The question
Name: ______________________ Date: ____________ Does watching aggression lead to aggression? (7 points)
Study
Source 1: Source 1: Children after a violent or a calm cartoon
Introduction
Researchers asked whether children act more aggressively in play right after watching a cartoon in which characters hit and kick each other.
Participants
80 children aged 6 to 9 from four elementary schools in Texas (42 girls and 38 boys) took part with a parent's written consent and their own assent. They were randomly assigned to two groups of 40.
Method
One group watched a 15-minute cartoon with frequent hitting and kicking. The other watched a 15-minute cartoon with the same characters and no fighting. Each child then played for 10 minutes in a room with toys, including a foam punching bag. Two coders who did not know the child's group counted aggressive acts (hitting, kicking or throwing a toy, or pushing the bag over).
Results
Children who watched the violent cartoon made a mean of 5.2 aggressive acts in 10 minutes. Children who watched the calm cartoon made a mean of 2.4. The difference was statistically significant.
Discussion
The children copied many of the specific moves the cartoon characters used.
Invented study for practice.
Study
Source 2: Source 2: Violent games at 13 and aggression at 15
Introduction
Researchers asked whether teens who play more violent video games become more aggressive over the following two years.
Participants
412 teens (ages 13 at the start; 51% girls) from public schools in three Midwestern cities and their parents took part with consent and assent.
Method
At age 13, teens reported how many hours a week they played games rated for violence, and were grouped as low (0 to 2 hours), medium (3 to 7) or high (8 or more). At ages 13 and 15, teachers rated each teen's physical aggression at school on a scale from 1 (never) to 5 (very often).
Results
At 15, mean teacher ratings were 2.1 for the low group, 2.3 for the medium group and 2.6 for the high group. Hours of violent gaming correlated with aggression at 15 at r = .12. When the researchers took into account aggression at 13 and family conflict, the link fell to r = .04.
Discussion
The researchers concluded that violent gaming predicted later aggression only weakly, and that much of the link could be explained by other factors.
Invented study for practice.
Study
Source 3: Source 3: How long does the effect last?
Introduction
Researchers asked whether a short violent film clip raises aggression in young adults, and whether any effect lasts 30 minutes.
Participants
120 college students (ages 18 to 22) at a university in California volunteered for course credit, gave informed consent and were debriefed afterward.
Method
Students were randomly assigned to watch a 10-minute violent film clip or a 10-minute nonviolent clip, and to be tested either right away or after a 30-minute filler task. In the test, students set the loudness of a noise blast for a supposed partner in a reaction-time game, from 1 (soft) to 10 (very loud). No noise was ever actually played to anyone.
Results
Tested right away, students who saw the violent clip chose a mean loudness of 5.8, compared with 4.6 after the nonviolent clip. After 30 minutes, the means were 4.9 and 4.7, a difference too small to be distinguished from chance.
Discussion
Violent images may make aggressive thoughts easier to reach for a short time.
Invented study for practice.
(A) Propose a specific and defensible claim based on at least one of the provided sources that responds to the question: Does watching aggression lead to aggression? [1 point]
(B(i)) Support your claim using at least one piece of specific and relevant evidence from one of the sources. [1 point]
(B(ii)) Explain how the evidence from B(i) supports your claim using a psychological perspective, theory, concept or research finding learned in AP® Psychology. [2 points]
(C(i)) Support your claim using a different piece of specific and relevant evidence from another source. [1 point]
(C(ii)) Explain how the evidence from C(i) supports your claim using a different psychological perspective, theory, concept or research finding learned in AP® Psychology. [2 points]