Bellwork Question
Do you feel that music, television,
movies, etc. can play a role in ones
aggressiveness? Why or why not?
The “
Lecture”
‘12
Objective 4.3
Discuss the effects of short-term
and long-term exposure to violence.
What are you being asked to do?
 Talk in general about the effects of exposure to
violence.
 Introduce the assumption that short term effects and
long term effects exist within violence exposure
 Discuss both effects with the use of reference to
relevant research.
 Provide critical analysis in your discussion to show an
understanding of each effect by evaluating research,
and providing explicit examples of each effect.
Violence exposure
 While violence is not new to the human
race, it is an increasing problem in
modern society. With greater access to
firearms and explosives, the scope and
efficiency of violent behavior has had
serious consequences.
 We need only look at the recent school
shootings and the escalating rate of
youth homicides among urban
adolescents to appreciate the extent of
this ominous trend.
 One can simply type in “violence” on
their YouTube browser and immediately
become exposed to violence!
 Violence seems to be culturally in “high
demand” as movies, video games, music videos,
and even cartoons are becoming increasingly
violent.
 This acceptable tolerance for violence seems to
have its effects on our society… The extent to
which violent exposure effects our youth have
been debated in psychology for over 50 years
dating back to Bandura’s research (this can be
briefly mentioned in your introduction to show a
general knowledge of the history of aggression
research).
Bandura’s “short term” model
 Bandura as well as other social
psychologists in the 1960s-1970s painted a
vivid picture of temporary exposure to
violence leading to temporary aggression.
 The research does suggest that the
Aggressive model would have an effect on
the children…But was it a situational
change or a dispositional change?
Bandura’s “short term” model
 One can hypothesize that constant exposure to situational
factors can lead to a change in dispositional factors (i.e. seeing
someone for a long period of time can change the way you feel
about the person).
 Psychologists have argued this same theory with exposure to
violence…In this lecture, we will explore the effects of
SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM exposure to violence.
 To limit the scope of the lecture, we will limit our lecture to
the effects of short term and long term exposure to media
violence.
Exposure to media violence
 While the causes of youth violence are multifactorial and
include such variables as poverty, family psychopathology,
child abuse, exposure to domestic and community violence,
substance abuse and other psychiatric disorders, the research
literature is quite compelling that children's exposure to media
violence plays an important role in the etiology of violent
behavior.
 While it is difficult to determine which children who have
experienced televised violence are at greatest risk, there
appears to be a strong correlation between media violence and
aggressive behavior with low resilience to violence exposure.
DQ #1
What do we mean by
“resilience to violence
exposure”?
Resilience
 Resilience in psychology refers to the idea of an
individual's tendency to cope with exposure to negative
situations.
 In this context, resiliency is the ability to resist
aggressive behavior in spite of being exposed to violent
media. Many children and “at risk” teen-agers do not
have high resiliency thus are more prone to effected by
violent media.
How does media violence result in
aggressive behavior?
 Some researchers have
demonstrated that very young
children will imitate
aggressive acts on TV in their
play with peers.
 Before age 4, children are unable to distinguish
between fact and fantasy (and have little
resilience to violence exposure) and may view
violence as an ordinary occurrence (as was the
case with Bandura’s children).
Video on violent media and aggression
 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xms9a5_ga
ming-can-lead-to-more-aggression_tech
Research on short term exposure to
violence
 After half a century of research, the empirical evidence
regarding the negative effects of violent television, movies
and video games is overwhelming.
 Research as consistently found that dispositional aggression,
as well as self-reported, peer-reported and teacher-reported
aggressive behavior correlates with exposure to violent
television shows and video games.
Research on short term exposure to
violence
 After half a century of research, the empirical evidence
regarding the negative effects of violent television, movies
and video games is overwhelming.
 Research as consistently found that dispositional aggression,
as well as self-reported, peer-reported and teacher-reported
aggressive behavior correlates with exposure to violent
television shows and video games.
Research on short term exposure to
violence
 Experimental studies have consistently demonstrated that
watching violent television, movie scenes and playing violent
video games increases aggressive behaviors (measured by
increases in cortisol and testosterone levels), and increases
hostile expectations for others’ behaviors.
 For example, Berkowitz (1990) proposes that violent media
automatically prime aggressive thoughts and feelings, which
subsequently prime aggressive action tendencies.
Physiological changes from violent media
 Watching violent television programs or video games may
affect children's minds even if they don't have a history of
aggressive behavior, a 2005 FSU neuroscience study shows
(Matthews, 2005).
 Researchers found nonaggressive children who had been
exposed to high levels of media violence had similar
patterns of activity in an area of the brain linked to selfcontrol and attention as aggressive children who had been
diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorder.
Physiological changes from violent media
 "This observation is the first demonstration of differences in
brain function being associated with media violence
exposure," says researcher Vincent Mathews, MD
 In the study, researchers measured activity in the frontal
cortex of the brain in two groups of 14 boys and five girls
while they performed a task requiring concentration. Less
activity in the frontal cortex has been associated with
problems with self-control and attention.
Physiological changes from violent media
 One group of children was considered aggressive and had
been diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorder and the
other had no history of behavior problems.
 About half of the children in each group had been exposed
to high levels of media violence, as defined as a higher than
average amount of time spent each week watching television
programs or playing video games depicting human injury.
