MEDIA INFLUENCES

• KEY SOCIAL LEARNING PROCESSES INVOLVED IN MEDIA INFLUENCE ON AGGRESSION?

  desensitisation, disinhibition, cognitive priming
• DESENSITISATION?

  • witnessing violence leads to physical arousal
  • activation of sympathetic nervous system (increased heart rate/ blood pressure)
  • repeated exposure means reduced physical and psychological reactions to aggressive stimuli
  • more likely to use aggressive behaviour as perceive it as less threatening than it actually is
• DISINHIBITION?

  • aggression is viewed as socially unacceptable and harmful
  • therefore we inhibit it usually due to empathy or fear of consequences
  • repeated exposure leads to disinhibition
  • as new norms are set and believe it is appropriate to solve conflict using aggression
  • in video games, aggressive behaviour is rewarded and the consequences are ignored making it less likely the new norms inhibit aggression
• COGNITIVE PRIMING?

  • exposure to one stimulus influences response to subsequent without conscious intention
  • video games increase likelihood of aggression as a result of priming effect
  • previously learned aggressive responses and aggressive schemas activate memories
• EVALUATION?

  + Engelhardt et al

  + Wiegman and Shie

  -laboratory environment

  -file drawer effect
• ENGELHARDT ET AL?

  • 35 pps with low exposure to video games, 35 high
  • shown violent/ non-violent images in EEG
  • low exposure with violent images = low ERP
  • low exposure with non-violent images = normal ERP
  • high exposure with violent/ non-violent images = low ERP
  • Taylor Competitive Reaction Time Task
  • high exposure = more aggressive noise blasts
• WIEGMAN AND SHIE?

  • 278 children from the Netherlands (10 - 14)
  • questionnaires

  1. 5 games
  2. aggressive classmates
  3. prosocial classmates

  • given score
  • preference for violent games had higher aggressive and lower prosocial scores
• LABORATORY ENVIRONMENT?

  • artificial
  • lacks mundane realism
  • no fear of retaliation/ consequences
  • overestimated
• FILE DRAWER EFFECT?

  • Valadez et al
  • similar experiment to Engelhardt et al
  • no difference in aggression between violent game and non-violent game players
  • overestimated