media influences on aggression Flashcards
(21 cards)
what is cognitive priming?
refers to a phenomenon in which presentation of cues previously associated with aggression can cause somebody to behave aggressively
what did josephson find?
evidence for cognitive priming - hockey players were deliberately frustrated and then shown either violent or non violent films with an actor holding a walkie talkie - in games after the boys who saw violent films and had the ref hold a walkie talkie behaved aggressively
what is meant by desensitisation?
Repeated viewing of aggressive media leads to a reduction in anxiety and physiological arousal (e.g. lower heart rate and blood pressure).
Desensitisation can also be psychological as aggression comes to be seen as acceptable and less empathy is felt for victims.
what did strenziok find?
Maren Strenziok and her colleagues (2010) investigated a sample of 22 boys aged between 14 and 17 years. They watched 60 violent clips taken from different videos. Each clip was four seconds long, and they were organised randomly into three groups of 20. The degree of violence in the clips was judged to be no worse than ‘moderate’.
The participants had to rate the degree of aggression in each clip by pressing one of two buttons. These indicated whether they thought the clip they had just watched was MORE or LESS aggressive than the previous one. This procedure was carried out while each participant was having their brains scanned by a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner (fMRI). They also had their skin conductance responses (SCRs) measured. This provided an indication of their physiological responses to watching the videos.
The researchers found that the participants’ responses all decreased over the course of watching the 60 clips. Activation in the orbitofrontal cortex – involved in processing emotional information – reduced, as did SCRs. This reduction was especially marked in two particular circumstances:
When watching the most violent video clips.
In the boys who used the most violent media in their everyday lives
what is meant by disinhibition?
Normal restraints against aggression are weakened after viewing violent media, especially if portrayed as justified.
Aggression is made to appear normative and socially sanctioned (creates new norms).
what did goranson find?
showed people film of boxing match with two different endings. in one, there was no apparent consequence, but in the second, injuries sustained lead to the boxer dying. people who did not see the negative consequence were more likely to behave aggressively than those who did
what are the three explanations of media influences on aggression?
cognitive priming
desensitisation
disinhibition
strengths of explanations of media influences
research to support - strenziok, goranson, josephson
real life application of cognitive priming - whether real world situations become violent depends on how they interpret environmental cues
limitations of explanations of media influences
research difficulties - area of research has been influenced by political desires to blame tv and media for a range of social problems
methodological issues - lab experiments are prone to demand characteristics, participants may know that aggression levels are being measured
gender bias - effects research has previously focused on male on male physical violence, often viewed in lab settings
how does excessive tv viewing link to aggression levels?
aggressive behaviour may be linked to excessive tv viewership, regardless of whether the content is violent or not.
what did robertson find?
measured the tv viewing of over 1000 new zealand teenagers. found time spent watching tv in youth was a reliable predictor of violent behaviour in adulthood
time watching tv links to lower social interaction and educational achievement - may cause violence
how does violent film content link to aggression?
this is perhaps the most significant influence on aggressive behaviour
what did bandura’s follow up find?
when children saw adults display violent behaviours to the doll on a film, they still imitated aggressive behaviours
what did paik and cornstock find?
tv / film violence only accounted for around 1-10% of variance in children’s aggressive behaviours
how can computer games link to aggression?
there is growing evidence that computer games may have more powerful effects than other media
- more engaging experience for player
- more rewarding playing a game (operant conditioning)
what are the physical effects of computer games?
can have a short term effect on functioning of different brain areas. violent video games increase activity in the amygdala which stimulates emotions
how does violence in video games influence our later responses to real life violence?
if we play violent video games, we are likely to have lower heart rates and sweat less when witnessing violence - there is a desensitisation of physiological responses
what are the social effects of computer games?
people who have played more violent video games are more likely to exploit - may undermine social behaviours
what are the behaviour effects of computer games?
short term exposure to computer game violence has been associated with temporary increases in aggression.
strengths of the effects of computer games and tv
real life application - age restrictions on violent video games for whilst children develop
lab experiments - highly reliable and allow us to establish a cause and effect between games / tv and violence
limitations of the effects of computer games and tv
effects of long term exposure are unclear - no clear effects of video games into late adulthood + some research suggests there may be positive effects
Correlational research is often used - is aggression truly caused by these factors
violence can be subjective when distinguishing between violent and non violent games
