Abstract The purpose of this research was to study the imitative behaviors of children who had been exposed to a protracted conflict situation in Beirut, Lebanon. Forty 5-year-old Arabic-speaking boys were randomly assigned to treatment conditions. Half the boys were highly aroused by rapidly performing physical exercises and the other half, less aroused by short and slow exercises. Half of each arousal group viewed either an aggressive or nonaggressive film. Following the film, the subjects were allowed to engage in free play. Measures of imitative behavior, aggressive behavior, attention to the film, pulse rate, and memory for film behaviors were obtained. The manipulation of physiological arousal produced no significant effects, but the film condition enhanced both total aggressive behaviors and novel aggressive behaviors for the aggressive film.