Question

What have investigators concluded about the effects of media violence? How does observational learning explain their findings? What does correlational evidence actually say?

Answer 1

Modeling threatening behavior typically results from high exposure rates to the media. Albert Bandura’s observational theory (1970) suggested that violent behavior is learned through imitating observed behaviors that we notice in our surrounding environment. This was in part due to our instinctual responses to the observed actions. Bandura's findings were investigated further by Iacoboni (1990) who suggested that the area of the brain responsible for planning and execution is stimulated by a parallel set of mirror neurons, that mimic others' behaviors. These neurons are stimulated when we observe someone behaving violently, and we imagine ourselves performing the act.