Aggressive behavior is an act that is intended to injure or irritate another person. Aggression can be physical or non-physical. Since the early 1960s research evidence has been accumulating that suggests that exposure to violence in television, movies, video games, cell phones, and on the internet increases the risk of violent behavior on the viewer`s part just as growing up in an environment filled with real violence increases the risk of them behaving violently. Randomized experiments demonstrate conclusively that exposure to media violence immediately increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior for children and adults in the short run (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2704015). The most important underlying process for this effect is probably priming though mimicry and increased arousal also play important roles.
ms the heart of what it means to be with a self-regulating other and if that person is absent then “the infant encounters an evoked companion” (Stern, 1985: 111). This is a coping mechanism, a way for the infant to evoke what it’s like being with their mother (ibid.). Stern describes how the absent caregiver can be recalled once the caregiver has infused objects such as toys, almost liked it has personified them (1985: 122).
I can see the “evoked companion” (Stern, 1985: 111) coming alive whilst observing Lee. On this occasion he was enjoying playing with a ball that he brought into the nursery until he was told to put it back in his bag,
Lee doesn’t like this and says ‘No’ and his happy face changes to one of sadness. Abi says ‘ok you can play with the ball for 5 more minutes and then you’re going to have to put it away’. Lee’s face crumbles again and he stands there holding his ball gazing around the room. Is he thinking about the potential loss to an object that holds some significance from the weekend? Then something interesting happens. Lee runs up to one of the staff members and says ‘bag’ and she says ‘that’s it, go and put the ball away’ and Lee runs out of the room to his ball away (Rose, 2016: 13/30).
Lee is identifying with the imbued object, in this case the football and what it represents to him when considering the ‘evoked companion’ (Stern, 1985: 111). Putting the ball away seems to represent a loss, but he’s able to reconcile this, realising that the essence of what it stands for will continue even if it’s inside his bag.
Stern’s third stage is the sense of a subjective self that sees the infant developing needs, likes and dislikes and realising these experiences are sharable with others. This might be as simple as ‘I want you to give me that toy’ or, ‘I’m crying because my nappy is wet’. The quality of Mother’s interactions dictate whether or not the baby feels understood. Stern calls this “affect attunment” (1985: 138 – 139), meaning how the Mother lets her baby know that she is feeling something very similar to her child. This sharing of affective states is crucial. Imagine a baby smiling at his Mother but
