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Memory and Violence
Memory processes play an important but often overlooked role in the media violence literature. Scholars who study media violence effects have tended to approach the issue of memory in one of two ways. First, several theoretical perspectives have relied on memory as a mechanism that can explain the effects of exposure to media violence. Second, some researchers have focused specifically on audiences’ memories for media violence as outcomes of exposure. Both perspectives are described in this entry, after a brief review of different types of memory processes and systems.
Types of Memory
There are numerous ways of conceptualizing human memory. Some scholars have categorized human memory based on time (i.e., short term versus long term) whereas others have viewed memory as consisting of multiple, independent systems. For example, some scholars have argued that human memory can be categorized into two overall systems: the declarative memory system and the nondeclarative memory system. Nondeclarative, or implicit memory, refers to memory without awareness. For example, memory for skills and habits—such as driving a car or using a remote control—fall under the category of nondeclarative memory. Declarative memory refers to memories that can be described and involve awareness.
Declarative memory can further be categorized into subsystems that include semantic memory and episodic memory. The semantic memory system is memory for factual information: the Beatles’ first #1 song, or the name of the director of the film Pulp Fiction. Episodic memory refers to memory of events in which a person was personally involved. Memories of a first date or a person’s whereabouts on September 11, 2001, would constitute episodic memory.
As the following sections illustrate, some media violence researchers have focused on nondeclarative memory processes, whereas others have studied declarative memory.
Memory as a Mechanism Leading to Effects
Leonard Berkowitz’s (1984) priming theory is an example of a framework that employs nondeclarative memory processes to explain media effects. Priming theory adopts what researchers refer to as a cognitive neoassociationistic framework, which views human memory as a collection of networks. Each network in our brain consists of nodes that are connected by pathways. Nodes are modules that represent memories for events (e.g., seeing a scary movie on a date), people (e.g., a boyfriend), locations (e.g., the cabin by the lake), and even emotions (e.g., fear). Priming research also adopts a concept called spreading activation to explain the activation of nodes in an associative network. As explained by researchers Allan Collins and Elizabeth Loftus (1975), spreading activation occurs when a node is triggered or primed. The node then radiates along the pathways in memory and activates other related nodes in its network. This process of spreading activation renders nodes temporarily accessible in memory.
Within the field of media effects, the priming framework has been used to study short-term effects of exposure to violent media. When audiences are exposed to violent content in the media, the violent content triggers related nodes stored in memory, and these nodes in turn can activate other related memories. For example, researcher Brad Bushman (1998) exposed individuals to either violent or nonviolent videotapes. After exposure, they were asked to rate homonyms that had both violent and nonviolent meanings (mug, sock) in terms of their level of aggressiveness. The study found that participants who had viewed the violent content perceived the homonyms as being more violent than those who had viewed the nonviolent clip, and thus the authors concluded that violent media had primed aggressive memory networks.
