These studies proved how kids learn and imitate, unless an adult explains that it is wrong. The social learning, or observation learning theories of Bandura have as a central premise that people engage in observational learning. They see an action modeled on television or in a movie and they imitate this action. Media violence as catharsis for otherwise real aggression is a theory put forward by scholars who defend violent action movies or television programs. Violence as a catalyst that can cause children or unstable adults to act aggressively and violently.
Desensitization is a problem caused by continued exposure to what is scary.
We lose our abhorance of violence when we see it constantly. George Gerbner has studied media violence for a long time, so read about him on page 402. 5. What the mass media considers important is what we read, hear and see and this causes us to set a personal agenda of what to think about. When the media ignores certain subjects, or people, then they disappear from our radar screen. This leads to what is known as symbolic annihilation, where people and topics simply don t exist.