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Film‐Mediated Aggressive and Creative Play
Author(s) -
NOBLE G.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
british journal of social and clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0007-1293
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1970.tb00631.x
Subject(s) - psychology , session (web analytics) , film analysis , anxiety , visual arts , developmental psychology , movie theater , art , advertising , business , psychiatry
The objectives of the reseach were twofold. Firstly, to see if watching a film would influence children's play, not by modelling effects, but by the contiguity in time of similar stimuli. Secondly, to ascertain if viewing a war film would, for certain children, cause both a decrease in the amount of social interaction and a regression in the level of play after viewing that film. Six groups, each containing four six‐year‐old boys and girls, were shown a war film and a puppet film in random order. Twenty minutes of play (with toys representing stimuli seen in each film) were recorded by time‐lapse photography, after exposure to each film and in a play session which had not been immediately preceded by a film. Each subject was used as his own control. One additional group of four six‐year‐old boys and girls saw no films. Their play with the toys was filmed on three independent occasions. Children were found to play significantly more with war toys after the war film than after the puppet film. Children did not play more with puppet toys after the puppet film than after the war film. Children played significantly less constructively and interacted significantly less (middle‐class significantly less so than working‐class on both measures) after seeing the war film than after seeing the puppet film. These results may be interpreted as indicating the development of anxiety reactions after viewing film with aggressive content. Compared to the play session which was not immediately preceded by film exposure there was a significant decrease in the amount of social interaction which took place in both the post‐film play sessions. There was more interaction during the play of children in the control group who had seen no films than there was during the play of children who had just seen the war film.