PROCESSES AND EFFECTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SOCIAL-REALITY - CONSTRUCT ACCESSIBILITY AS AN EXPLANATORY VARIABLE

This study conceptualizes the cultivation effect in terms of the acces sibility of information in memory. Contemporary social cognition resea rch indicates that individuals consistently use the most accessible in formation in memory as a basis for a variety of judgments. Consistent with this body of literature, the current study demonstrates that, bas ed on a reaction time task, those subjects who watch comparatively mor e television not only overestimate frequency or probability but also g ive faster responses to various types of cultivation questions. These results support the notion that relevant information, presumably ''cul tivated'' from television viewing, is more accessible in memory for he avier viewers, and, consistent with predictions made by the availabili ty heuristic literature, overestimations of frequency or probability a re associated with this enhanced accessibility. Moreover, when control ling for speed of response in the correlation between television viewi ng and social reality estimates, the relationship is diminished or dis appears entirely, suggesting that enhanced accessibility of relevant i nformation for heavier viewers can at least partially account for the cultivation effect.