Criticisms:
The main problem with the cultivation effect explanation is that people who are particularly fearful are likely to avoid any threatening situations in the first place. Thus increasing the level of fear might actually help to reduce the level of violence.
Desensitisation:
Desensitisation suggests that repeated exposure to violence in the media reduces the impact of the violence. People become desensitised to the violence and it has less impact on the (habituation). They become less anxious about violence per se and may therefore engage in more violent behaviour.
Criticisms:
The desensitisation argument suffers because it could be argued that desensitised individual might be less aroused by violence and therefore not be so easily provoked by real life violence. Similarly, desensitised individuals may become indifferent to the violent message.
Research relating to anti social behaviour
Copy cat effect:
A01: Bandura
He suggested that people are aversely affected by the media in that television can shape behaviour through imitative learning. Watching role models perform violently may increase violent behaviour in those viewers already motivated to aggress. Television may also teach viewers the negative or positive consequences of their violence. Paik and Comstock (1994) did find that the effect on anti-social behaviour was greater if the actor was rewarded for their action.
Criticisms:
+ 1) there is a lot of experimental evidence to support the social learning theory explanation. Bandura et al (1963) study into the imitation of film – mediated aggressive models showed that children who observe a model behaving aggressively towards a Bobo doll subsequently behave more aggressively than those who see the model punished for their actions. This well controlled experiment and the identification of specific learned responses provides good evidence for imitative leaning.
- 2) The sample characteristics were unrepresentable (only children from a university nursery) and the study has been criticised for lacking ecological validity.
+ - 3) The study did not really measure real aggression (a Bobo doll is designed to be hit) and only short term effects of the media was assessed.
However Hicks (1965) found that 40% of models acts were reproduced up to eight months after one showing of a 10 minute film.
- 4) The study has also been criticised for its ethical stance, where children were encouraged to be aggressive.
Violent programme study: Liebert and Baron (1972)
Procedures:
2 groups of children were randomly assigned to either a:
- Violent condition: watched a violent episode of a detective show or a;
- Non violent condition: where they watched and equally arousing sports
Findings:
Afterwards, during periods of play, the violent group was assessed as behaving more aggressively than the non- violent group.
However, not all the violent condition children acted aggressively and aggression levels were measured quantatively (amount), not qualitively (type).
Critisisms:
- Ecological validity: the lab situation is different to real life and violence within the lab it is different to violence outside the confines of the lab.
- Legitimised aggression: in the lab the aggressive behaviour is legitimised by the experimental situation. Participants are told that use of electric shocks is part of experimental process.
Media influences on pro-social behaviour
Cognitive priming:
Pro social behaviours shown in the media may spark of other pro – social thoughts in the memory pathways. After watching pro-social acts, the viewers might be more likely to behave in helpful ways.
Arousal:
Watching people helps others or share resources might result in heightened arousal towards pro- social behaviour. An example of this might occur when watching ‘comic relief’
Sponsor effects:
Seeing others perform pro social behaviour might suggest that this sort of behaviour is desirable behaviour. An example of this might include watching celebrities run the London marathon for charity.
Good news studies: Holloway et al (1977)
Holloway et al (1977) produced support for the cognitive priming effect of the impact of good news.
Procedures:
They invited participants into the lab for experiments and while they were sitting in the waiting room played them a news programme over the radio. They were then asked to participate in a study involving bargaining with a fellow participant (actually a confederate).
Findings:
Those who had heard the pro – social news were more likely to be co-operative in their bargaining, particularly if the news story involved an account of someone who has intentionally given help.
Baron (1979)
Found that children who watched an episode of the ‘Walton’s’ were more co-operative in game playing afterwards than were control groups.
Criticisms:
+ 1) pro social programmes can be effective. Hearold (1986) analysed over 100 studies and found that pro- social programmes do foster pro – social behaviour in children. This is particularly true if there is no accompanying violence in the programme.
- 2) Effects may be short-lived. Many studies look at behaviour immediately after the programme is shown. Research indicates that the effects of a single programme ay be short – term, especially in younger children.
+ 3) Regular watching may have longer lasting effects. Despite this, Friedrich and Steins study (1973) indicates that regular watching may have longer lasting effects.