media influences on aggression

Question 1

forms of the media and their affect on aggression

Answer 1

• TV, radio, films, newspapers
• regularly seeing aggression in the media is thought to lead to increased aggression in the media

Question 2

SLT in the media

Answer 2

• identification with an attractive but violent hero, increases the likelihood aggression will be imitated
• may learn vicariously that aggression solves problems and gets rewarded
• viewers moral decision making can be socialized by media aggression
• extreme violence is justified

Question 3

the effects of computer games: increase aggression

Answer 3

• watching TV and movies= passive
• computers= you have control
• in some cases aggression is only way to play the game
• aggressive behaviour is reinforced directly

Question 4

the effects of computer games: decrease aggression

Answer 4

• reduce likelihood of real life aggression
• video games provide catharsis
• relief from releasing negative emotion

Question 5

what is desensitisation?

Answer 5

• repeated exposure to extreme aggression removes the strong emotional responses associated with it
• makes it easier for people to be aggressive themselves

Question 6

what is disinhibition?

Answer 6

• people often have a strong desire to not be aggressive, impulses are inhibited due to socialisation
• repeated exposure to justified aggression disinhibits avoidance of aggression in real life

Question 7

what is cognitive priming?

Answer 7

• mental scripts + schemas of how to respond in certain situations
• can learn schemas from TV and video games
• hero acting aggressively when threatened becomes cues/ priming stimuli
• when exposed to these cues, in a similar context you’re more likely to act aggressively

Question 8

evaluations research support: Williamson observed aggression in a playground

Answer 8

• observed aggression before and ftr the introduction of TV in a rural Canadian town
• increase in physical and verbal aggression
• viewing aggressive symbolic models in the media leads to children imitating behaviour

Question 9

evaluations research support: Carnagey and Anderson play video game and watch real world violence

Answer 9

• asked pp to play either a violent or non violent video game for 20 minutes
• then watch a 10 minute video of real world violence
• results showed lower galvantic skins response and higher HR, in those who played aggressive games
  -exposure to violence in the games physiologically desensitises players to violent imagery

Question 10

evaluations research support: Berkowitz and powers, justifying aggression in TV shows

Answer 10

• males watched an aggressive sceme from a show and were asked to write summaries
• those who gave summaries where the violence was justified, were most aggressive to a confederate in the follow up task
  -viewing aggression along with justification= disinhibited aggressive response

Question 11

evaluation research support: Murray children brain scans

Answer 11

• scanned the brain of 8 children while watching violent and non-violent sequences
• range of areas only activated for violent videos
• viewers see violence as real due to amygdala activation and are cognitively primed
• aggressive scripts are stored in posterior cingulate= associated with long term memory storage

Question 12

General evaluations: limitation, lacks face validity

Answer 12

• real world examples of aggression have decreased since the 1980’s
• advances in graphics makes computer games more popular
• idea that computer game aggression causing real world violence lacks face validity
• could be because young males spend less time on the streets being aggressive, instead they spend more time inside being virtually aggressive

Question 13

General evaluations: strength, video games act as a form of catharsis

Answer 13

• ketsenbaum (1985) the self report of young males that play lots of video games
• games user found that playing games when they’re wound up made them feel more relaxed
• being aggressive in video games reduces the aggression in real world by providing catharsis

Question 14

General evaluations: limitation, correlation between childhood games and aggression in adolescents

Answer 14

• correlation between childhood games and aggression in adolescents
• my be that people that are more aggressive choose to watch more violent content

Question 15

General evaluations: strength, help with game age restrictions

Answer 15

• aggression between links and the media, can help inform policy around regulations to do with age restrictions and what should be banned