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10. EFFECTS OF MEDIA VIOLENCE                                  273

        the media violence literature (see Freedman, 1984, 1988; Huesmann &
        Eron, 1986; Huesmann, Lagerspetz, & Eron, 1984), and their debate on the
        public airwaves left more questions than answers, even for viewers who
        considered themselves to be experts on the key issues. The ultimate mes-
        sage of this broadcast for the layperson was that the scientific community
        was completely unsettled about the real-world consequences of exposure
        to media violence. The published literature reveals that this message is
        hardly an accurate one. Numerous reviews by researchers, professional
        associations, and organizations all agree that exposure to media violence
        is causally related to aggressive behavior (see recent reviews by the Amer-
        ican Psychological Association, 1993; Centers for Disease Control, 1991;
        Heath, Bresolin, & Rinaldi, 1989, and the National Academy of Science,
        1993). Wilson et al. (1997), writing for the National Television Violence
        Study, also concluded that the evidence in favor of a causal connection
        between exposure to media violence and violence in society was clear.
        Several meta-analyses lend strong credence to this conclusion (e.g., Paik &
        Comstock, 1994; Wood, Wong, & Chachere, 1991).
           Despite the fact that controversy still exists about the impact of media
        violence, the research results reveal a dominant and consistent pattern in
        favor of the notion that exposure to violent media images does increase the
        risk of aggressive behavior. It is important to note that even among stud-
        ies that are not able to yield clear conclusions about causality, the most fre-
        quent result remains consistent with the hypothesis that viewing violence
        causes an increase in aggressive behavior. Briefly considered, what is the
        nature of the research evidence on this most central question? Following
        Gunter’s (1994) review of the evidence on this question, we will examine
        the literature from different types of experiments and surveys, followed
        by a consideration of the theoretical mechanisms that might be responsi-
        ble for the relationship between exposure to media violence and subse-
        quent aggression.

        Experiments

        A number of early experiments with children provided evidence for the
        facilitation of aggressive behavior after viewing violent media. One of the
        most widely cited studies was conducted by Liebert and Baron (1971).
        Using children from 5 to 9 years old, the authors randomly assigned the
        subjects to view a brief clip from either a violent program (The Untouch-
        ables) or a nonviolent sports program. Following exposure to one of these
        programs, subjects were told that they could either “help” or “hurt” the
        progress of another child in an adjoining room who was trying to win a
        game. By pressing a “help” button the subjects were told that they could
        make it easier for the other child to turn a handle that was critical for
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