Explanations of media influences

Question 1

What are the 3 explanations of media influences on aggression?

Answer 1

Desensitisation, disinhibition and cognitive priming

Question 2

What is desensitisation?

Answer 2

The absence of anxiety in violent situations

Question 3

How may media violence lead to desensitisation?

Answer 3

Repeated exposure to aggression may remove the anxiety associated with it

Question 4

What happens to physiological arousal when a person is desensitised?

Answer 4

It decreases

Question 5

Give 2 examples of physiological responses?

Answer 5

Heart rate and skin conductance

Question 6

What are the 2 AO3 points for the desensitisation explanation of media influences?

Answer 6

1) Research support
2) Desensitisation can be advantageous

Question 7

Who provided research support for the desensitisation explanation of media influences?

Answer 7

Carnagey

Question 8

What were Carnagey’s participants required to do?

Answer 8

Play a violent or non-violent video game for 20 minutes and then watch a 10 minute video of real life violence

Question 9

What was monitored in Carnagey’s study?

Answer 9

The participants heart rate and skin conductance

Question 10

What did Carnagey find?

Answer 10

Those who had played the violent video game had lower heart rates and lower skin conductance when viewing the real life violence, compared to those who played the non-violent game

Question 11

Who is desensitisation beneficial for?

Answer 11

Soldiers

Question 12

Why is desensitisation beneficial for soldiers?

Answer 12

It can make them more effective at their job - it allows them to continue to work despite the atrocities around them

Question 13

Why can desensitisation to violent stimuli be detrimental to both the individual and society?

Answer 13

It makes people less empathetic towards those in distress

Question 14

What is disinhibition?

Answer 14

When social norms about violence are undermined, and it is perceived as a normal thing

Question 15

What can violence in the media trigger?

Answer 15

Physiological arousal

Question 16

What can physical arousal increase the chance of?

Answer 16

Aggressive behaviour

Question 17

When an individual is physiologically aroused, what happens to inhibitions?

Answer 17

They are supressed by the drive to act aggressively

Question 18

Why is prolonged violent media exposure bad?

Answer 18

It portrays the message that violence is a normal part of everyday life

Question 19

What are the 2 AO3 points for the disinhibition explanation of media influences?

Answer 19

1) The effect of disinhibition is dependent on other factors
2) Negative consequences make disinhibition less likely

Question 20

Which age group are most likely to experience disinhibition?

Answer 20

Young children

Question 21

Why are young children most likely to experience disinhibition?

Answer 21

They are more likely to be drawn into violent media without considering the motives or consequences

Question 22

Children who grow up in which type of household are less likely to experience disinhibition?

Answer 22

Anti-violence households

Question 23

Children who grow up in which type of household are more likely to experience disinhibition?

Answer 23

Households where children are physically punished

Question 24

Why are children who grow up in households that use physical punishment more likely to experience disinhibition?

Answer 24

Because violence is the ‘norm’ for them

Question 25

What has research found decreases disinhibition?

Answer 25

When the viewers of violent media are exposed to the negative consequences of this media

Question 26

In the disinhibition study where participants were shown a boxing clip, what were the 2 clip endings?

Answer 26

In one ending there were no consequences for the perpetrator, but in the other ending the loser of the fight was seen to take a brutal beating + dies

Question 27

In the disinhibition study where participants were shown a boxing clip, what was found?

Answer 27

Participants who didn’t see the consequences of the violence acted more aggressively after watching the clip than those who didn’t

Question 28

What is cognitive priming?

Answer 28

A temporary increase in accessibility of violent thoughts and feelings

Question 29

Give an example of cognitive priming.

Answer 29

When playing a computer game in which the player ‘kills’ other characters, this may prime thoughts of physical fighting

Question 30

How does cognitive priming lead to aggression?

Answer 30

The accessibility of violent thoughts may then lead to feelings of anger and a desire to harm others

Question 31

What may prolonged exposure to violent media mean for cognitive priming?

Answer 31

May result in a lowered activation threshold for aggressive thoughts

Question 32

What are the 2 AO3 points for the cognitive priming explanation of media influences?

Answer 32

1) Research support
2) Priming is less likely with unrealistic media

Question 33

Who provided research support for cognitive priming?

Answer 33

Bushman

Question 34

Who were the participants in Bushman’s cognitive priming study?

Answer 34

200 female and male psychology students

Question 35

In Bushman’s cognitive priming study, what were the participants required to do?

Answer 35

To watch 15 minutes of either a violet film or a non-violent film

Question 36

What were the findings of Bushman’s cognitive priming study?

Answer 36

Participants who watched the violent film went on to have quicker reaction times to aggressive words than those who watched the non-violent film

Question 37

In terms of realism, what type of media is more likely to lead to aggression?

Answer 37

Highly realistic media