The rest of the world has always perceived the United States as an extraordinarily violent country. Now, the homefolks are beginning to share that view. Pick up a newspaper, turn on the radio or TV, skim through a magazine and one can see the violence in America seems to pour out in a great, unending stream. The fundamental basis of violence is absolutely clear: the human capacity for aggression. .

             It has been long known among psychologists that aggressive-related items or cues can stimulate aggressive responses. Previous Wisconsin experiments showed that aggression is brought out upon when in the presence of those readily to provoke anger. Similarly, a study conducted by Loew (1965) also revealed that cues such as aggressive words elicited responses indicative of aggression. Although the "guinea pigs" in Loew's study were not previously angered, strong electric shocks were still given to each other (Lepage & Berkowitz, 1967). .

             Likewise, Anthony Lepage's purpose was to determine whether external objects were associated with aggression. He used weapons such as a rifle and a revolver, instead. Lepage intended to find out if weapons affect an individual's aggressive reactions than do other neutral objects. The outcome of this study will also determine if the sales of firearms in the United States should be restricted. Moreover, the purpose of this study is to determine if situational cues govern an individual's actions (Lepage & Berkowitz, 1967). .

             The subjects used for this study were male undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin. These students volunteered to be "guinea pigs" because of class requirements. There were a total of 139 subjects, but only 100 were kept for data. The other 39 were disregarded because of complications due to misinformed figures and procedures and malfunctioning of equipment (Lepage & Berkowitz, 1967). .

             In order to carry out the experiment, all of the subjects were broken into groups.