Media influences on aggression - Desensitisation

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What are the 3 factors involved in media aggression influence?
Desensitisation, Cognitive priming, Disinhibition
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What is desensitisation?
Exposure to repeated violence lowers psychological+physical effects of anxiety, no raise in bpm or blood pressure=become used to aggression
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Straw Dogs study
Ps either watched Straw Dogs or non-violent equivalent, then watched re-enactment of **** trial, males who watched SD had greater acceptance of **** myths+less sympathy for victim, effect not found in females
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Skin conductance study to support desensitisation
Ps either regularly viewed violent media or did not, showed them violent+non film clips whilst measuring skin conductance, freq. viewers had lower arousal+more pleasant arousal, also more likely to show unprovoked aggression in noise blast task
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Can desensitisation be adaptive to the real world?
Army forces would need to be used to seeing violence to be effective in combat, however can also reduce behaviour to help distress=people become numb to pain+others' suffering
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What is disinhibition?
Argued that watching TV violence triggers physiological arousal in which inhibitions are temporarily repressed, watching long term makes violence legitimised=violence is rewarded+part of daily life=reduced guilt
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Vengeance study as support for disinhibition
Ps more likely to give fake electro shocks to confederate for longer than Ps who had not watched aggression as vengeance film=media violence disinhibits aggression when shown as justified
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What other factors may disinhibition depend on however?
Younger children more likely to be disinhibited due to lack of moral skills, also kids brought up in normalised violence households,
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Support for these other factors
Ps shown a boxing match with one of two endings, those who saw boxer dying were less likely to be aggressive=negative aftereffects can lessen use of violence
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What is cognitive priming?
Temporary increase in accessibility of a thought, constant exposure to violence provides script of situations+stored in memory readying us for action, mostly automatic+is triggered when aggressive situation happens
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Song lyric study
Male Ps listened to 'women-hating' songs and then acted more aggressively to female confederate after, same effect found for women listening to 'men-hating' lyrics
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Reaction time study to support cognitive priming
Ps who watched 15 min violent film had faster reaction time to aggressive words, Ps who did not see violent film were not as fast when seeing non-aggressive words
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Card 2

Front

What is desensitisation?

Back

Exposure to repeated violence lowers psychological+physical effects of anxiety, no raise in bpm or blood pressure=become used to aggression

Card 3

Front

Straw Dogs study

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Skin conductance study to support desensitisation

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Can desensitisation be adaptive to the real world?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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