Media Influence: Cognitive, Disinhibition, Desensitisation

• Houston et al?


  children at 10 yrs old exposed to 8,000 murders and up to 100,000 other acts of violence on TV.
• Cognitive priming?


  aggression in media provides individuals with as script for their responses/ behaviour when faced with a stimuli that triggers their aggression.
• Priming?


  aggression in media> learn aggressive responses> if aggression in rewarded then child developed schema for aggression> children will act aggressively instead of desfuseing situations
• Disinhibition?


  proposes that our normal restraints are loosened after exposure to aggressive media. aggressive behaviour becomes normalised
• Vengeance?


  if viewed aggression is as a result of real/imagined wrongdoing then it is deemed normal & justified. viewed aggression has a greater disinhibitory effect on consequential aggressive behaviour.
• Bandura (1977)?


  learn how to behave through observational learning of role models. process of disinhibition is more powerful if violence is rewarded.
• Desensitisation?


  continual exposure to a stimulus responses to the stimulus decrease. aggression presented on a daily basis then there is a reduction in response to aggression.
• Desensitisation process?


  normal circumstances: heart rate increases, sympathetic nervous system switches on in response to witnessing violence or aggression. adrenaline released . overexposure leads to this decreasing.
• Weisz and Earls (1995)?

  showed 86 males 3 films: sexual aggression against women and men and then physical violence (Die Hard). had to fill a 252- item questionnaire.
• Weisz and Earls (1995)?

  males more accepting of interpersonal violence and rape myths. less sympathetic towards rape trial victims and more attracted to sexual aggression and less likely to judge defendant as guilty.
• Weisz and Earls, 1995- weakness?

  most research in laboratory setting, most aggression determined on a scale however no conclusive on whether or not aggression would be carried out in a real world setting.
• Berkowitz and Alioto (1973)?


  laboratory experiment participants saw a film depicting aggression as vengeance gave more shocks of longer duration to confederate.
• Berkowitz and Alioto (1973)?


  Berkowitz and Alioto (1973) propose that aggression is more likely to occur if the viewed aggression is seen as an acceptable response and disinhibition is more likely to occur
• Fischer and Greitemeyer (2006)?


  male ppts exposed to aggressive lyrics were more likely to give higher levels of hot chilli sauce to female confederates than male confederates.
•  Fischer and Greitemeyer (2000)?


  Misogynistic lyrics resulted in males recalling more negative attributes of women and higher levels of aggression. replicated with female participants similar results (cognitive priming)