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- General Aggression
- Aggression and Affect
- Aggression and Anger
- Aggression and Attachment
- Aggression and Brain Functioning
- Aggression and Culture
- Aggression in Youth
- Aggression, Definition and Assessment of
- Aggression, Risk Factors for
- Aggressive Behavior
- Aggressive Personality
- Bullying, Definition and Laws of
- Cognition: Schemas and Scripts
- Cognitive Psychology of Violence
- Cognitive Script Theory and the Dynamics of Cognitive Scripting
- Cyberbullying, Definition and Effects of
- Gender and Aggression
- Genetics of Aggressive Behavior
- Group Aggression
- Memory and Violence
- Priming Theory
- Psychobiology of Violence
- Psychopathology and Susceptibility to Violence
- Reasons for Consuming Violent Entertainment
- Relational Aggression
- Trait Aggression
- Media Content
- Grand Theft Auto
- Advertising, Violent Content in
- Arousal and Aggressive Content, Theory and Psychology of
- Character Development Within Violent Content
- Competition, Sports, and Video Games
- Cultivating Content and Social Representation of Violence
- Cyberbullying, Violent Content in
- Drench Hypothesis
- Fantasy Genre, Violence and Aggression in
- Films, Representation of Violence and Its Effects in
- Media Violence, Definitions and Context of
- Music Videos and Lyrics, Violent Content in
- National Television Violence Study
- Pornography, Violent Content in
- Realism of Violence Content, Real-World Violence on Television, and Their Effects
- Sexualized Aggression
- Sports, Violence and Aggression in
- Stereotyping in Violent Media Content
- Television Violence
- Violence, Definition of
- Violent Artistic Expression
- Virtual Reality, Violent Content in
- Media Effects
- Attitude, Effects of Media Violence on
- Audience Interpretation of Media Violence, Effects of
- Bobo Doll Studies
- Comedic Violence, Effects of
- Demographic Effects
- Desensitization Effects on Society
- Developmental Effects
- Effect Size in Media Violence, Research and Effects of
- Effects From Violent Content, Short- and Long-Term
- Effects of Media Violence on Relational Aggression
- Emergent Public Health Issue: Effects of Violence
- Ethical Development, Effects on
- Ethical Issues in Researching Media Violence Effects
- Fear Reactions to Violent Content
- First-Person Perspective, Violent Content From
- Gender, Effects of Violent Content on
- General Aggression Model
- Identity, Media Violence and Its Effects on
- Interactive Media, Aggressive Outcomes of
- Internet Content, Effects of Violent
- Media Effects Perspectives of Violence
- Media Rating Systems
- Moral Development, Effects of Media Violence on
- Narrative, Effects of Violent
- News, the Presentation and Effects of Violent Content in
- Parasocial Relationships
- Pediatricians and Media Violence
- Peer Influence on Violent Content Effects
- Pornography, Violent Content in: Effects of
- Rap Lyrics, Effects of Violent Content in
- Rape Perceptions
- Screen Size and Violent Content, Effects of
- Sex in Media, Effects on Society
- Situational Influences on Aggressive Reactions to Media Violence
- Social Isolation
- Socialization of Violence in Media and Its Effects
- User Involvement in Violent Content, Effects of
- User Trends Toward Aggressive Games
- Uses and Gratifications Perspective of Media Effects
- Video Game Platforms, Effects of
- Video Games, User Motivation
- Violence in Media, Effects on Aggression and Violent Crime
- Virtual Reality, Effects of Violent Content in
- Weapons in Violent Media Content: Use, Policy, and Effects
- Media Policy
- Advertising Laws Regarding Violent and Aggressive Content
- Bullying, Definition and Laws of
- Censorship of Violent Content
- Cyberbullying Laws
- Federal Communications Commission
- First Amendment Protections and Freedom of Expression
- International Perspective on Media Violence
- Internet Blocking
- Internet Violence Laws
- Legislating Media Violence: Law and Policy
- Marketing of Violence
- Media Education and Media Literacy
- Rating Systems, Film
- Rating Systems, Television
- Rating Systems, Video Games
- Regulating Systems, Internet
- Video Game Industry, Regulation Within the
- Research Process
- Society and Media
- Grand Theft Auto, Social Representations in
- Advertising, Influence on Society
- African Americans in Media, Character Depictions and Social Representation of
- Asians in Media, Character Depictions and Social Representation of
- Cross-Cultural Perspectives
- Cultivating Content and Social Representation of Violence
- Cultural Voyeurism
- Culture of Violence
- Effect Size in Media Violence, Research and Effects of
- Exposure to Violent Content, Effects on Child Development
- Gender Stereotypes, Societal Influence on
- Internet Violence, Influence on Society
- Latinos in Media, Character Depictions and Social Representation of
- Media as a Reflection of Society
- Race-Based Attributes in Video Games, Influence on Hostility
- Social Learning From Media
- Theories of Media Influence
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