Media Influence On Anti-Social Behaviour

Question 1

What are 3 ways the media can cause people to act in a more anti-social way?

Answer 1

1. Social learning
2. Desensitisation
3. Cognitive priming

Question 2

What does the social learning theory suggest?

Answer 2

People learn by observing and imitating models.

Question 3

What are ‘models’ and why are people likely to observe and imitate them?

Answer 3

People that they admire and see as successful and receive reinforcement for their actions - we are more likely to imitate people we admire and those who receive reinforcement for their actions.

Question 4

What is Bandura’s bobo doll study? (Method and findings)

Answer 4

Children watched a video, 3 conditions - violent, non violent and one with no model.
Those who watched the video that featured violence behaved the most aggressively.

Question 5

What are 5 evaluative points of Bandura’s bobo doll study?

Answer 5

1. Children - average age was 4-5 - external validity.
2. Lab - ecological validity.
3. Demand characteristics - internal validity.
4. Ethical issues.
5. Some parents in those in group 1 had described their child as aggressive.

Question 6

What study did Parker et al carry out that also supported the social learning theory? (Method and findings).

Answer 6

Young offenders in an institution, 1 group only watched violent tv, other group only watched non violent. Staff observed and recorded p’s behaviour.
Found - those watching violent tv behaved more aggressively.

Question 7

What are 4 criticisms of Parker et al’s study? (1 pos, 3 neg).

Answer 7

1. Higher ecological validity than Bandura’s study - not in a lab.
2. Biased sample - young offenders - likely to already be aggressive.
3. Findings from observations from staff - open to bias and subjectivity.
4. Ethical issues.

Question 8

What contradictory study did Charlton carry out? (Method and findings).

Answer 8

Observed behaviour in St Helena’s residents before and after the introduction of TV in 1995.
Found - very little changed after introduction of TV, even discovered some increases in pro-social behaviours.

Question 9

What are 3 criticisms of Charlton’s study?

Answer 9

1. Aggression measured through peer and teacher ratings - can be biased and unreliable.
2. Parental mediation wasn’t assessed and effective mediation can reduce any negative effects.
3. Unclear if same results would have been found if monitored over a long period of time - lack of interest in TV may have led to lack of attention in content in short term.

Question 10

What is a real life example of media coverage leading to normal people behaving in anti-social ways?

Answer 10

England riots - many people saw the news coverage and then decided to join in.

Question 11

What is cognitive priming and who first introduced it?

Answer 11

Berkowitz - aggressive ideas shown in media can ‘spark off’ existing aggressive thoughts. After viewing a violent film, the viewer is ‘primed’ to respond aggressively.

Question 12

When discussing cognitive priming, what ma viewers store in their memories?

Answer 12

Schemas - ideas that they can use at a later date.

Question 13

Who is J and what study did they carry out into cognitive priming?

Answer 13

Josephson
Made hockey players deliberately frustrated and then showed them a violent or non-violent film where the actor held a walkie talkie.
Found - those who saw the violent film acted more aggressively when the referee held a walkie talkie when they were playing a game of hockey.

Question 14

What is 1 criticism of Josephson’s study?

Answer 14

1. Demand characteristics - compromises internal validity as findings could be incorrect.

Question 15

What is desensitisation?

Answer 15

The more violence a person witnesses, the more desensitised they become and therefore they are more likely to become violent and aggressive.

Question 16

Who is B and what contradictory study did he carry out into desensitisation?

Answer 16

Belson
1500 teenage boys
Found - no evidence of high exposure to tv violence would desensitize them into become violent, or even reduce their consideration for others and respect for authority.
1. Large sample - large amount of data can be generalised.
2. Gender (beta) bias and age limits - lowers ext validity as results difficult to generalise.

Question 17

What did Huesmann and Moise find about boys who watch TV frequently?

Answer 17

Boys who watch TV frequently show lower physiological arousal in response to new violent scenes, so may be more inclined to use violence.

Question 18

What have large scale studies shown about the difference in desensitization between males and females?

Answer 18

Greater desensitisation effects in males than females.

Question 19

What do some psychologists say about violent behaviours on TV and moral standards?

Answer 19

The may provide a justification for a child’s bad behaviour - moral standards become blurred.
Watching violent TV programmes may provide relief for a child’s guilt - especially when violence goes unpunished.

Question 20

What did Singer et al state about violence on TV?

Answer 20

It has a cathartic effect and makes someone less likely to be aggressive.

Question 21

What are X major criticisms of research into the media’s influence on anti-social behaviour?

Answer 21

1. Gender bias - much of the research is focused on males - can’t generalise to females - low ext. validity.
2. Results are correlational - cause and effect - other variables e.g. personality, home life, etc.
3. Ethics - studies may have lasting effect on p’s and make them more aggressive.