mass-communication-theory

BEHAVIORISM
behaviorism
The notion that
all human action
is a conditioned
response to externalenvironmental
stimuli
Chapter 4 The Rise of Media Theory in the Age of Propaganda 81
American elites therefore watched with increasing horror as extremist political
groups consolidated their power in Europe and proceeded to establish totalitarian
governments wielding enormous control over vast populations. How could they remain
complacent when madmen like Hitler’s propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels,
could openly espouse such antidemocratic ideas as “It would not be impossible to
prove with sufficient repetition and psychological understanding of the people concerned
that a square is in fact a circle. What after all are a square and a circle?
They are mere words and words can be molded until they clothe ideas in disguise”
(quoted in Thomson, 1977, p. 111) and “In politics power prevails, not moral
claims of justice” (quoted in Herzstein, 1978, p. 69)? Fear grew that Fascist or
Communist groups could and would come to power in the United States. In several
American universities, researchers began to systematically study both foreign and
domestic propaganda—searching for clues to what made it effective. Support
for this research came from a variety of government agencies and private foundations,
most notably military intelligence agencies and the Rockefeller Foundation
(Gary, 1996).
We will review the propaganda theories of three of the most prolific, imaginative,
and complex thinkers of their time: Harold Lasswell, Walter Lippmann, and
John Dewey. Given the number of books these men wrote, it is impossible to provide
a complete presentation of their work. Instead, we will highlight some of their
most influential and widely publicized ideas. In nearly every case, these men later
refined or even rejected some of these ideas. Our objective in presenting their theories
is to show how thinking about media evolved during a very critical period in
world history—not to demean these individuals or to denigrate their work.
Most of the propaganda theories that developed during the 1930s were
strongly influenced by two theories: behaviorism and Freudianism. Some combined
both. Before presenting the ideas of the major propaganda theorists, we will first
look at the two theories that often guided their thinking.
John B. Watson, an animal experimentalist who argued that all human action is
merely a conditioned response to external environmental stimuli, first popularized
stimulus-response psychology. Watson’s theory became known as behaviorism in
recognition of its narrow focus on isolated human behaviors. Behaviorists rejected
psychology’s widely held assumption that higher mental processes (that is, conscious
thought or reflection) ordinarily control human action. In contrast to such
“mentalist” views, behaviorists argued that the only purpose served by consciousness
was to rationalize behaviors after they are triggered by external stimuli. Behaviorists
attempted to purge all mentalist terms from their theories and to deal
strictly with observable variables—environmental stimuli on the one hand and behaviors
on the other. By studying the associations that existed between specific stimuli
and specific behaviors, behaviorists hoped to discover previously unknown
causes for action. One of the central notions in behaviorism was the idea of conditioning.
Behaviorists argued that most human behavior is the result of conditioning
by the external environment. We are conditioned to act in certain ways by positive
and negative stimuli—we act to gain rewards or avoid punishments.
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