Repeated viewing of aggressive media, especially gaming playing, can provide us with a 'script' about how violent situations may play out, which is stored in memory and can direct our behaviour without us even being aware of it
Greitemeyer (2006)
Found that after participants listened to misogynistic songs, they subsequently recalled more negative qualities about women and behaved more aggressively towards a female confederate
Real-world application of cognitive priming
Effective interventions could potentially reduce aggression behaviour by challenging hostile cognitive biases and encouraging habitual violent media users to consider alternatives to aggression, such as humour or negotiation
Cartoon violence (Krahe)
Children observe aggressive acts are not punished and are rewarded in socially accepted way, preparing their own cognitive scripts through cognitive priming about socially acceptable behaviour
