PSYC 101 – Experiment Assignment (50 pts)

Students will carefully observe acts of aggression and prosocial behavior on television, report their
observations, and analyze their data to draw conclusions.

Watch 20 minutes of each of the three types of programs (do not code behavior in commercials). Record
every aggressive act and prosocial act. Some categories will have several acts. Your chart and discussion
will focus on comparing the following three types of programs you will watch: 1) children’s cartoons
(such as from the cartoon channel or Nickelodeon—Not Simpsons of Family Guy, no adult cartoons); 2)
children’s Teaching program can be found on cable stations like SPROUT such as Barney, Arthur,
Clifford the big red dog, Berenstain Bears, or Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood; or Nick Jr programs (Dora
the Explorer, Blues Clues); and 3) an adult program. Look for a program you think might have lots of
aggression (NO Reality show, sports events, wrestling, comedy stand-up routines, music videos, talk
shows). You can record/TIVO shows to watch at a later time; you can also find many of these
shows online to watch when it is convenient for you!!

After watching your shows:

Answer the 5 questions below. This homework will be submitted on Canvas!

Don’t forget to attach your original data chart to the written assignment!

1. List the 3 programs you observed and the date and the time. Indicate which program is the
cartoon, children’s teaching program and adult program.(5 pts)
The 3 program I watched were The Backyardigans which is a child cartoon I watched on 3/14 at
2:00pm Barney which is a child’s teaching program I watched on 3/15 at 4:00pm and robot
chicken which is an adult program I watched that on 3/16 at 5:00pm

2. Using the data on your chart, multiply the total number of aggressive acts by 3 for each type of
program to arrive at an hourly rate of aggressive acts. Do the same for prosocial behavior. Make
a table containing the hourly numbers for each program and include it along with the data
chart or include it here for #2. (10 pts)—you are including a table AND your data chart. You
will lose points for including only 1.
The Backyardigans Barney Robot Chicken
Aggressions 1 1 51
Prosocial Behavior 3 5 2
Total 4 x 3 = 12 6 x 3 = 18 53 x 3 = 153

3. Discuss the levels of aggression and of prosocial behavior for the three types of programs by
comparing and contrasting what you observed. Were there differences in the levels and the type
of program? What impact could that have on the target audience for that type of program? (at
least 120 words; Include word count). Use specific numbers. (10 pts)

After watching Robot Chicken, I realized that, in contrast to the previous two shows I've watched,
it had a lot more aggression for specific topics. Robot Chicken is a "violent" show with a lot of
profanity and insults, and since kids and tweens are unlikely to get its "dark humor," it didn't
exhibit many prosocial behaviors. The show featured frequent use of foul language, murdering
and reversing scenes and plots. Robot Chicken was the exact antithesis of The Backyardigans and
Barney. Both primarily convey the idea that you always have a friend at your side and don't
feature any violence at all. One comment in the Backyardigans episode I watched was "That's
really disgusting," but the entire time I watched, the buddies were having a good time and going
on an adventure together. The Barney episode I watched was all about friendship; two friends
became angry and broke up, but in the end, Barney helped them get over their differences and had
them apologize to one another.
 WORD COUNT 167

4. What did you learn from this project about aggression and prosocial behaviors.? How are these
behaviors more often displayed? Do you believe the amount of aggression and/or prosocial
behaviors you observed are more or less than what is often displayed in everyday interactions?
Does this have an impact on the model of behavior that has been displayed which could
ultimately change behavioral expectations? (at least 120 words; Include word count). (10 pts)

I discovered that a greater proportion of prosocial behaviors than aggressive behaviors are seen in
children's programs, while adult programs tend to have more aggressive conduct. Instead of using
aggression to get viewers' attention, as most adults find "dark humor" programs appealing,
characters in children's programs typically demonstrate empathy or concern for others, or help
other characters out, teaching children that this is the right thing to do. Based on my observations,
there wasn't as much aggressiveness or prosocial conduct as what is typically seen in day-to-day
interactions. In my opinion, it has no bearing on the behavior model that has been demonstrated.

WORD COUNT 103

5. What did you learn about doing research - the process of doing this project, e.g. collecting the
data. Was the process of collecting date easier or harder than you hypothesized? What impact
would bias have on this experiment? (at least 120 words; Include word count). (15 pts)

Through this investigation, I have discovered that there exist programs that may convey the
incorrect or correct message to others. The process of working on this project wasn't too tough;
seeing the kid-friendly shows reminded me of the times I used to watch them. While I first
struggled to grasp the table, gathering data turned out to be less challenging for me than I had
anticipated. During our class discussion, the table became clearer and I was able to complete the
task. It got a little challenging when I started gathering data for Robot Chicken since I had to keep
track of all the foul language that was being used and make sure that I was recording the correct
number of insults and kills. Failure to consider all relevant factors could lead to bias; for example,
a program may contain insults, but certain viewers may view it as more truthful and less
offensive.

WORD COUNT 152

 CHART
***THIS CHART MUST BE TURNED IN WITH ASSIGNMENT***

Practice Program Program Program

1 2 3
I. Physical Aggression
A. Against people 1
1. A hits B once, B hits 5
A once
2. A hits B several
times or reverse
3. A hurts B or the
reverse
4. A kills B or the
reverse
5. A hits several people 4
6. A kills several people
B. Against other living
creatures
1. Hurts
2. Kills
C. Against property
D. Other
II. Psychological Aggression
A. Insults 1 9
B. Abusive Language 25
C. Threats 2
D. Others
III. Other Categories of
aggression
A. Kidnapping 1
B. Torture 1
C. Other
Total numbers X (times) 3
Hourly rate of aggression X3 X3 X3 X3
IV. Prosocial aid to another
A. Providing aid to another 1
B. Control of aggressive 1
impulses
C. Making up for bad 1 1
behavior
D. Delay of gratification
E. Explaining the feelings 1 1 2
of others
F. Sympathy
G. Resistance of temptation
Total numbers X (times) 3
Hourly rate of prosocial behavior X 3 X3 X3 X3