Anger caused by violence may hinder TV viewers' memory of commercials

Violent television programs impede viewers' ability to remember commercial messages, according to research in the December issue of APA's Journal of Experimental Psych-ology: Applied (Vol. 4, No. 4,p. 291307).

The anger prompted by watching a violent program appears to impair the viewer's memory, says psychologist Brad J. Bushman, PhD, of Iowa State University. He tested the ability of college students to recall brand names of items from two commercials they saw while watching either a violent or a nonviolent video. Immediately after viewing the videos, participants were asked to recall details from the commercials that had been embedded in the videotapes.

Participants didn't appear to react differently to the videos--blood pressure and heart rates were the same whether the people watched the violent or nonviolent film clip. However, those who watched the nonviolent video were able to recall more brands and more details of the commercials than those who watched the violent film clip.

Another of Bushman's experiments determined whether anger plays a role in the effect television violence has on commercial messages. In it, Bushman asked students to assess their emotions after watching violent and nonviolent videotapes.

"The anger incurred after watching the violent videotape did seem to have a lot to do with their memory for the commercials because those who watched the violent videotape reported feeling more angry," says Bushman. "They also had lower scores on brand name recognition, brand name recall and commercial message recall measures."
--L. Rabasca



Read our privacy statement and Terms of Use

Cover Page for this Issue

PsychNET®
© 1999 American Psychological Association

APA Home Page . Search . Site Map