Effect of Exposure to Symbolic Aggression on Aggressive Behavior

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Abstract
Three experiments were performed on the effect of exposure to symbolic aggression by means of motion pictures on the play behavior of children. A bar-pressing response which produced aggressive doll action was observed immediately after the children had been exposed to either an aggressive or a nonaggressive film. The study gave evidence for an increase in responding for the aggressive doll action after exposure to the aggressive film when such responding is properly observed. The data are analogous to findings concerning behavior for reinforcers based on the primary appetitive drives. The effects of this visual exposure to symbolic aggression can be conceptualized either in terms of an increase in incentive motivation (K) or in terms of providing discriminative stimuli marking the occasion when aggressive behavior will be reinforced or at least not punished.

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