Media influences part 2

Question 1

What are the three explanations of media influences on anti social behaviour

Answer 1

• desensitisation
• dishinibition
• cognitive priming

Question 2

What is desensitisation

Answer 2

• if we witness a violent action, usually we would experience psychological arousal associated with activiation of the sympathetic nervous systen
• however when children repeatedly view agression on TV they become habituated to its effects and so a stimulus has a diminishing impact, resulting in a reduction in anxiety and physiological arousal upon viewing/playing
• promotes the idea that using agression to solve conflict is socially acceptable

Question 3

Research for desensitisation- Funk et al (2004)

Answer 3

-negative attitudes towards violence weaken, less emphathy is felt for victims and their injuries are minimised and dismissed

Question 4

Research for desensitisation- Belson (1978)

Answer 4

• found no link between exposure to violence and anti social behaviours
• study involved 1,500 teenage boys and explored hours watching TV violence and anti social attitude
• the lack of link demonstrates that desensitisation may not occur at all

Question 5

Research for desensitisation- Bushman (2009)

Answer 5

when individuals who played violent video games for only 20 mins saw someone injured in a fight they actually took longer to help than individuals playing a non violent video games suggesting that violent media makes people numb to the suffering of others

Question 6

AO3- desnsitisation

Answer 6

• mixed research findings- desensitisation does not always have an effect on aggression- the link between exposure to media violence and sensitisation may be more complex than orignially thought
• individual differences- we are all exposed to aggressive behaviour but don’t all become aggressive

Question 7

What is disinhibition

Answer 7

• according to this model, the usual restraints we feel surrounding violence and aggression are loosened after exposure to violent media
• aggressive behaviour made to appear normative in such media- it seems acceptable, making people disinhibited
• video games show violence being rewarded at the same time as consequences are minimized or ignored- this creates social norms for viewer

Question 8

What are the three ways of explaining disinhibition

Answer 8

• anonymity and invistibility- player is behind a screen
• solipstic introjection- becoming merged with the player in the game and so acting as the character
• minimisation of authority- often no law enforcement in games so behaviour is classified as criminal is acted out in virtual world

Question 9

Research for disinhibition- Berkowitz and Alioto (1973)

Answer 9

• found that pps who saw a film depicting aggression as vengeance have more fake electric shocks of longer duration to a confederate
• this suggests that media violence may disinhibit aggressive behaviour when it is presented as justified
• vegeance is a powerful justification for violence, and justified violence more likely to be seen as socially acceptable- this adds validity to disinhibition concept as demonstrates link between removal of social constraints and subsequent aggressive behaviour

Question 10

AO3- disinhibition

Answer 10

• works well to explain disinhibition in vengeful film situations and also violent video games but doesn’t explain all forms of media
• also research suggests that the effect of disinhibition is only relevant while engaging in the media- disinhibition and engagement are correlated

Question 11

What is cognitive priming

Answer 11

• the idea that cues presented in media provide us with a “script” and may trigger behaviour in the recipient- can be prosocial and aggressive
• as we use media a lot, we are exposed to cues regularly
• the effects of these cues are moderated- we do not act out what we see and the cues only act as triggers if the content is similar

Question 12

Research for cognitive priming- bushman and Anderson (2002)

Answer 12

• someone who habitually watches violent media accesses scripts aggressive scripts more readily
• this means they are more likely to interpret cues as aggressive, resort to violent solution ignoring alternative courses of action
• CBT could be used to challenge hostile cognitive biases and help encourage alternative interpretations

Question 13

Research for cognitive priming- Murray et al (2007)

Answer 13

• brain activity measured via fMRI scans of children watching violent and non violent films
• found those watching violence had increased activity in brain areas linked to emotions and those linked to episodic memory
• shows that memories had been formed that could later react to cues and prompt aggressive or violent behaviour

Question 14

AO3 cognitive priming

Answer 14

• works to explain both aggressive and prosocial behaviour
• but individual differences- someone who is more violent demonstrates violent behaviour
• it cannot be used to change an aggressive individual to a prosocial individual
• can’t establish cause and effect
• cognitive priming, desnsitisation and disinhibition are all overlapping factors- there are other factors