Media Influences On Aggression

Question 1

Give a study for how films have influenced aggression.

Answer 1

Exposed 5-6 year old Finnish children to either violent or non-violent films. Compared to children who had seen non-violent films, those who had watched violent films were subsequently rated higher on physical aggression.

Question 2

Evaluate the study into how films lead to aggression.

Answer 2

Poorly operationalised
Parents had a biased view
Unethical

Question 3

Give strengths and weakness of using lab studies.

Answer 3

Control over extraneous variables so more confidence
Cause and effect can be determined

Artificial environment means aggression not displayed realistically
Due to ethical reasons real life situations can’t be measured so less realistic due to no consequences.

Question 4

Give strengths and weaknesses of using correlations.

Answer 4

More realistic than lab studies as looks at real cases

No cause and effect - do aggressive individuals seek out aggressive media? A third variable is living in an aggressive family or having an aggressive personality - leads to people spending more time on video games.

Question 5

Give strengths and weaknesses of using longitudinal studies.

Answer 5

Looking at aggression over time gives a more valid and realistic interpretation of the true impact of games

Confounding variables
Poor population validity - attrition. Did non aggressive or aggressive pps drop out leaving a skewed sample?

Question 6

Give strengths and weaknesses of meta-analyses

Answer 6

More valid and scientific way of understanding implications

Research not done specifically by researchers so they don’t know how cals it is eg operationalisation could be different.
Publication bias.

Question 7

Give a lab study into the effects of computer games into aggression.

Answer 7

Compared the effects of playing a violent game with watching a cartoon. Children who played the game exhibited more verbal and physical aggression than those who watched the cartoon.

Question 8

Give a correlation into the effects of computer games into aggression.

Answer 8

227 juvenile offenders with a history of serious aggression. Using a structured interview they collected data on several measures of aggression and violent computer game playing. They found a positive correlation w how often they played computer games and aggression

Question 9

Give a longitudinal study into the effects of computer games on aggression.

Answer 9

Surveyed 430 children aged 7-9 years at 2 points during the academic year. Children who had high exposure to video games became more verbally aggressive and less pro social.

Question 10

Give a meta analysis into the effects of computer games on aggression.

Answer 10

Meta analysis of 136 studies which used different research methods. They found playing violent computer games was linked to an increase in aggressive behaviour, thoughts and feelings in males and females.

Question 11

Generally evaluate research into the media effects into aggression.

Answer 11

C - androcentric samples, difficult assessing the longevity of media effects, difficult to find 2 computer games that are equivalent, difficult to find a baseline measure or a completely non aggressive group. Aggression is a vague concept that people have different interpretations of so research will probably vary. Challenging research eg one study found computer games were cathartic for people.
P - interventions to reduce impact

Question 12

Give an overview of media exposure leading to aggression because of desensitisation.

Answer 12

Proposed that with continual exposure to a stimulus out response is decreased. Therefore if aggression is presented daily there is a reduction in our psychological and physiological responses.

Question 13

What is an indication that desensitisation has occured?

Answer 13

Reduced physiological arousal eg heart rate (reduced activity of sympathetic ANS) when presented w media violence. Individuals also less likely to notice real life violence and show sympathy to victims. If the individual no longer feels anxious they might start to regard it as normal and be prepared to be more agg.

Question 14

How does desensitisation cause aggression from media exposure?

Answer 14

Violence and aggression present in news reports and many computer games. Desensitisation as a response to to violence in computer games can be negative. They might not respond to real aggression with physiological arousal eg fear. So individuals are more likely to accept violence and aggression so be more likely to respond violently be aggressively when the opportunity arrises.

Question 15

Evaluate desensitisation as an explanation for why media exposure causes aggression.

Answer 15

S - pps played a violent or non-violent computer game for 20 mins and shown a 10 min clip of real life violence. Violent game = lower heart rate suggesting desensitisation.
C - media violence widespread yet not all individuals act aggressively. Individual differences in level of emotion experienced must account for why some are more desensitised.
I - behaviour is determined in that playing violent games will cause aggression due to desensitisation. Ignores free will.

Question 16

How can disinhibition have a short term effect of aggression?

Answer 16

Restraint against agg is reduced when exposed to violent media. Eg no threat of punishment in violent video games and anonymity can be assured. Similar to deindividuation leading to aggressive behaviour. Therefore violent game playing can have an immediate effect on inciting aggression in usually passive people.

Question 17

How can disinhibition have a long term effect on aggression?

Answer 17

Aggressive behaviour in media is often sanctioned and justified and violence is often rewarded in games. This can create new social norms about such behaviour making the viewer or game player less inhibited about behaving aggressively.

Question 18

Evaluate the role of disinhibition as an explanation for why media exposure leads to aggression.

Answer 18

S/c - some research found no disinhibition effects following violent TV. Other research shows support when playing games. This suggests it applies to some media and not all.
C - some research shows disinhibition effects only last for while the computer game is played. This means the effects disappear after.
P - American army using computer games as a recruitment tool. From the perspective of the armed forces recruiting individuals w interest in violence and aggression and disinhibited response is better for soldiers. Soldiers more likely to have to behave agg, so beneficial to respond as if it was a norm.

Question 19

Explain the role of cognitive priming in media effects on aggression

Answer 19

Refers to the idea that being exposed to media violence generates a script of how to deal with everyday conflicts, stored in memory and retrieved in real life situations. Frequent exposure to violent media = aggressive scripts more readily available so more likely they’ll behave aggressively. CP is automatic so script is triggered w/o us being aware. However we do have some control - cues only act as triggers if context is similar.

Question 20

Evaluate cognitive priming as an explanation for why media exposure causes aggression.

Answer 20

S - brain scans. FMRI scans of 8 children watching violent/non violent tv programmes. Children in violent tv condition showed greater activation in areas associated w emotion and storage of LTM. Implies violent acts seen and stored for later used.
C - realism of the media is important regarding relationship between exposure and cognitive priming. Viewing more realistic violence associated w higher levels of aggression. Fictional violence may have less of an impact. Also methodological issues w research - difficult to determine cause and effect. Could be that aggressive individuals chose to watch aggressive TV programmes and play violent computer games. Correlational.
I - gender bias. Focus on male on male physical violence in a lab setting and often used male student and generalised to all males and females. When describing samples gender neutral terms are often used so neglects differences in behaviour.