Physiological changes from violent media
 As expected, the results showed that all of the aggressive
children had reduced activity in their frontal cortex while
completing the task, regardless of their levels of media
violence exposure. This shows that there is a correlation between
frontal cortex activity and aggression.
 But researchers found that nonaggressive children who had
high levels of media violence exposure also displayed a
similar pattern of low activity in the frontal cortex. Children
in this group who weren't exposed to high levels of media
violence had more frontal cortex activity.
Implications
 This research (although in its infantile stage) suggests that
violent media short term exposure can correlate to lower
activity in the frontal cortex (which is responsible for our
rational thought process). This would mean that you are
possibly more likely to make a irrational decision while you
are listening to or watching aggressive media. More research
needs to be done in order to further support this assumption.
 This research also suggests that continued exposure to
violence can lead to extended inactivity in the frontal cortex.
As we know from Genie, inactivity can lead to physical
damage in this part of the brain. This would suggest a more
permanent disposition for irrational thoughts and
aggression.
Further research on short term and long
term exposure to violence
 The most vivid picture of short term
exposure to violence and its effects are
highlighted in James Potter’s 2002
book entitled “11 myths of Media
Violence” in which he outlined effects
of Short Term and Long Term
exposure to media violence.
 Listen to his interview in this regard:
http://businessmatters.net/2010/02/violen
ce-in-the-media/
Research on short term and long term
exposure to violence
 One of the most intriguing myths in
Dr. Potter’s book is that “Media
Violence” does not affect violent
behavior.
 He attempts to disprove this
assumption through a meta-analysis
of numerous cross-cultural studies
that suggest the large effect of short
term and long term exposure.
Short term exposure to violence
In his book, The 11 Myths of Media, Potter shares what he
believes to be the several short term effects and long term
effects of media:
 Imitation and Copying Behavior: Children and adults
mimics and incorporate a behavior they have seen a
character in media perform.
 Triggering Novel Behavior: Media that stimulates a
person to act in a manner that is not copied from a
specific a media portrayal the have seen. Instead the
viewer uses the stimulation they feel by watching the
negative media to act aggressively in a novel way to fit
the situation at hand.
DQ #2
Can you think of any real
world where you felt
“aggressive” or “angry” after
watching a movie?
Short term exposure to violence
 Fight or Flight: Exposure to violent media can temporarily
arouse people physiologically whereby a person’s heart rate
and blood pressure increase.
 The same physical changes that occur in a person’s body
during a real life threat are the same ones that occur when
there are watching violent or fearful images.
 Desensitization: Media can reduce our emotional reactions.
It breaks down viewer’s natural resistance to killing (think
about how many “deaths” you have witnessed through
media)
Long term exposure to violence
 Generalizing to Novel Behaviors: Media can influence
behaviors—not just specific actions, but a general, long term
manner. Viewers can generalize a particular behavior to a
broader class of behaviors.
 Desensitization: Media can reduce our emotional reactions.
It breaks down viewer’s natural resistance to killing (think
about how many “deaths” you have witnessed through
media)
Long term exposure to violence
 Generalizing to Novel Behaviors: Media can influence
behaviors—not just specific actions, but a general, long term
manner. Viewers can generalize a particular behavior to a
broader class of behaviors.
 Physiological Habituation: This is the building up or
increasing of physiological tolerance over the long term.
With repeated fight-flight responses, the human body
gradually builds up a resistance to the exposure to media
images. This can lead to insensitivity to violent situations.
Long term exposure to violence
 Narcotizing: Habitual viewing of violent media over time can
increase ones need for violent media. Viewers can become
addicted and crave that strong “arousal jag” they get from
violent exposures. Violence acts as a drug in the sense that
people become more dependent over time.
Long term exposure to violence
 Learning Social Norms: People can generalize a pattern
from individual media exposures without that pattern being
a social norm. When viewers are repeated exposed to
violence in media, a person overestimates the extent to which
certain behaviors are socially acceptable.
 Sheer repetition of violent portrayals is enough to lead people
to generalize that violence is typical way of dealing with
problems in society.
DQ #3
What problems arise with
becoming desensitized to
violence?
Desensitization
According to Potter:
The implications of desensitization are important as it is
possible that reduced inhibitions toward violence might result in
increased aggressive which can have a number of negative
consequences for both the individual and the society.
Furthermore, the findings suggest that desensitization might
also result in decreased likelihood of being concerned for the
victims of violence, and therefore in decreased likelihood of
helping a victim of violence.
Critical thinking discussion ideas
 Could there be individual differences in the effect of short
term exposure?
 Is it possible to truly measure short term exposure
empirically without taking into account previous
experiences?
 Can gender play a role in short/long term exposure effects?
Why would males be more susceptible to violent behavior
(consider genetic predispositions).
 Can culture play a role in resilience to violence exposure?
Explain.
Conclusion
 Could there be individual differences in the effect of short
term exposure?
 Is it possible to truly measure short term exposure
empirically without taking into account previous
experiences?
 Can gender play a role in short/long term exposure effects?
Why would males be more susceptible to violent behavior
(consider genetic predispositions).
 Can culture play a role in resilience to violence exposure?
Explain.