电视暴力对不同外倾性气质学前儿童社会行为的差异化影响——“一般攻击模型”与“催化剂模型”的理论之争

选取154名3~5岁学前儿童（M=4.11,SD=0.31）,采用母亲报告法收集儿童最近3个月最常观看的电视节目、外倾性气质、问题行为和亲社会行为,对19部儿童最常观看的动画片的暴力性进行编码,考察电视暴力频率和暴力残酷性和儿童外倾性对学前儿童社会行为的共同作用。结果：（1）在预测儿童的问题行为时,电视暴力频率与儿童外倾性的交互作用显著,与低外倾性儿童相比,高外倾性儿童观看较多的电视暴力内容会表现出更多的问题行为,观看较少电视暴力内容也会表现出更少的问题行为,支持差别易感性模型;（2）在预测儿童的亲社会行为时,电视暴力频率和暴力残酷性的主效应及其与儿童外倾性的交互作用不显著,外倾性有显著的预测作用,高外倾性儿童表现出更多亲社会行为。     

电视暴力对不同外倾性气质学前儿童社会行为的差异化影响——“一般攻击模型”与“催化剂模型”的理论之争

选取154名3~5岁学前儿童（M=4.11,SD=0.31）,采用母亲报告法收集儿童最近3个月最常观看的电视节目、外倾性气质、问题行为和亲社会行为,对19部儿童最常观看的动画片的暴力性进行编码,考察电视暴力频率和暴力残酷性和儿童外倾性对学前儿童社会行为的共同作用。结果：（1）在预测儿童的问题行为时,电视暴力频率与儿童外倾性的交互作用显著,与低外倾性儿童相比,高外倾性儿童观看较多的电视暴力内容会表现出更多的问题行为,观看较少电视暴力内容也会表现出更少的问题行为,支持差别易感性模型;（2）在预测儿童的亲社会行为时,电视暴力频率和暴力残酷性的主效应及其与儿童外倾性的交互作用不显著,外倾性有显著的预测作用,高外倾性儿童表现出更多亲社会行为。     

The effects of video game play on young children's aggression, fantasy, and prosocial behavior

From the ecological perspective of human development the emergence of significant media may affect children's behavior. It has been suggested that the home computer has the potential to affect young children's behavior, but no published data currently exist to support this hypothesis. However, home computer games have features similar to television. In that vein, research on television and aggression lends itself as a paradigm for studying the effects of video games on young children's behavior. From past television research it may be hypothesized that exposure to violent video games will increase children's aggressive behavior. Twenty-eight children, age 4 to 6 years were observed in a free play setting at baseline, after watching a violent cartoon and after playing “Space Invaders”. Results indicated significant differences in aggressive behavior, relative to baseline behaviors, after watching television and after playing video games. There was no difference between the television and video game conditions. It was concluded that violent video games arouse children in much the same way as violent television cartoons.     

The effects of three different television programs on young children's peer interactions and toy play

The current study investigated the impact of different television programming on the social interactions and toy play of preschool children. Same-sex pairs of young children were observed during three types of television programs: cartoons, Sesame Street, and situation comedies. Children were also observed when the television screen was black. Children visually attended to the cartoons the most, Sesame Street less often, and the situation comedy the least. Cartoons dramatically depressed social interaction. Sesame Street elicited the most verbal imitation. Both Sesame Street and the situation comedy allowed the children to divide activity among their peers, the toys, and the television program. Girls verbally imitated program content more than boys. This pattern of findings remained after the children's visual attention to the television was statistically controlled. Several developmental trends were detected. The image of children “mesmerized” in front of the television set, foresaking social interactions and active involvement with their object environment, held true for only one type of programming, namely, cartoons. During the other programs, the children remained active and socially involved.     

Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: a meta-analytic review of the scientific literature

Research on exposure to television and movie violence suggests that playing violent video games will increase aggressive behavior. A meta-analytic review of the video-game research literature reveals that violent video games increase aggressive behavior in children and young adults. Experimental and nonexperimental studies with males and females in laboratory and field settings support this conclusion. Analyses also reveal that exposure to violent video games increases physiological arousal and aggression-related thoughts and feelings. Playing violent video games also decreases prosocial behavior.     

