Desensitisation, Disinhibition and Cognitive Priming

• Desensitisation

  • Desensitisation means reduced physiological response (e.g. Heart rate increasing, sweating, etc.)
  • Normally when we witness aggression we experience arousal associated with the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) such as increased heart rate and sweating
  • However, when children repeatedly view aggression on TV or play violent computer games, they become used to this aggression
  • When they become used to viewing aggression, the physiological effects are reduced – they become desensitised to the aggression
• Desensitisation Research

  Funk et al. (2004) 

  • Repeated exposure to violent media promotes a belief that aggression is socially acceptable, so individuals feel less empathy for victims

  Weisz and Earls (1995) 

  • Showed participants the film Straw Dogs (contains graphic rape scene)
  • Male viewers showed greater acceptance of rape myths after watching mock rape trial (compared with male viewers of non-violent film)
  • They also showed less sympathy to the victim and were less likely to find the defendant guilty
• Disinhibition

  • Disinhibition occurs when exposure to violent media reduces restraints that usually prevent a person from behaving aggressively
  • Most people believe violence and aggression are antisocial
  • There are powerful social and psychological restraints that prevent us from behaving aggressively (e.g. Through reward and punishment)
  • Violent media gives aggressive behaviour social approval, especially where effects on victims are minimised and appear justified
• Disinhibition:

  • The effect is that the usual restraints on individuals are loosened (disinhibited) after exposure to violent media
  • Many computer games show violence being rewarded 
  • They also show consequences of violence being minimised or ignored
  • Such rewards strengthen the new social norm in the viewer (that violence is socially acceptable) 
• Cognitive Priming

  • Cognitive priming is a ‘script’ learned about how to behave to aggressive cues
  • Repeatedly watching aggressive media can provide us with a ‘script’ about how violent situations may ‘play out’
  • Huesmann (1998) argues that this script is stored in memory so we become ‘ready’ (primed) to be aggressive
  • This is an automatic process because a script can direct our behaviour without us being aware of it
  • The script is triggered when we encounter cues in a situation that we find aggressive
• Cognitive Priming Research

  • Fischer and Greitmeyer (2006) investigated song lyrics as a form of media violence to see if cognitive priming took place
  • Male participants listened to songs featuring aggressively derogatory lyrics about women
  • Participants later recalled more negative qualities about women (compared with when they listened to neutral lyrics)
  • They also behaved more aggressively towards a female confederate 
  • The procedure was repeated with female participants and ‘men-hating’ lyrics, with similar results
• AO3:

  • One strength of desensitisation as a media influence on aggression is research support
  • Krahe et al. (2011) found that viewers of violent media showed lower arousal when watching violent film clips and were more likely to show aggression (blasting with noise) than those watching non-violent media 
  • This supports desensitisation as influence of media on aggression because it suggests that viewing violent media reduces physiological arousal, leading to a greater willingness to be aggressive
• AO3:

  • One strength of disinhibition as a media influence on aggression is research support
  •  Berkowitz and Alioto (1973) participants who watched a film displaying aggression as vengeance gave more (fake) electric shocks to a confederate
  • This suggests that when media violence is justified by displaying it as a form of vengeance, it makes it more socially acceptable, increasing the likelihood of aggression
  • This adds validity to the disinhibition concept because it demonstrates the link between removal of social constraints and subsequent aggressive behaviour
• AO3:

  • One strength of cognitive priming is useful practical applications
  • Bushman and Anderson (2002) claim someone who regularly watches violent media can access aggressive ‘scripts’ more easily/quickly than someone who doesn’t
  • This means they are more likely to interpret cues as aggressive and resort to violence as a solution
  • This can lead to important interventions which could reduce aggressive behaviour by challenging aggressive cognitive biases and encouraging violent media users to consider alternative interpretation of situations (e.g. Humour) 
• AO3:

  • One limitation of desensitisation is that catharsis may be a better explanation
  • Krahe et al. (2011) found no link between media viewing, lower arousal, and reactive aggression. This may be due to catharsis, where participants release aggressive impulses by viewing violent media, reducing aggression. This limitation of desensitization suggests that aggression is not inevitable but can be reduced by viewing violent media, making catharsis a more valid explanation for media's influence on aggression.
• AO3:

  • strength of disinhibition is it can explain the effect of cartoon violence
  • Kirsh ( argues that children do not learn specific behaviours from cartoon models
  • Children learn social norms instead – the aggression carried out by cartoon models is seen as socially acceptable by the child because it goes unpunished
  • This supports the disinhibition hypothesis because children learn from cartoons that aggression is rewarding and socially acceptable – meaning they lose the social constraints that would normally prevent them from behaving aggressively