Sex, Presentation Mode and Memory for Violent and Non‐violent News

Abstract A sample of 68 university undergraduates were presented with a sequence of violent and nonviolent news stories either audiovisually (via television), in audio only or in print. Subjects were tested for cued recall of story content immediately after presentation. There was a significant main effect of presentation mode: recall of news was best from print and worst in the audiovisual condition. Significant interaction occurred between sex, mode and news type: males recalled violent news better than non‐violent news, while for females the reverse was true. Males also recalled violent news much better than females in the audiovisual mode, but no such difference occurred in any other mode. Results indicate that reading the news can produce better retention than listening to or watching it. Furthermore, the presentation of violent news stories audiovisually (on videotape) can produce especially impaired memory performance among female viewers.