Desensitisation, Disinhibition & Cognitive Priming in Aggression (OCR A-Level Psychology): Revision Notes
15.5.2 Desensitisation, Disinhibition & Cognitive Priming in Aggression
Desensitisation
Making someone less sensitive to something through repeated exposure
Repeated exposure to violence reduces normal levels of physiological and psychological arousal associated with anxiety, making aggressive behaviours more likely
P: There are individual differences
E: For example, people's personality will affect their response, resulting in some people being less influenced by violence in the media such as in video games and thus not behaving aggressively in real life, despite repeated exposure.
E: Therefore, perhaps the explanation isn't universal to everybody as individual responses to media violence will vary between individuals
Disinhibition
Our normal restraints are loosened after exposure to media violence, as aggressive behaviour is normalised.
For example, computer games particularly reward the player for aggression, and this creates new norms for the player
Berkowitz and Alioto 1973 – Participants who saw a film depicting aggression as revenge gave more (fake) electric shocks of a longer duration to a Confederate
Cognitive priming
Aggressive images in the media act as cues for aggressive behaviour, such as guns. Exposure to violent media creates new schemas and these cues in a similar context can lead to aggression being reproduced.
Evaluation:
(1)
P: There are individual differences in how people respond to media influences on aggression.
E: For example, Bartholow and Anderson (2002) found that students who played a violent video game chose higher noise levels to punish an opponent than those who played a nonviolent game, with men showing a more significant effect than women.
E: Therefore, perhaps the explanation isn't universal to everybody as individual responses to media violence vary, influenced by factors such as gender.
(2)
P: Some studies on the influence of media on aggression are correlational.
E: We cannot draw causal conclusions from correlational studies because there are no manipulated or controlled variables and no random assignment of participants.
E: Therefore, while these studies can show a relationship between media exposure and aggression, they cannot definitively prove that media exposure causes aggressive behaviour.