Research Into Media Effects Flashcards
What are media influences?
Changes in behaviour that are attributed to exposure to media such as TV or computer
Outline laboratory and field experiments on violent films and TV
- In an experimental study, participants are randomly assigned to an experimental condition (view a violent film) or a control condition (view non-violent films). They’re then observed to see how they interact with others after viewing with the film
- A consistent findings from lab and field experiments is that those who watch violent scenes then display more aggression than those who don’t
Give an example of an experiment on violent films and TV
- Bjorkqvist exposed some 5-6 years old Finnish children to either violent films, compared with the children who had viewed non-violent films.
- Those who had watched the violent film were then rated much higher on measures of physical aggression (hitting others)
Give an example of a longitudinal study on violent films and TV
- Huesmann et al studied children between 6-10 years old growing up in Chicago, then some were studied again 15 years later.
- They found habitual early exposure to TV violent was predictive of adult aggression, this applied to both boys and girls.
Give an example of a meta-analysis on violent films and TV
- Bushman and Huesmann carried out a meta-analysis. Most of the studies looked at the impact of violent TV, but others looked at the effect of video games, music and comics
- They found significant effect sizes for the exposure to media violence on aggressive behaviour, thoughts and arousal levels. The short-terms effects of violent media were greater for adults, whereas the long-term effects were greater for children.
Outline research into violent computer games
Porter and Starcevic suggest, interactive violence in video games may exert more influence than TV violence, where the viewer plays a passive role. During violent play, aggression is rewarded and is portrayed as appropriate and effective.
Outline experimental studies on violent computer games
Lab experiments have found short-term increases in levels of physiological arousal, hostile feelings and aggressive behaviour following violent play compared non-violent game play
Give an example of experimental studies on violent computer games
Anderson and Dill found that participants blasted their opponents with white noise for longer and rated themselves higher on the State Hostility Scale after playing Wolfenstein 3D (violent game) compared to those who flayed Myst (non-violent games)
Give an example of a longitudinal studies on violent computer games
- Anderson et al surveyed children between 7-9 at 2 points during the school year.
- Children who had high exposure to violent video games became more verbally and physically aggressive and prosocial (as rated by themselves, peers and teachers)
Give evaluation of the influence of media on aggression (research may be overstating the relationship)
- Critics point out that while many studies claim a ‘statistically significant’ relationship between media violence and aggression, studies have also found effect of exposure to violent media to be small to medium effect sizes
- Few of the studies also measured aggression to another persons. Ferguson and Kilburn note when aggression to another person is the measure of aggression, the relationship between media violent and aggression to close to 0.
- Suggests that research may be overexaggerating the role of the media on aggression
Give evaluation of the influence of media on aggression (studies fail to account for other variables that explain why some display aggression)
- Ferguson et al claim that research on the effects of computer game violence has failed to control for other variables that influence aggression.
- Their meta-analysis showed that effects of violent media disappears when other influences (family violence and mental health) are considered
- Suggests that these other risk factors, not exposure to media violence, are the primary cause of aggression
Give evaluation of the influence of media on aggression (effects of computer games on aggression may be mediated by game difficulty)
- Przybylski’s study suggests that aggression may be linked to a players experiences of failure during a game, not a violent storyline.
- They found that it was the lack of mastery and difficulty players had in completing the game, that led to aggression. This was evident in both violent and non-violent games
- Shows that we tend to have a simplistic view on the link between video games and aggression, as non-violent games can led to aggressive feelings.
