| Chapter 2: | Background and Hypothesis |
The LC3MP assumes that a media user is an active information seeker but he or she has a limited pool of mental resources (A. Lang, 2000). The media user processes a communication message by executing several mental operations on information in the message. The mental operations include, but are not limited to, three cognitive processes of encoding, storage, and retrieval, which occur in a parallel and simultaneous fashion. The successful processing of a communication message depends on the extent to which mental resources are allocated sufficiently to these processes.
Mental resources are believed to be allocated through both controlled and automatic mechanisms. The automatic allocation occurs outside the message recipient’s voluntary control because it is triggered by the medium and/or the message. Once it occurs, it is difficult, if not impossible, to suppress. One of the automatic allocation mechanisms is the OR (A. Lang, 1990; Ohman, 1979; Pavlov, 1927; Sokolov, 1963). The OR directs one’s attention to novel or significant stimuli and enhances sensory processing: It is the “what-is-it?” response (Pavlov, 1927). The function of the OR is believed to increase the ability of an organism to take in (or encode) information from the environment by automatically allocating mental resources to the source of orientation. On the other hand, the controlled allocation mechanism is a goal-directed, top-down process because a message recipient allocates mental resources on the basis of his or her expectations, interests, and goals. This means that the message recipient can control, to some extent, the allocation of resources voluntarily. This controlled allocation occurs slowly and serially, over minutes or hours.
In processing mediated messages, there are three elements affecting the allocation of mental resources: the viewer, the medium, and the content.