NCJ Number
224330
Journal
Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: 2008 Pages: 118-132
Date Published
2008
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Using 53 college students, this study tested the validity of the modified Taylor Competitive Reaction Time Test (TCRTT) as a measure of aggression in laboratory media violence studies.
Abstract
Results suggest that laboratory studies of media violence that use the TCRTT are of questionable validity. The TCRTT provides an opportunity for the participant to play a “reaction time game” against a fictional opponent. Participants are asked to set the level of a noise “blast” that will serve as “punishment” for their competitor in a reaction time game. This noise blast can vary both in terms of intensity (loudness) and duration. Since noise intensity and noise duration do not significantly correlate with each other, noise intensity and noise duration cannot be use interchangeably as equally valid measures of aggression. Thus, it begs the question of which measure is a valid measure of aggression and what sort of aggression. The current study found no support for the use of noise duration as a valid indicator of any form of aggression. Noise duration did not correlate with trait aggression, and correlated in the wrong direction with measures of executive functioning. Thus, individuals who are better planners and have better executive functioning used longer noise blasts than individuals with poor executive functioning. This is the opposite of what would be expected if noise duration were a valid indicator of aggression. It may be that the duration measure is a better measure of thoughtfulness or better impulse control than it is a measure of aggression. This finding calls into question laboratory studies of media violence that find significance only for noise duration and not intensity. Measures of intensity showed the best support in this study. Average intensity across all trials may be the most valid indicator of trait aggression. 1 table and 33 references