Gender differences in visual attention to television form and content

Formal features (i.e., rapid action, dialogue, and animation) and content variables (i.e., violence, theme, and sex of characters) were analyzed as possible determinants of gender differences in children's television viewing. Two studies are reported. In Study 1, 5- and 7-year-old boys' and girls' visual attention was observed during four animated programs representing four combinations of high and low action with high and low violence. Boys' visual attention was greater than girls'. Attention was higher to high violence than to low violence. Boys' attention did not vary across treatments, but girls attended more to programs with low action than with high action. In Study 2, nine earlier laboratory studies, each with an independent sample, were subjected to a secondary analysis. The procedures were similar to Study 1; the samples ranged from 3 to 11 years old. Across experiments, boys attended significantly more than girls. The secondary analysis was designed to identify program form and content variables that might account for gender differences. Most content and form attributes failed to account for the pattern of gender differences in attention across or within studies. There was weak support for the notion that violent content and animation appeals more to boys than girls. Boys' greater visual attention was not associated with greater comprehension relative to girls'. It was proposed that girls focus more on the verbal auditory content of television, and boys focus more on the visual content.     

Reducing Excessive Television Viewing

Excessive television watching among children can have several negative consequences, including exposure to frequent violent and aggressive scenes and limitations in their opportunities to engage in alternative educational and prosocial activities. In the present study, a youngster evidencing high levels of television viewing behavior was placed on a modified token economy: earned tokens were used to activate the television for set periods of time. With onset of the intervention, immediate and dramatic reductions in television viewing were noted. High levels returned during a return to baseline phase, but reductions again occured when the intervention was reimplmented. Positive second-order effects were noted in the child's school work, in the amounts of time the family spent together, and in the mother's perception of a social support variable.     

Violent and nonviolent video games produce opposing effects on aggressive and prosocial outcomes

Experimental studies routinely show that participants who play a violent game are more aggressive immediately following game play than participants who play a nonviolent game. The underlying assumption is that nonviolent games have no effect on aggression, whereas violent games increase it. The current studies demonstrate that, although violent game exposure increases aggression, nonviolent video game exposure decreases aggressive thoughts and feelings (Exp 1) and aggressive behavior (Exp 2). When participants assessed after a delay were compared to those measured immediately following game play, violent game players showed decreased aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior, whereas nonviolent game players showed increases in these outcomes. Experiment 3 extended these findings by showing that exposure to nonviolent puzzle-solving games with no expressly prosocial content increases prosocial thoughts, relative to both violent game exposure and, on some measures, a no-game control condition. Implications of these findings for models of media effects are discussed.     

Turning the other cheek. Agreeableness and the regulation of aggression-related primes

Aggression-related cues (e.g., violent media) can prime both hostile thoughts and the tendency to commit aggression. However, not everyone engages in an aggressive act after being exposed to an aggression-related cue. Some thought pattern, perhaps an automatic one, may prevent the cue-aggression sequence in some individuals. These considerations motivated the present research, which examined the potential for agreeableness to moderate the effect of aggression-related cues on behavior and cognition. In Study 1, we found that priming with aggression-related cues increased aggressive behavior, but only among individuals low in agreeableness. Study 2 showed that aggression-related cues activated prosocial thoughts among individuals high in agreeable affect (a component of agreeableness). These results reveal that agreeable individuals are able to short-circuit the cue-aggression sequence, likely by recruiting prosocial thoughts in response to aggression-related primes.     

TV heroes: The impact of rhetoric and deeds

Two experiments examined the influence of children's cartoons and their prosocial messages on the behavior and judgments of kindergarten, second, and fourth grade children. Three conditions or types of programs were used: purely prosocial (moral lesson but no aggression); and purely aggressive (no moral lesson). Behavioral, evaluative, and comprehension measures were taken. All children were able to distinguish the protagonist and antagonist. Older children grasped the implications of the stories but younger children, especially those in the prosocial/aggressive condition, did not. Scores of children in the prosocial/aggressive condition were significantly lower on message comprehension than those of subjects in the purely prosocial condition. Implications for the relationship of behaviors (prosocial actions) to judgments, portrayal of aggressive heroes on television programs, and the acceptance of aggression as normative behaviors, are discussed.     

