MORE DETAIL- AGGRESSION

Flashcards on Aggression in Psychology

What brain structures are associated with the control of emotions such as fear and aggression?

The limbic system structures, including the amygdala and hippocampus.

What is the role of the amygdala in aggression?

Rapidly interprets sensory information and provides an appropriate emotional response, such as aggression.

What happens when parts of the amygdala are electrically stimulated in hamsters?

Signs of aggression, such as preparing to attack, are shown.

What happens when the amygdala is surgically destroyed in hamsters?

The hamsters no longer respond to stimuli that would have previously produced an aggressive response.

What is the role of the hippocampus in aggression?

Involved in the formation of long-term memories; abnormalities can prevent the amygdala from processing sensory information appropriately, which can result in aggressive behavior.

Which part of the brain is believed to have an important role in controlling impulsive behavior?

The pre-frontal cortex

In non-human animals, what impact does electrically stimulating the amygdala have on aggression?

The animal will prepare to attack.

In non-human animals, what impact does destroying the amygdala have on aggression?

The animal will not attack, even when exposed to threats.

What did Raine et al find in serial killers regarding the pre-frontal cortex?

Lowered levels of activity

What are the methodological issues with research linking the limbic system and aggression?

Most of the research is correlational and there is low generalisability.

What are the mixed findings in research linking serotonin and aggression?

Both low serotonin and high serotonin are linked with aggression.

How does low serotonin influence aggression?

Disrupts this calming effect resulting in individuals being more likely to behave aggressively because the pre-frontal cortex is not acting as a ‘brake’ as it usually would.

How does high serotonin influence aggression?

The brain can become flooded with serotonin making the brain less sensitive to the calming effect of serotonin, consequently, when the limbic system is stimulated, the individual may be more likely to behave aggressively because the pre-frontal cortex is not acting as a ‘brake’ as it usually would.

What gender bias might conclusions suffer from when researching a link between serotonin and aggression levels?

Beta Bias

How are high levels of the hormone testosterone associated with aggression?

Increased physical aggression. It is believed that testosterone affects certain neural circuits before birth then influenced by testosterone later in life.

How does injecting females with testosterone affect them when shown photographs of angry faces?

Showed a higher than usual increase in heart rate.

How does testosterone affect the amount of serotonin available for transmission across the synapses of the nerves in the brain?

Reduces the amount of serotonin that is available for transmission across the synapses of the nerves in the brain.

What challenge is there to the link between testosterone and aggression suggesting that the link is more complex?

Some research has shown that females with high occupational status have higher testosterone levels, related perhaps to the increased assertiveness that comes from higher testosterone levels.

What is the potential practical application of research into testosterone and aggression?

If high testosterone levels are linked to high levels of aggression, this could lead to a biological treatment being developed that could be administered to reduce testosterone levels and consequently aggression levels.

How are higher levels of cortisol associated with aggression?

Lower levels of aggression

What does the Dual Hormone Hypothesis suggest about testosterone and cortisol?

That both hormones interact together to produce aggression, that it is neither hormone acting alone. High levels of testosterone lead to high levels of aggression ONLY when levels of cortisol are low.

In early psychology, where did some psychologists believe the genetic cause of aggression could lie?

In the Y chromosome

What chromosome pattern were early psychologists particularly interested in examining?

XYY

What is the MAOA gene associated with?

Aggression

What does the MAOA gene produce?

An enzyme called MAOA (Monoamine Oxidase A). This enzyme is responsible for breaking down a number of neurotransmitters including serotonin as part of neurotransmission.

What is one variation of the MAOA gene associated with the production of low levels of the MAOA enzyme called?

MAOA-L

What have studies found a link between a variation of the MAOA gene and?

Aggression

What has the MAOA-L been termed?

The ‘warrior gene’ as it is more commonly found in populations with a history of warfare.

What did Caspi et al (2002) study regarding the MAOA-L gene?

Studied 500 boys and found that boys with the MAOA-L gene were significantly more likely than others to show aggressive behaviour when they grew up but only if they had also been treated badly as children.

What did Vassos (2014) conduct a meta analysis into regarding genetics and aggression?

Could find no single gene associated with aggression and instead claimed that hundreds of thousands of genes are likely interacting in very complex ways to determine aggression.

Which behaviors do ethologists study, and what assumption do they make about generalizing their findings to humans?

Aggression to humans

Why, according to Lorenz, is aggression not typically about killing within species?

Is more adaptive than direct aggression, as it helps to ensure the organism is not harmed.

What are innate releasing mechanisms (IRMs), and how do they relate to aggression?

Built-in neural structure which, when exposed to specific stimuli (sign stimulus or releasers), will cause the release of an automatic behavioural response.

What are fixed action patterns (FAPs), and what features do they share?

