aggression

• neural explanation a01

  1. limbic system - gospic et al found aggressive reaction was seen in the amygdala during fmri scan
  2. serotonin - denson et al found that low levels of serotnin link to lower levels of self control and therefore more aggression
• neural explanation a03

  1. other system involved than limibic system eg orbitol frontal cortex - coccaro et al - found that ofc responsible for impulse control was was reduced and this lead to more aggressive behaviour in psychiatric patient
  2. berman et al - drug therapy for serotonin - gave ppt a placebo and a drug which controls serotonin levels and found that ppt with drug gave lower shock and were less aggressive
• hormonal explanation a01

  1. testerone - higher levels of it lead to higher levels of aggression in both animals and humans (dolan et al for humans)

  hormonal explanation a03

  1. biosocial model of status - testerone levels change during the day specially when there is competiton and study found that 75% of male who lost experienced higher levels of testerone and chose to rechallenge (aggressive) when they lost whereas only 22% chose to rechallenge when their levels of testrone dropped
• genetic factors in aggression

  1. twin studies - coccaro et al - 50% concordance rate for aggressive behaviour in mz twin whereas only 19% for dz twins
  2. adoption studies - rhee and waldman - genetic influnce accounted for 41% of the of variance in aggression
  3. MAOA gene - low levels of activity mean there is more aggression - brunner et al - aggressive duthc family who had low level of activity of MAOA gene + stuart et al - domestic abusers had faulty MAOA gene and were more aggressive
• 4. GxE interaction - frazzetto et al - found those with trauma in the first 15 years of their life were aggressively triggered whereas those with just the genes and no trauma were not triggered easily
• genetic a03

  1. difficult to separates genes from environmental triggers - Mcdermott et al - low levels of MAOA only bheaved agressive when they were provoked
  2. cannot pin down the specific gene involved - vassos et al - couldnt find evidence of association between a single gene and aggressive behaviour - instead found thousand complex ways genes interact with aggression
  3. research support for mertins et al - high activity of MAOA gene means they were less aggressive and more cooperative in a game
• frustration aggression hypothesis

  • dollard
  • agression is psychological drive to satisfy biological drives
  • we exepreice frustration if we cannot achieve our goals
  • aggression is cathartic bc it reduces the aggressive drive and makes further aggression less likely - getting things off our chest
  • agression not always expressed directly bc

  1. cause of frustration might be abstract
  2. or too powerful
  3. unavailble

  aggression is displaced onto something available, abstract or weaker than us
• green - research into frustration hypothesis

  • male students completed a jigsaw puzzle where level of frustration was manipulated in conditions

  1. impossible to solve
  2. ran out of time bc confederate kept interfering
  3. confederate insulted ppt as they failed to solve it
• green findings

  • ppt had to adminstrate electric shochs to the confederate
  • strongest shock - ppt who got insulted
  • then ppt who had interfereance
  • then impossible tast
• berkowitz - aggression can occur without frustration

  • anything that interferes with reaching a goal creates negative effect
  • unanticipated interference causes aggression

  berkowitz and le page

  • cues are extra part of the hypothesis
  • students were give shocks by confederates which created frustration
  • ppt then had to administer shocks to the confederates
  • number of shocks depended on the presence of weapons in the lab

  condition 1 - two guns next to the machine - avg shocks = 6.07

  condition 2 - no guns - avg shocks = 4.67
• social frustration a03 -

  1. rage rooms leads to catharsis - impact economy - I+D ethnocentric as it is not practised across the world
  2. research support for displacement from newhall et al - meta analysis and found ppt who werent able to retaliate against their target were more likely to displace on innocent party - I+D enviro deter
  3. evidence against cathartic - bushman found that ppt who vented aggression on punching bag became more aggressive and doing nothing was more effective which is the opposite of what therapist tell patients to do - questions validity of the hypothesis I+D= gender bias
• direct learning