Assessing the Directionality of Deindividuated Behavior: Effects of Deindividuation,Modeling, and Private Self-Consciousness on Aggressive and Prosocial Responses

This study investigated the effects of deindividuation, modeling, and private self-consciousness on antisocial and prosocial responses. Groups of four participants (N = 72) were exposed to factorial combinations of situational cues (deindividuating vs. individuating) and modeling prosocial vs. no model vs. antisocial) and subsequently were given the choice to behave either aggressively or altruistically toward another person. Subjects receiving deindividuating cues produced higher levels of aggression and dispensed greater sums of money compared with individuated participants. Subjects exposed to a prosocial model administered more money than did subjects exposed to the no-model or aggressive model. Although an expected main effect of models on aggression approached significance, a predicted Situational Cues x Model interaction did not. This investigation suggests that subjective deindividuation is a neutral condition. When antisocial environmental cues are present, deindividuated persons are likely to engage in aggressive actions, whereas prosocial cues influence deindividuated group members to behave altruistically. Although deindividuated group members are affected by stimuli such as models, they are not influenced to a greater degree than are individuated people. Finally, these results suggest that when the situational manipulations designed to reduce private self-awareness are salient and powerful, they may affect behavior more than do dispositional levels of private self-consciousness.     

The effects of prosocial and aggressive videogames on children's donating and helping

We investigated the effects of a prosocial and an aggressive videogame on children's prosocial behavior. Third-, fourth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade boys and girls (N = 160) were randomly assigned to either a control condition or one of four treatment conditions. In two of the treatment conditions, children played a videogame with prosocial content either singly or cooperatively with another child. In the other two conditions, children played an aggressive videogame either singly or competitively. Subsequent levels of donating and helping were measured. A three-way analysis of variance indicated that older students donated significantly more than did younger students. Children who played either of the aggressive videogames donated significantly less than did those who played prosocial games by themselves. No significant effects were found for helping. Playing the prosocial videogame did not increase prosocial responding, but playing the aggressive videogame tended to suppress this behavior. The failure of the prosocial game to accelerate prosocial responding might be due to the relatively brief treatments used in this study and/or to the particular prosocial videogame utilized.     

Effects of prior destructive behavior, anonymity, and group presence on deindividuation and aggression.

Three of Zimbardo's deindividuation input variables (group presence, anonymity, and arousal) were manipulated in laboratory experiment, and their effects on aggression and deindividuation were measured. Only arousal produced a significant increase in aggression (p less than .05), while group presence produced a significant decrease in aggression (p less than .01). Anonymity had no significant effect on subjects' aggressiveness. Deindividuation per se was measured on a postsession questionnaire that assessed subjects' memory for their own aggressive behavior, self-consciousness, concern for social evaluation, and memory for central and peripheral cues. Only arousal condition participants showed deindividuation changes, but a factor analysis revealed that the deindividuation changes did not comprise a unified factor. Also it did not appear that the internal changes caused aggressive behavior, since the correlation between the two was low.     

儿童同伴信任和同伴接纳的关系:社会行为的中介效应及其性别差异

在金华市和杭州市两所市区普通小学, 选取366名3~6年级儿童为被试, 采用同伴互评、同伴提名法和班级戏剧问卷, 考察了社会行为在小学儿童同伴信任和同伴接纳间的中介效应及其性别差异。结果表明:(1)总体而言, 亲社会行为、退缩行为在儿童同伴信任和同伴接纳间存在显著的中介效应, 而攻击行为的中介效应不显著;(2)社会行为的中介效应存在性别差异。女生的同伴信任对亲社会行为的预测、亲社会行为对同伴接纳的预测作用都显著高于男生, 使得女生亲社会行为的中介效应大于男生。男女生的同伴信任对退缩行为的预测作用没有性别差异, 但是男生的退缩行为对同伴接纳的预测作用显著高于女生, 使得男生退缩行为的中介效应大于女生。     

The Effects of Thematic Importance on Story Recall among Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Comparison Children

This study examined the recall of televised stories for younger (4-6 years) and older (7-9 years) children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) under two different viewing conditions (toys present/toys absent). Each child watched two Rugrats television programs, once with toys present and once with toys absent. Immediately after viewing a program, the child completed a free recall of the observed story. Comparison children's recall increased more than ADHD children's as importance level increased, and comparison children recalled more information overall than children with ADHD. When toys were present, children with ADHD retold less coherent stories than comparison children, as indexed by smaller correlations between the story units recalled and the order of these units in the story. In summary, children with ADHD demonstrated multiple difficulties in story comprehension. These findings add to our understanding of the differences in higher-order cognitive processing abilities between children with ADHD and comparison children, and suggest important areas of focus in designing more effective academic interventions for children with ADHD.     