Fixed action patterns share the following features; the behaviour is stereotyped, the behavior is universal, the behavior is innate, once the behaviour is triggered it will follow an inevitable path and cannot be altered, each behaviour has a specific environmental trigger.

What behavior do male sticklebacks exhibit during the mating season, and what triggers their aggression?

Stereotyped aggressive behavior. If another male enters their territory displaying a red spot (an environmental trigger) an innate releasing mechanism is activated.

What are the criticisms of generalising the findings from animal research to human aggression?

The environments in which animals and humans develop are very different and for that reason there is no merit in generalising behaviours across species.

What is the focus of evolutionary explanations of aggression?

The adaptive nature of behaviour. solving challenges enhanced an individual’s survival and reproductive chances.

What does male aggression explain in response to sexual competition?

Sexual Success, eliminate competition (ie other males) would have been more successful in acquiring mates and therefore reproduced, passing on their genes.

What does male aggression explain in response to sexual jealousy?

Sexual jealousy. To maintain sexual associations between them.

What are mate retention strategies?

Strategies include threatening/showing aggression towards her for straying or towards his perceived love rival.

What challenge is there to evolutionary explanations of aggression by saying that explanations fail to explain high levels of cruelty?

Fail to explain the very high levels of cruelty that are often found in human conflicts yet are not evident among non-human species. For example, they do not explain the wide-scale slaughter of whole groups (genocide).

What is the social sensitivity of jealous male aggression?

Aggression by a jealous male towards a female as a strategy to prevent infidelity or cuckoldry is a socially unacceptable behaviour.

Why do evolutionary explanations suffer from a gender bias?

Evolutionary explanations for aggression in response to sexual competition and sexual jealousy have focused almost exclusively upon male aggression towards women, A review of 2060 murders in the US found that women were twice as likely to murder their partner out of jealousy. Research has neglected to examine the behaviour of women in this area and its sole focus on male behaviour means that it is gender biased.

What did Dollard propose about all agression?

All aggression was caused by frustration and that frustration always led to some form of aggression.

What is catharsis?

A form of emotional release, thus aggression releases a negative drive just like hunger or thirst.

What triggers the aggressive drive?

Frustration is anything that prevents people from achieving a goal

What is displacement?

The aggression drive is still triggered but the aggressive behaviour will be re- directed onto an alternative source – perhaps an inanimate object, a pet or a younger sibling.

What research evidence supports the frustration-aggression hypothesis?

Participants in the non-frustrated condition gave less intense shocks than participants in all of the three frustrated conditions.

What research evidence challenges the idea that venting aggression is cathartic?

Participants who were asked to vent their frustration by hitting a punch bag, actually became more aggressive rather than less.

How does the frustration-aggression hypothesis fail to account for individual differences?

Frustration does not always lead to aggression. Some people may choose to withdraw from a frustrating situation rather than respond with aggressive behaviour and other people may respond to frustration by crying rather than becoming aggressive.

How is aggression learned in social learning theory?

Direct positive/negative reinforcement.

What are the features of role models?

People who are similar in terms of gender, age or appearance are more likely to attract our attention and interest, as are people who we look up to and have status in our society.

What four mediational processes must be met for imitation of aggression to take place?

The individual must first pay attention to the role model’s aggressive behaviour, they must then be able to remember the role model’s behaviour, the individual must be able to reproduce the aggressive behaviour, the individual needs to be motivated to imitate the aggressive behaviour.

What research evidence supports SLT that aggression is acquired through observing aggressive behaviour of role models?

Bandura, Ross and Ross (1969) in the Bobo doll experiment. One group of children watched an adult punching and kicking an inflatable Bobo doll and another group watched the adult play with the doll in a non-aggressive manner. The children then went individually into a room with a Bobo doll and other toys. The children who had observed the aggressive behaviour were more aggressive with the Bobo doll than the other children.

What forms of aggression can Social Learning Theory can not explain?

Reactive aggression like jealousy or pain

What biological evidence cant Social Learning Theory explain regarding aggression?

A role for the amygdala, or the MAOA-L gene, which SLT just cannot explain.

What cultural differences can Social Learning Theory effectively explain?

Aggression is rare among the !Kung San of the Kalahari Desert.

What can trigger Deindividuation theory?

By being in a large crowd, wearing a uniform or by the effects of drugs or alcohol. generatin agression

What does Philip Zimbardo suggest about social situations in Deindividuation theory?

When we are individuated, behaviour conforms to social norms relating to acceptable behaviour. However, when de- individuated behaviour is based on primitive urges ignoring social norms.

Why is aggression displayed in deindividuation theory?

Person loses their sense of individuality or identity, they experience reduced self-control.

What evidence challenges de-individuation theory by suggesting that the type of uniform that is worn may influence later behaviour?

another study, participants were dressed in Ku Klux Klan masks and robes or in a nurse’s uniform. The participants dressed as nurses gave less electric shocks than the masked participants.

