biological key question

• what are the implications for society if aggression is due to nature not nuture
• describe nature/nurture debate

  • debate is the extent to which aspects of behaviour are inherited (genetic) or learned (environmental)
  • nature - influenced by genetic inheritance/biological factors
  • nurture - influence of environmental factors (upbringing)
• issue

  • luis suarez was handed a 10-game ban for biting chelsea's branislav ivanovic at anfield on sunday
  • football associations (FA) said "a 3 person independent regulatory commission, impartial to liverpool & chelsea, upheld FA's claim that a suspension of 3 matches was clearly insufficient and player will serve a further 7 first team matches..."
  • 26yr old missed remaining 4 games of the season and first 6 domestic matches of next campaign
• why its an issue for society

  • if aggression is purely explained by nature, this will change the way we see punishments for aggressive behaviour as punishing a person won't change their genes
  • non-biological punishments such as prison, suspensions or fines will not help treat the aggressive person
• testosterone - theory linked to aggression

  • suarez may have higher levels of testosterone than others - testosterone is a hormone linked to aggression and triggers the body's fight or flight response - player defending suarez is perceived as a threat so he bites him due to his heightened fight or flight response
  • high levels of testosterone also helps explain his high level athletic performance - aggressive individual alongside top level athletes seem to have more of this hormone in their bodies such as luis
• testosterone - how it explains the situation

  • if aggression is purely biological, luis' aggression is not his fault - behaviour is due to genetics
  • therefore, instead of using financial punishment, we may need to use drug treatment to target his testosterone to help reduce his aggression
  • if we believe people who have more testosterone are more aggressive it may provide aggressive individuals with an 'in built' excuse for their actions
• brain areas - theory linked to aggression

  • amygdala and prefrontal cortex are associated with aggression
  • amygdala - responsible for threat perception: the player defending suarez is the threat and he may have seen an angry look on his face which caused him to react to it so bit the player. coccaro et al (2007) found that people who have extreme reactive aggression (impulsive, hot blooded) show higher levels of amygdala activity when viewing images of angry faces
• • prefrontal cortex: responsible for impulse control and decision making
  • frontal lobe is used to header balls in football - as a result suarez may have unknown damage to this area so makes him likely to act impulsively therefore he cannot control his bite leading to punishments
• brain areas - how it explains the situation

  • empirical evidence that activation of certain areas of suarez's brain is linked to aggression
  • if its true, being banned from playing wont affect his behaviour at all, methods like brain stimulation may be need to adjust his low activity in PFC