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Two experiments tested the hypothesis that alcohol increases race-biased responding via impairment of self-regulatory cognitive control. Participants consumed either a placebo or alcohol and then made speeded responses to stereotypic trait words presented after White and Black face primes while behavioral and event-related brain potential (ERP) data were recorded. Alcohol did not affect stereotype activation in either experiment. Experiment 2 showed that alcohol significantly impaired the ability to inhibit race-biased responses but did not reliably influence control of counterstereotypic responses. This disinhibition appears driven by impairment of regulative cognitive control, as indexed by amplitude of the negative slow wave ERP component. These findings suggest that controlling racial bias can be a function of effective implementation of basic self-regulatory processes in addition to the motivational processes identified in other research.

Research has shown that exposure to violent video games causes increases in aggression, but the mechanisms of this effect have remained elusive. Also, potential differences in short-term and long-term exposure are not well understood. An initial correlational study shows that video game violence exposure (VVE) is positively correlated with self-reports of aggressive behavior and that this relation is robust to controlling for multiple aspects of personality. A lab experiment showed that individuals low in VVE behave more aggressively after playing a violent video game than after a nonviolent game but that those high in VVE display relatively high levels of aggression regardless of game content. Mediational analyses show that trait hostility, empathy, and hostile perceptions partially account for the VVE effect on aggression. These findings suggest that repeated exposure to video game violence increases aggressive behavior in part via changes in cognitive and personality factors associated with desensitization.

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“Transportation into a narrative world” is a psychological mechanism through which narrative communication can affect beliefs (Green & Brock, 2000). Transportation, or psychological immersion into a story, entails imagery, emotionality, and attentional focus. Two studies (N = 92 and 126) suggested that when readers’ pre-reading emotional states match the emotional tone of a narrative, transportation into that narrative is increased. Low-arousal positive emotions (contentedness, thoughtful) also increase transportation. Transportation is also associated with greater story-consistent emotional response, even if the emotions evoked by the ending of the story are different from the emotional tone at the start of the story (and readers’ pre-reading emotions). Furthermore, labeling a narrative as fact versus fiction does not affect the intensity of emotional response.

Transportation theory describes the tendency of narrative consumers to “travel” or be mentally drawn into the reality described in a narrative, as well as the outcomes associated with this experience of narrative immersion. Narrative transportation involves a strong sense of absorption into a narrative, including emotional and cognitive responses to narrative content that mirror reactions to real‐world events. Transported readers may also experience vivid mental imagery. Transportation predicts the persuasive impact of narratives, with transported consumers frequently displaying increases in story‐consistent beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Transportation has also been found to influence aspects of the mind as central as self‐concept. It is related to, but distinct from, other forms of media engagement such as identification and parasocial interactions.

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