Where is aggression a major problem?

Prisons

What is Feltham Prison?

Young Offenders’ institution and is proposed to be the most violent prison in the UK.

What are dispositional explanations of institutional aggression?

Focus on the characteristics of prisoners, arguing that they are violent individuals who bring aggression into the prison with them.

What does the importation model argue?

It is not the situational pressures that explain high levels of aggression in prison, but rather the disposition of the individuals within it.

What happens within prison to inmates?

Inmates use aggression to establish power, status and access to resources.

What research evidence supports the dispositional explanation of prisons?

Anger, anti-social personality and impulsivity were stronger predictors of aggression in prison than ethnicity or type of offence committed

What criticism does Dilulio (1991) propose about the importation model?

It ignores the role played by prison officials and other factors linked to the management of prisons.

How is dispositional models research androcentirc?

Most of the research in this area has been undertaken on male prisoners so very little is known about reasons for female violence in prisons. It would be androcentric to presume the same reasons for male violence can be used to explain female violence.

What biological explanation can support dispositional models of prisons?

The biological approach to aggression offers an alternative suggestion that genetic, hormonal and neural factors determine levels of aggression. Individuals who carry out criminally anti-social behaviour might be more aggressive than people who are not convicted criminals because of their biology

What is situational explanations of institutional aggression?

Prison is an environment that creates aggressive behaviour because of its systems and regimes; aggression is caused by the prison situation.

What does situational models argue about aggression?

It is the harsh prison conditions that lead to stress for inmates who cope by behaving aggressively.

What is deprived of in prisons?

autonomy, material goods, possessions and services and are also deprived of important relationships

What creates stresses in prisons that can lead to agression?

inmates cannot always meet their physiological needs and safety needs due to the rules,

What did findings show when inmate violence was examined using 900 US prisons between 1984 and 1995?

Regimes that involved higher deprivation had higher rates of assault whereas those involving lower deprivation had lower rates.

How do levels of deprivation within prisons vary?

Levels of deprivation within a prison remain fairly constant and do not really vary.

Who is Wilson?

David Wilson

Research findings into violent television programs suggests what about children?

Viewers rated much higher on physical aggression.

What types of media are included in media influence ?

TV, film and books through which news, entertainment, education and data are made available.

What study compared the effects of computer games in media influence?

Silvern and Williamson comparing violence in computer games

What suggests playing computer games has more of an effect on aggression than simply watching aggressive media?

Children who played the game exhibited more verbal and physical aggression.

According to the studies of Matthews et al, (2006)what reduces in violent game players?

reduced activity in the pre- frontal lobes of adolescents

According to the studies of Matthews et al, (2006)what increases in violent game players?

increased activity in the amygdala

Why are measurements of aggressive behaviour artificial and unrealistic?

Ethical constraints

What is are the limitations of measurement when studying the effects on violent computer game playing and aggression

the evidence is not able to show that playing violent computer games is the cause of aggression

What is a confound variable research?

Difficult to conclude whether any increase in aggressive behaviour is due to game playing or to confounding variables such as the presence of role models or other forms of media.

What does desesitization theory propose after continued exposure to stimuli?

Our responses to that stimulus are decreased. Therefore, if aggression is presented to us on a daily basis, there is reduction in our response to the aggression.

What is reduced phsylogical arousal in violence?

Individuals are also less likely to notice real-life violence and show less sympathy for victims of violence. If the individual no longer feels anxious about violence, may start to regard it as normal, acceptable behaviour and be more prepared to be aggressive themselves.

What is an example of media saturated world of violence?

Violence is also a feature of many computer games. Psychologists propose that desensitisation as a response to violence viewed in computer games can have a negative effect.

How does computer games lower phsylogical aroudal to real world violence?

Individuals may not respond to real aggression with any physiological arousal, such as that associated with fear. The result of this effect is that individuals may be more likely to accept violence and aggression and may be more likely to respond violently and aggressively when presented with the opportunity to do so.

What kind of world do we live in?

Media Saturated World

What happens with the disinhibition explanation of media violence?

restraint against behaving aggressively is reduced when exposed to violent media, which reinforces or justifies aggression.

Why is responsibility reduced in computer games?

anonymity can be assured when playing a computer game therefore responsibility for one’s behaviour is reduced

What does Berkowitz and Alioto find that helps support disinhbition?

participants who saw a film where violence was seen as an act of vengeance, were more likely to later give shocks of longer duration to a confederate

What's meant by Cognitive Priming?

idea that being exposed to media violence generates a ‘script’ of how to deal with conflicts in everyday life. These scripts are stored in memory and are retrieved and activated in real life situations.

What are the types of violent television programs impact children?

greater activation of the brain regions associated with emotion and storage of long-term personal memories