C. C represents the media intermediary or gatekeeper that can select among events and messages.
What does X represent in Newcomb’s ABX model?
A A communication channel
B A shared object or issue
C The audience’s reaction
D A newspaper editor
Answer: B. A shared object or issue. X is the object, topic, or issue toward which A and B have orientations.
In Westley–MacLean, what does C mediate between?
A Sources, events, and audiences
B Only two audience groups
C Only channel and effect
D Only feedback and noise
Answer: A. Sources, events, and audiences. C is an intermediary within a process connecting environmental events and communicators with an audience.
Newcomb’s model is most useful for examining what?
A A channel’s transmission speed
B A message’s print layout
C A/B orientations toward X
D An editor’s staffing plan
Answer: C. A/B orientations toward X. The ABX model focuses on the orientations of A and B toward each other and toward X.
Gerbner’s process begins with someone doing what?
A Counting an audience
B Selecting a newspaper
C Measuring a channel
D Perceiving an event
Answer: D. Perceiving an event. Gerbner’s verbal model starts with someone perceiving an event and reacting within a situation.
Why is E′ not simply identical to E?
A It names a different channel
B It reflects an agent’s perception
C It is always audience feedback
D It is a printed headline
Answer: B. It reflects an agent’s perception. E is the event; E′ is that event as perceived by a particular agent.
In Gerbner’s account, a signal’s form and means relate to what?
A How a message is produced
B The audience’s group size
C The event’s location alone
D The receiver’s job title
Answer: A. How a message is produced. The model considers the means and controls used to produce a communication signal and the form it takes.
What does the expanding movement of Dance’s helix suggest?
A Messages repeat unchanged
B A process ends at origin
C Communication develops cumulatively
D Only channels are important
Answer: C. Communication develops cumulatively. The helix symbolizes a process that moves forward while incorporating the influence of previous communication.
Suppose yesterday’s exchange changes today’s interpretation. Which model best captures that accumulation?
A Lasswell’s formula
B Newcomb’s ABX model
C Westley–MacLean
D Dance’s helical model
Answer: D. Dance’s helical model. Dance’s helix emphasizes how prior communication affects later communication and development over time.
Compared with a basic two-person exchange, what does Westley–MacLean foreground?
A Only private attitudes
B Mass-media gatekeeping
C Only message grammar
D Only audience demographics
Answer: B. Mass-media gatekeeping. The model extends communication analysis to media intermediaries and the selection of information for audiences.
Where can story selection be represented in Westley–MacLean?
A At the gatekeeping intermediary
B Only inside audience B
C Only within event X
D Only after feedback
Answer: A. At the gatekeeping intermediary. The intermediary C can select or shape material before it reaches the audience.
Which sequence matches Lasswell’s five analytical questions?
A Event, perception, context, form, result
B Source, noise, signal, code, response
C Who, what, channel, whom, effect
D Person, group, issue, balance, outcome
Answer: C. Who, what, channel, whom, effect. Lasswell’s formula organizes analysis around communicator, content, channel, audience, and effect.
Treating a model as an abstraction means it does what?
A Reproduces all reality
B Removes every assumption
C Guarantees a complete explanation
D Highlights selected features
Answer: D. Highlights selected features. A model simplifies a complex process by highlighting selected elements and relationships for analysis.
What can a communication model help researchers map?
A Every private thought
B Elements and relationships
C All future audience choices
D A guaranteed media effect
Answer: B. Elements and relationships. Models organize components and relationships so researchers can describe or investigate a communication process.
Which claim about communication models is inaccurate?
A One model explains every case
B Models simplify processes
C Models guide analysis
D Different models emphasize different features
Answer: A. One model explains every case. Models select and simplify features; no single model should be assumed to capture every aspect of every communication situation.
Given questions about source, message, channel, audience, and outcome, which framework fits?
A Dance’s helix
B Gerbner’s model
C Lasswell’s formula
D Riley and Riley’s approach
Answer: C. Lasswell’s formula. Those five analytical questions are the defining sequence of Lasswell’s formula.
How does Newcomb differ from Lasswell’s formula?
A It omits people entirely
B It asks five questions
C Channel ownership alone
D It emphasizes relational orientation
Answer: D. It emphasizes relational orientation. Newcomb’s ABX model centers relationships and orientations among A, B, and X, rather than Lasswell’s five-part analytical sequence.
Riley and Riley’s approach asks researchers to consider what beyond the message?
A Only the message’s font
B Participants’ social relationships
C Only broadcast frequency
D Only the device brand
Answer: B. Participants’ social relationships. Their sociological approach places communicators and audiences in a broader social system.
In Gerbner’s notation, what does a statement communicate about?
A An event
B A channel’s price
C A group’s membership
D A feedback count
Answer: A. An event. The model represents a communication product as a statement or signal about an event.
When a reporter and viewer perceive the same event differently, which idea is most relevant?
A All messages are identical
B Channels erase context
C Perception shapes the message
D Feedback is impossible
Answer: C. Perception shapes the message. Gerbner’s model treats perception as an active part of communication, affecting how events are represented.
Which model best examines how media selection and audience feedback interact?
A Dance’s helix
B Newcomb’s ABX model
C Lasswell’s formula
D Westley–MacLean
Answer: D. Westley–MacLean. Westley–MacLean explicitly includes a media intermediary and feedback paths involving communicators and audiences.
Which Lasswell question focuses on the intended audience?
A Says what
B To whom
C In which channel
D With what effect
Answer: B. To whom. Lasswell’s “to whom” question identifies the recipient or audience addressed by a communication.