Gender differences in the relationship between young children's peer-related social competence and individual differences in theory of mind

In this study, the author examined the relationship between theory-of-mind understanding and preschool-aged children's peer-related social competence. One hundred eleven 3- to 5-year-old children (48 boys, 63 girls) participated in 2 theory-of-mind tasks designed to assess their understanding of false belief. Teachers rated children's peer-related social behavior in terms of prosocial behavior, aggressive or disruptive behavior, and shy or withdrawn behavior. Results indicated that, after controlling for age, theory-of-mind understanding significantly predicted aggressive or disruptive behavior for boys and prosocial behavior for girls. Theory-of-mind understanding also was related to lower scores of shy or withdrawn behavior for boys. Results are discussed in terms of the gender differences in the factors contributing to early peer competence.     

Determining Factors in Choice of Arcade Games and their Consequences upon Young Male Players

Two experiments, one conducted with male university students and the other with male high school and junior high school students, investigated (a) determinants of preferences for driving-type games widely available in public game arcades, and (b) the effects of extended play upon mood and motivation to continue playing. Four games were investigated: these were Death Race and Demolition Derby , which simulate violent, antisocial driving behavior; and Night Driver and Le Mans , which simulate skilled prosocial driving behavior. Preference for arcade games simulating aggressive behavior was found to be independent of personality and mood. However, preferences were closely related to the performers' c]apabilities. Players who exhibited higher levels of skill preferred the more skilldemanding games and those who showed less skill preferred aggression games, suggesting the operation of competency motivation in that the players preferred games appropriate to their level of skill. Subjects reported that the games were exciting, but extended play produced discomfort or an increase in negatively toned moods (fatigue, anxiety, and depression) and a decrease in positively toned moods (social affection, surgency, skepticism, concentration and vigor). However, these effects were not found to be a function of the anti- or prosocial content in the specific games studied and may well be effects accompanying activities that are subjectively fatiguing.     

亲社会与攻击性儿童在两类假设情境中的社会信息加工特点

采用问卷调查法,分别测查、比较了亲社会儿童、攻击性儿童与一般儿童的社会信息加工(SIP)特点,目的是探讨三类儿童在SIP上是否存在差异。结果表明,在假设分享情境中,攻击性与一般儿童SIP的整体差异不显著,但在对不分享策略的他人情绪预期和关系预期2个变量上差异显著。亲社会与一般儿童、与攻击性儿童SIP的整体差异显著;在假设挑衅情境中,攻击性与一般儿童在对不同策略的自我效能感、选择频率、策略评价等7个变量上差异显著。亲社会与一般儿童在对不同策略的自我效能感、选择频率、策略评价等9个变量上差异显著;亲社会儿童与一般儿童SIP的整体不存在显著差异。     

亲社会视频游戏对玩家人性化知觉水平的影响

为了探讨亲社会视频游戏对玩家人性化知觉的影响, 研究以大学生为被试, 通过两个实验, 分别采用自陈报告法和单类别内隐联想测验技术考察了亲社会视频游戏对玩家自我及他人外显及内隐人性化知觉的影响。结果发现:(1)相对于中性游戏, 不论是普遍人性, 还是独特人性, 亲社会视频游戏均可提高玩家对自我及他人外显的人性化知觉水平;(2)相对于中性游戏, 亲社会游戏可显著提高玩家对自我及他人独特人性的内隐知觉水平, 也可提升对自我普遍人性的内隐知觉水平, 但对他人普遍人性的内隐知觉的效应不明确。这些结果表明, 亲社会视频游戏对于提升玩家对自我和他人的人性化知觉水平具有重要作用。     

Parental values, reinforcement, and young children's prosocial behavior: a longitudinal study.

In this study, the authors assessed the relation of parental reinforcement and parental values to young children's prosocial behaviors. Parents' dyadic interactions with their 1- to 2-year-old children were videotaped in the home on two occasions approximately 6 months apart. The children also were videotaped playing with a peer at 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 years of age. Parental reinforcement of the children's prosocial behaviors was coded, as were the children's prosocial behaviors with the peer. The frequency of girls' spontaneous prosocial behaviors decreased in the early years; modest consistency was observed for boys (but not girls) across the two parental sessions. No relation existed between the frequency of children's prosocial behaviors with their parents and their behaviors with peers. Both maternal and paternal valuing of compliance were negatively related to the mothers' use of reinforcement for children's spontaneous prosocial behaviors. Parental reinforcement of compliant prosocial behaviors was negatively related to children's compliance with a peer's request for prosocial behavior and positively related to defensive behavior with the peer. Fathers' valuing of prosocial behavior was associated with children's compliance with the peer's requests for prosocial action. Parents who valued compliance had children who exhibited low levels of compliant prosocial behaviors with the peer, possibly because of the depressed level of peer interaction.