media influences on aggression: the effects of computer games

Question 1

explain video game study??

Answer 1

• lab based study by Bartholemew and Anderson
• students played w/ violent/non-violent computer game for 10 mins
• then carried out a task to measure aggression
• children could blast white noise at different volumes to punish opponent
• those who played aggressive game =higher volume

Question 2

evaluate lab conditions for video game study?

Answer 2

• WEAKNESS
• artificial stimuli and unrealistic evidenced by use of white noise
• doesn’t simulate real life , as they have no fear of retaliation and experimenter has given permission for their aggression

Question 3

explain correlational studies?

Answer 3

• 277 offenders all had aggressive histories

- found aggression correlated with how often they played violent computer games

Question 4

evaluate an inability to show cause and effect for correlational studies?

Answer 4

WEAKNESS

• no variables can be manipulated or controlled
• violent games could cause people to be aggressive, or is it that violent people choose to play violent games
• causality cannot be settled in this correlational study and not an experiment

Question 5

explain a longitudinal study?

Answer 5

study of 1000 people born in New Zealand in 1972/73 and measured tv viewing hours at regular intervals until they were 26
-more tv=antisocial behaviour, and is an indicator of aggression

Question 6

evaluate pros and cons of a longitudinal study?

Answer 6

+ help investigate changes in aggression over time, views people more than just passive responders to the environment

• vulnerable to effects of confounding variables
• many sources of aggression interact with media over time, difficult to separate