desentisitation, disinhibited and cognitive priming Flashcards
what is desensitisation?
reduced sensitivity to a stimulus. this may be psychological (less emotional response) or physiological (eg lowered heart rate). this reduced response may make a behaviour such as aggression more likely.
desensitisation elaboration
•normally when we witness violence we experience physiological arousal associated with the sympathetic nervous system (increased heart and breathing rate, sweating)
•when we are repeatedly presented with violence in games/ TV we become habituated to its effects- we no longer respond
•there is a reduction of anxiety and physiological arousal
what did Funk find?
•desensitisation is psychological as well as physiological
•repeated exposure promotes a belief that using aggression is acceptable
•negative attitude towards violence means less empathy is felt towards victims
•this all leads to increased aggression
what was Weisz and Earl’s study?
•showered participants the film Straw Dogs which contains graphic rape scenes. they were made to consume violent media
•they were compared with a control group who watched non- sexually violent films
•the viewers of Straw dogs showed a greater acceptance of aggression and less sympathy towards victims (no effect on female participants)
disinhibition definition
a lack of restraint (no longer being inhibited). may be due to environmental triggers or overexposure to a stimulus, resulting in socially unacceptable behaviours becoming acceptable and therefore more likely
what is disinhibition?
•most people believe that violence and aggression are antisocial and harmful
•this means we are ‘inhibited’ from behaving in this way- the social norms we’ve learned from society prevent us from being aggressive
•exposure to violent media creates a new norm- violence and aggression are acceptable
•violence in the media is often rewarded, seen as justified or goes unpunished- further normalising it
cognitive priming definition
•the way a person thinks (cognitive processes) is triggered by cues or ‘scripts’ which make us ready (primed) to respond in specific ways. for example, watching violent films provides a ‘script’ about how to react in certain situations so a person is more ready to respond in the same way
what is cognitive priming?
•watching violent media can provide us with scripts (schemas) about how violent situations may ‘play out’
•huesman said these scrips are stored in our memory so we are ready to use them ourselves. this process is automatic and directs our behaviour unconsciously
•cues in a situation can trigger these scrips- if we find ourselves in a similar context to one we’ve seen on screen, this acts as a cue and triggers our retrieval of an aggressive script
research support for the role of desensitisation
•Krahe showed participants violent/ non violent films while measuring physiological arousal
•participants who were habitual viewers of violent media showed lower levels of arousal as they watched the violent film clips
•they also gave louder bursts of white noise to a confederate without being provoked
•this lower arousal in violent media users reflects desensitisation to the effects of violence, and it was also linked to a greater willingness to be aggressive
limitation of the role of desensitisation
•desensitisation cannot explain some aggression
•the study by Krahe failed to link media viewing, lower arousal and provoked (reactive) aggression
• a more valid explanation might be catharsis, and that violent media is a safety value, allowing people to release aggressive impulses
•therefore, not all aggression is the result of desensitisation and alternative explanations may be more valid
research support for the role of disinhibition
•Berkowitz and Alioto found that participants who saw a film depicting aggression as vengeance gave more (fake) electric shocks for a longer duration to a confederate
•media violence may disinhibit aggressive behaviour if it is presented as justified and socially acceptable (vengeance)
•this demonstrates the link between removal of social constraints and subsequent aggressive behaviour
strength of the role of disinhibition- cartoon violence
•it can explain the effects of cartoon violence
•children do not learn specific aggressive behaviours from cartoon models
•instead they learn that aggression in general is acceptable (socially normative)
•this is especially true if the cartoon model is not punished, this disinhibits aggressive behaviour
•therefore disinhibition explains how cartoon aggression can be lead to aggression in those who observe it
strength of the role of cognitive priming, real world application
•Bushman and Anderson argue that someone who habitually watched violent media accesses and stores aggressive scripts more readily
•so they are more likely to interpret cues as aggressive and resort to an violent solution
•this suggests that interventions could potentially reduce aggressive behaviour by challenging hostile cognitive biases
limitation of the role of cognitive priming, confounding variables
•research into the effects of video games has found that playing violent video games prime violent behaviour more than non-violent games do
•these tend to be more complex than non-violent games, and this complexity is a confounding variable (it is the complexity that causes the priming effect not the violence)
•when complexity was controlled, the priming effects of violent video games disappeared
•therefore, the supportive findings of studies into priming may be at least partly due to confounding variables
