Psychological Development and Education ›› 2020, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (3): 265-274.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2020.03.00

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Priming Effect of Violent Cartoon on Aggressive Cognition in 5-6-year-old Kindergartners

QIAN Zhang   

  1. Center for Studies of Education and Psychology of Minorities in Southwest China;Faculty of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715
  • Published:2020-06-02

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Abstract: Based on the theory of general aggression model (GAM), the study examined the priming effect of violent cartoon on aggressive cognition among kindergartners. A total of N=400 (50% girls) 5-6-year-old kindergartners were randomly selected to participate in the experimental analysis, with 200 kindergartners assigned to the violent cartoon group and the other 200 kindergartners assigned to the nonviolent cartoon group. A modified semantic classification task and ANONVA were employed to measure the levels of aggressive cognition. The results revealed that: (1) Kindergartners in violent cartoon group display higher aggressive cognition than those in nonviolent cartoon group. (2) Boys who watched a violent cartoon exhibit higher aggressive cognition than those who watched a nonviolent cartoon, whereas girls exhibit no significant group differences between violent cartoon and neutral cartoon groups. (3) Kindergartners with high trait-aggressiveness who watched a violent cartoon demonstrate higher aggressive cognition than those who watched a nonviolent cartoon, whereas kindergartners with moderate trait-aggressiveness and low trait-aggressiveness demonstrate no significant group differences. (4) No significant group differences were found in aggressive cognition between 5-year-old and 6-year-old kindergartners after watching a violent cartoon. These findings suggested that sex and trait-aggressiveness are important personal variables which moderate levels of aggressive cognition among 5-6-year-old kindergartners under the context of a violent cartoon.

Key words: violent cartoon, aggressive cognition, 5-6-year-old kindergartners, priming effect

CLC Number: 

  • B844
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