Some immediate effects of televised violence on children's behavior.

The hypothesis that exposure to televised violence would increase the willingness of children to hurt another child was investigated. Boys and girls of two age groups (5-6 and 8-9 years) first viewed excerpts from actual television programs depicting either aggresive or nonaggressive scenes, and were then provided with an opportunity to aggress against a peer. All subjects were subsequently placed in a free play situation and the frequency of their aggressive responses observed. Results indicated that children exposed to the aggressive program engaged in longer attacks against an ostensible child victim than subjects exposed to the nonaggressive program. The aggressive program also elicited a higher level of aggressive play than the nonaggressive one, particularly among the younger boys.