John P. Murray, Ph.D.

Transcription

1 Research Fellow in Psychology Visiting Scholar, Center on Media and Child Health Children s Hospital Boston

2 Three Primary Effects of TV Violence Aggression Violent Media Desensitization Fear 2

3 What Do We Know About the Effects of Violence? Television Violence Aggressive Behavior Filter of Perception There is a relationship, but it s complicated to be continued 3

4 Processing and Reactions to TV Violence Observations of TV Violence Encoding of Aggressive Scripts Rehearsal of Scripts by Imitative Behavior and Fantasy Increased Accessibility of Aggressive Scripts Greater Interest in TV Violence Greater Identification with TV Characters Frustration and Situational Readiness to Aggress Decreased Popularity Lowered Academic Achievement Aggressive Reactions to Interpersonal Conflict Adapted from Huesmann, et al., (2003) 4

5 Processing and Reactions to TV Violence Observations of TV Violence Encoding of Aggressive Scripts Rehearsal of Scripts by Imitative Behavior and Fantasy Increased Accessibility of Aggressive Scripts Greater Interest in TV Violence Little known about how Frustration and the brain processes Situational Readiness violent to imagery Aggress Decreased Popularity Can we investigate experimentally? Greater Identification with TV Characters Lowered Academic Achievement Aggressive Reactions to Interpersonal Conflict 5

6 Brainmapping Study at the University of Texas Funded by the Mind Science Foundation Performed at the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas Pilot fmri study of 8 children ages 8 to 12 Compared activations of violent and non-violent TV Projector fmri Mirror 6

7 fmri Data Acquisition Setup 7

8 Three Video Clips Tested Subjects shown two 3-minute clips of three different types of video: Violent, Non-Violent, and Fixation 8

9 How Do Children Interpret Violent Media? Particular areas of interest include: Amygdala - Initiates Fight or Flight, Senses Danger Posterior Cingulate - Associated with Trauma Memories Premotor Cortex - Planning for Aggression Right Hemisphere - Negative Emotions 9

10 Brainmapping Data Aggregated Slices Mapping shows (Violent Activations Non-violent Activations) 10

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12 Summary of Brainmapping Data by Area Left Hemisphere Limbic Right Hemisphere Temporal Frontal Parietal Occipital Normalized Volume Activated Pixels (cm 3 ) 12

13 Other Brainmapping Studies Matthews and colleagues (Indiana Medical School) Short Term Exposure to a Violent Video Game Induces Changes in Frontolimbic Circuitry in Adolescents. (2009) Brain Imaging and Behavior. Wang, Mathews, et al. Media Violence Exposure and Frontal Lobe Activation Measured by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Aggressive and Nonaggressive Adolescents. (2005) Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography. Matthews, Kronenberger, et al. Grafman and colleagues(national Institutes of Health) Lower Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex Density Associated With More Frequent Exposure to Television and Movie Violence in Male Adolescents. (2009) Journal of Adolescent Health. Strenziok, Grafman, et al. Fronto-Parietal Regulation of Media Violence Exposure in Adolescents: A Multi-Method Study. (2010/prepub) Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. Strenziok, Grafman, et al. Developmental Effects of Aggressive Behavior in Male Adolescents Assessed With Structural and Functional Brain Imaging, (2011) Strenziok, Grafman, et al. 13

14 Thoughtless Vigilantes How? Brain Mapping, viewing violence involves the following: Prefrontal cortex is responsible for rational planning Violent images activate limbic system, starting with amygdala Images of violence are stored in posterior cingulate--similar to PTSD When confronted with threat, violence viewers respond with aggression Aggression guided by scripts stored in posterior cingulate But, studies by Mathews, et al. (2005) Murray, et al. (2006) and Strenziok, et al. (2010; 2011) suggest reduced prefrontal cortex involvement. Hence, heavy violence viewers, and video gamers (e.g., Whitaker & Bushman, in press) are more skilled in shooting and are more likely to react to any provocation with thoughtless violence (Murray, 2013) RESEARCH TOPICS: More focused research on the neurological activations while playing violent video games Updated Research on the Social Profiles of Mass Killing Shooters--beyond 2002 Secret Service Report on School Shooters. CDC Studies of Criteria for Enhanced Background Checks and Gun Registration 14

15 REFERENCES & RESOURCES Anderson, D.R., Bryant, J., Murray, J.P., Rich, M., Rivkin, M., & Zillmann, D. (2006). Brain imaging An introduction to a new approach to studying media processes and effects. Media Psychology, 8(1), 1-6. Huesmann, L.R., Moise-Titus, J., Podolski, C., & Eron L.D. (2003). Longitudinal relations between children s exposure to TV violence and their aggressive and violent behavior in young adulthood: Developmental Psychology, 39(2), Murray, J.P., Liotti, M., Ingmundson, P.T., Mayberg, H.S., Pu, Y., Zamarripa, F., Liu, Y., Woldorff, Gao, J-H, & Fox, P.T. (2006). Children s brain activations while viewing televised violence revealed by fmri. Media Psychology, 8(1), Murray, J.P. (2013). Thoughtless vigilantes: Media violence and brain activation patterns in young viewers. In: E. Scharrer (Ed.). Media Effects / Media Psychology in The International Encyclopedia of Media Studies (vol.5) Chichester, UK: Blackwell Publishing. Pecora, N., Murray, J.P., & Wartella, E.A. (Eds.) (2007). Children and Television: 50 Years of Research. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Publishers. Strenziok, M., Krueger, F., Deshpande, G., Lenroot, R.K., van der Meer, E., & Grafman, J. (2010). Fronto-parietal regulation of media violence exposure in adolescents: a multi-method study. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. (advance access published October 7, 2010). Strenziok, M. Krueger, F., Heinecke, A., Lenroot, R.K., Knutson, K.M., van der Meer, E., & Grafman, J. (2011). Developmental effects of aggressive behavior in male adolescents assessed with structural and functional brain imaging. Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, (6)1, United States Secret Service and United States Department of Education (2002). The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States. Wasington, DC: US Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program and U.S. Secret Service, National Threat Assessment Center. Vorderer, P., & Bryant, J. (Eds.) (2006). Playing Video Games Motives, Responses, and Consequences. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Publishers. Weber, R., Ritterfeld, U., & Mathiak, K. (2006). Does playing violent video games induce aggression? Empirical evidence of a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Media Psychology, 8(1), Whitaker, J.L., & Bushman, B.J. (in press). Boom, Headshot! : Effect of video game play and controller type on firing aim and accuracy. Communication Research. 15

16 PRIORITIES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH More focused research on the neurological activations while playing violent video games; Updated research on social profiles of shooters beyond the 2002 Secret Service report; CDC research on criteria for enhanced background checks.