Media influences on Aggression Flashcards
What is cognitive priming?
Children learn a ‘script’ so they know how to behave if similar situations arise. (They have a schema).
What did Murray find regarding cognitive priming?
fMRI showed that, when watching violent media, areas responsible for storing episodic memories were active, implying violence is stored for later use.
What is desensitisation?
When we repeatedly see violent aggression, the response from the sympathetic nervous system becomes reduced.
(We have a reduced physical reaction, no fight or flight).
What did Weisz and Earls find regarding desensitisation?
Pps who had viewed a rape scene in a film showed less sympathy to the victim and were less likely to find the defendant guilty.
What is disinhibition?
Where the usual restraints to use violence are loosened after exposure to the media.
What is the relationship between disinhibition and rewards?
Disinhibition is enhanced if violence is rewarded.
E.g. killing people in video games may be rewarded meaning the consequences may be justified.
Give an advantage of the roles of: desensitisation, disinhibition and cognitive priming.
+Supporting evidence.
The more the pps saw violence in the video game, the less their palms sweat and the less their heart rate increases.
Supporting the idea that exposure to violence makes you desensitised.
However, it is not real life violence.
+Cognitive priming has real world applications.
Changing people’s ‘script’ and the schema they hold. Could reduce violent behaviour in prisons by making them watch comedy tv for example.
Give a disadvantage of the roles of: desensitisation, disinhibition and cognitive priming.
-Cumberbatch argued that just because people get ‘used’ to violence in video games, does not mean they will also get used to real life violence.
They are extremely different.
-Also, Zillmann suggests that violent computer games can actually be cathartic and get people aggression out.
Name two methodologies used by psychologists to study the influences of video games on aggression.
-Experimental
-Correlational
Give an example of experimental research into computer games and aggression.
Bartholow and Anderson- Students played a violent or non-violent video game for 10 minutes.
Those who had played the violent game selected significantly higher noise levels compared with the non-violent players (5.97 compared with 6.60 dB).
Give an example of correlational research into the effect of video games on aggression.
DeLisi et al- 227 juvenile offenders- offender’s violent behaviours correlated with how often video games were played.
What does cathartic mean?
Challenging your aggression in a controlled way.
Give some disadvantages of research into the effects of computer games.
-Most of the research is correlational (DeLisi et al) so we therefore can’t establish cause and effect.
We can’t be sure that the media does cause aggression.
-Problems with distinguishing between violent and non-violent video games.
Violence may not be the sole factor in aggression, frustration and/or excitement may also have a role to play.
-Publication bias.
Studies that show violent video games causing aggression are typically published more.
This creates a false impression that the effect of violent video games is more severe.
