Aggression P&B

• who was Charles Whitman?

  man who shot 45 people in 90 minutes in texas
• what did they discover in his head after Charles' death?

  a tumour was pressing against his amygdala
• who did he kill 1st?

  8 month pregnant student - Claire
• how much supplies did he take up with him in the tower?(Charles)

  enough to last him 2 weeks in the tower
• what was Charles father like?

  angry and cruel man to him and Charles' mother
• what day did eh go up into the tower and go on his spree?

  July 31st 1966
• who was Phineas Gage?

  man who mad a mental pipe go through his head and survived.
• who large was the pole that went through Phineas' heas?

  3 ft and 7 inches
• who was the doctor that treated Phineas

  Dr John Martyn
• how long did Phineas live after he was out of hospital?

  12 years
• what happened to Phineas' personality as a result of the accident?

  be became opposite of who he was - impatient, unable to settle, unsociable
• what did Phineas do after he lost his job?

  joined P.T Barnham circus
• what did Bard 1940 do?

  made lesions and stimulated amygdala in cats to see their display of aggression
• what did Flynn 1970 do?

  stimulated the hypothalamus in cats electrically and observed the results
• what did Flynn 1970 see when stimulating hypothalamus?

  aggression in hissing and growling in the cats
• what did Flynn find about the stimulation of the dorsal hypothalamus?

  defensive behaviour
• what did Bard 1940 find?

  if the amygdala is removed then the then the animal become passive and unresponsive
• what did Bard find when stimulating an animal?

  that they will display aggression when amygdala stimulated
• what is positive about the evidence?

  there are wide variety of evidence

  • case studies (Charles Whitman) tumour in brain
  • Anima studies (cats Bard and Flynn) aggression in limbic system
  • Brain Evidence (Rain and Swantje) PET and MRI scans abnormalities in brain structure
• what is negative about the evidence? (Gen)

  generalisability is difficult as

  • case studies cant generalise to wider population
  • animal studies results generalising to humans (no)
• why cant we generalise to humans from animal results?

  we have a more developed prefrontal cortex - social behaviour and decision making
• what does the brain scans evidence identify and why is it a limitation?

  only identify an association or a link and no cause and effect so not the cause of aggression.
• what is the conclusion for the evidence?

  range of evidence compelling, abnormal brain structures are not always the cause of aggression
• what is the application for this study?

  Raine et al using PET scans to determine parole and sentencing for some criminals and decision about treatments
• what can changes in aggression mean in application to the study?

  there might be something like a tumour that could be causing the aggression.
• what is a strength of the study?

  it is scientific as the PET and MRI scans can produce measureable brain activity, studies like this are also controlled well - good relability
• what are the shortcoming of the theory?

  the theory is deterministic - suggests that some people are biologically predisposed to be more aggressive and lowers their responsibility
• what is the alternative theory for this theory?

  reductionist as its purely biological excuses the explanations of upbringing, parenting, peer influences