Media influences part 1

Question 1

What is media

Answer 1

• this refers to collective communication outlets or tools that are used to store and deliver information or data to a large amount of people
• if someone sees aggressive behaviour, they may choose to imitate it

Question 2

Wha studies are used to study the effects of computer games

Answer 2

-experimental studies (lab based and examine short term effects)
-correlational (real life variable)
-longitudinal studies
a meta analysis can give an overall judgement of the size of effect of violent media on aggresive behaviour

Question 3

The first computer game was developed in 1958 and was an electronic tennis game for two players. Why were concerns studies over anti social influences

Answer 3

• concerns over densitisation effects
• concerns over exposure to violence affecting moral judgement
• however the carthadic released could be argued to be beneficial

Question 4

Experimental studies for computer games- Bartholow and Anderson (2002)

Answer 4

• students either plays a violent computer game (Mortal Kombat) or a nonviolent video game (PGA Tournament Golf) for 10 mins
• they then carried out the Taylor Competitive Reaction Time, a standard lab measure of agression where the students delivered blasts of white noise at chosen volumes to punish a non existent opponent
• those who played the violent video game selected higher noise levels (6.97dB) compared to nonviolent players (4.60dB)
• shows a link between playing games and aggressive behaviour

Question 5

Strength of experimental studies

Answer 5

-it is a standardised procedure so variable can be operationalised

Question 6

Weakness of experimental studies

Answer 6

-pps might act in different ways to real life

Question 7

Corelational studies - DeLisi et al (2013)

Answer 7

• studies 227 juvenile offenders all with histories of serious aggressive behaviour
• using structured interviews, they gathered data on several measures of the aggression and violent computer game playing
• found the aggressive behaviour was correlated with often they played violent computer games and how much they enjoyed them
• researchers argued that the link was so well established that aggression should be considered as a public health issue and computer games are a risk factor

Question 8

AO3- computer games and aggressive behaviour

Answer 8

• although the research by DeLisi shows that violent video games can result in aggressive behaviour, cause and effect cannot be established. This is because those who are aggressive may select aggressive media, instead of aggressive media causing those to become aggressive
• computer games do not necessairly cause someone to become aggressive

Question 9

Longitudinal studies- Robertseon et al (2013)

Answer 9

• investigated if there was a link between “excessive” tv viewing in childhood and aggressive behaviour in adulthood
• studied 1037 people born in NZ in 1972/1973 and measured their tv viewing hours at regular intervals up to qge of 26
• found time spent watching TV was a reliable predictor of aggressive behaviour in adulthood measured in terms of convctions for aggressive and violent crimes
• watching TV can be used to explain behaviour but other factors e.g. genes, SLT

Question 10

Meta analysis- Anderson et al (2010)

Answer 10

• performed meta analysis of 136 studies which comprised of correlational studies, experiemental studies and longitudinal studies
• found that exposure to violent computer games was associated with increases in aggressive behaviours
• true for males and females and seen across collectivist and individualistic cultures
• analysis shows that there was no indication of publication bias influencing results
• link between violent video gaming and aggression