Desensitisation, disinhibition and cognitive priming

What is desensitisation to violent media?

When children repeatedly view TV aggression or play violent games, they become used to its effects. A normally aversive stimulus has lesser impact – physiological arousal (heart rate, blood pressure, sweating) decreases. Psychologically, negative attitudes towards violence weaken, empathy for victims decreases, and injuries are minimised.

What study demonstrated desensitisation effects (Weisz & Earls, 1995)?

Participants watched Straw Dogs (contains a graphic rape scene). Then watched a re-enactment of a rape trial. Male viewers showed greater acceptance of rape myths and sexual aggression, less sympathy for the victim, and were less likely to find the defendant guilty compared to those who watched a non-violent film.

What is disinhibition?

People normally have strong social/psychological inhibitions against using aggression (learned via SLT). Exposure to violent media loosens these restraints when aggression is portrayed as normative, socially sanctioned, justified, or when consequences are minimised/ignored. This creates new social norms for the viewer.

What is cognitive priming (Huesmann, 1998)?

Repeated viewing of aggressive media provides a 'script' about how violent situations play out, stored in memory. This script is triggered automatically when encountering aggressive cues in a situation, directing behaviour without conscious awareness. We become 'primed' to be aggressive.

What study demonstrated cognitive priming (Fischer & Greitemeyer, 2006)?

Men listened to songs with aggressive derogatory lyrics about women (vs. neutral lyrics). They subsequently recalled more negative qualities about women and behaved more aggressively towards a female confederate. Replicated with women using 'men-hating' lyrics with similar results.

What is a strength of desensitisation regarding research support?

Krahé et al. (2011) showed participants violent/non-violent films while measuring skin conductance (physiological arousal). Habitual violent media viewers showed lower arousal to violent clips. They also gave louder white noise bursts (proactive aggression). Lower arousal reflected desensitisation and was linked to greater willingness to be aggressive.

What is a limitation of desensitisation regarding alternative explanations?

Krahé et al. failed to link media viewing, lower arousal, and reactive (provoked) aggression. Catharsis (psychodynamic theory) may be a more valid explanation – viewing violent media acts as a safety valve, releasing aggressive impulses without actual violence. Not all aggression results from desensitisation.

What is a strength of disinhibition regarding research support?

Berkowitz & Alioto (1973) found participants who saw a film depicting aggression as vengeance (justified) gave more fake electric shocks of longer duration to a confederate. Media violence disinhibits aggression when presented as justified and socially acceptable, demonstrating the link between removed social constraints and subsequent aggression.

What is a strength of disinhibition regarding cartoon violence?

Disinhibition explains cartoon violence effects. Children do not learn specific aggressive behaviours from cartoons (head-spinning punches are impossible to imitate). Instead they learn that aggression in general is socially acceptable (normative), especially if the cartoon model is not punished. This disinhibits aggressive behaviour.

What is a strength of cognitive priming regarding real-world application?

Bushman & Anderson (2002) argue habitual violent media viewers access stored aggressive scripts more readily. They are more likely to interpret ambiguous cues as aggressive and resort to violent solutions without considering alternatives. Interventions could potentially reduce aggression by challenging these hostile cognitive biases.

What is a limitation of cognitive priming regarding confounding variables?

Violent games tend to be more complex in gameplay than non-violent games. Complexity is a confounding variable – it may cause priming, not the violence. Zendle et al. (2018) found when complexity was controlled, the priming effects of violent video games disappeared. Supportive findings may be partly due to confounding variables.