cognitive priming

• Cognitive priming

  We are exposed to cues on TV, social media or games. Cues can trigger behaviours in us. These can be anti-social cues such as aggression or pro-social such as helping. Huesmann suggested watching aggressive shows or games would provide us with a script. This script is automatic and directs our behaviour unconsciously. The script is activated when we are exposed to certain cues which we perceive to be aggressive.
• A strength is that it has real-life application. Violent situations depend on an interpretation of environmental cues, which depends on cognitive scripts stored in memory. Bushman and Anderson claim someone who watches violent media stores aggressive scripts more readily so they interpret cues as aggressive. This suggests interventions could potentially reduce aggressive behavior by challenging hostile cognitive biases.
• A weakness is confounding variables. Violent video games are more complex than non-violent, so complexity is a confounding variable. Zendel et al. found that when complexity was controlled, the priming effects of violent video games disappeared. Therefore, the supportive findings of studies into priming may be partly due to confounding variables.