  • agression can be learned through observation and classical conditioning
  • positive reinforcement in aggression - child snatches toy away learns aggression brings reward - which reinforces aggressive behaviour as an association is made
• vicarious reinforcement

  • child retains aggressive behvaiour and how it is performed
  • child also oberves the consequence - if it is rewarded then child thinks aggression is effective in getting what they want which leas to vicarious reinforcement
• cognitive control of aggression behaviour - mediational processes

  1. attention
  2. retention
  3. reproduction
  4. motivation
• self - efficacy

  • extent to which we believe our actions will achieve a desired goal
  • confidence in ability to be aggressive grows as they learn that aggression can bring reward
• slt a03

  1. poulin and boivin - aggressive 9-12yr old boys formed friendship with other aggressive boys - used alliances to gain resources and they were stable long last friendships - they were frequently exposed to models of aggression and learned reinforcement from others which is what slt predicts - ID - androcentric only uses male sample
  2. huesmann and eron - media portrayals can influence acquisition of aggression - especially true when media character is being rewarded which encourages imitation irl - ID - interactionist approach
• slt a03

  3. culture difference - some cultures have norms about which bhevaiours should be reinforced - kung san social norm is not to behave aggressively so there are no aggressive models for children to observe and vicarous reinforcement is rare - I+D slt is ethnocentric
• deindividuation

  1. crowd behvaiour - le bon - when in crowd we become like a sponge and soak the behvaiour of ppl around us - individuality is lost and we adopt norms of ppl around us - less responsible for our behaviour when part of a group
  2. zimbardo - when in crowd we lose restraint and may behave in impulsive and irrational manner - responsibility becomes shared and we feel less gulit for harmful aggression
• selfawareness

  • private self-awareness - reduced by anonymity bc attention is focused outwardly to event around us - mean we think less about our own belief and less self-critical
  • public self - awareness - reduced by anonymity bc we realise we are anonymous and our behaviour is less likely to be judged by others - we become less accountable for our aggressive behaviour
• research into deindiviudation

  • dodds - as students what they would do if there were no consequences for actions and responses were anonymous
  • findings - 36% of responses involved antisocial behaviour and 26% were actual crimes - only 9% were prosocial behaviours
  • shows support for deindividuation and anonymity with aggressive behaviour
• deindividuation a03

  1. douglass and Mcgarty - strong correlation between anonymity and posting hostile messages - shows support for deindviduation - ID - deterministic not everyone online is aggressive
  2. gergen et al - one condition where they wont be introduced to fellow ppt and other condition they would meet face to face afterwards - found in condition 1 they touched and kissed eachother where condition 2 they didnt - deindividuation doesnt always lead to aggression - culture bias
• deindividuation ao3

  3. johnson and downing - ppt gave fake electric shocks either wearing mask,kkk outfit or nurse or their own clothes - masked ppt gave higher shocks - nurses gave lower shocks and were more caring which is in line with the prosocial role associated with nurse uniform

  suggests prosocial behaviour is just as likely to occur as a result of deindividuation - ID - experimental reductionist - only measuring ehat the intended to measure and dont take into account individual differences
• dispostional explanation - a01

  • importation model - irwin and cressey - inmates bring with them into prison subcultres typical of criminality
  • thomas and mcmanimon - imported behvaiours help negotiate way through prison environment
  • inmates use aggression to establish power and access to resources
  • aggression is the result of individual characteristics of inmates and not prison environment
• research into dispositional

  • delisi et al - one condition - negative dispositional features eg childhoof trauma, substance abuse - condition 2 fewer negative dispositional features
  • inmates with most imported negative dispositional features were more likely to commit physical violence compared to control group with fewer negative features
• dispostional a03 -

  1. gaes and camp - criminals placed either in high security or low security and found no significant difference in aggressive misconduct - shows features of prison environment are not more important than characteristic of inmates
  2. alternative explanation - dilulio - importation model is inadequate because it ignores roles of prison offical and factors - proposed ACM which is about poorly managed prisons experience higher forms of inmate violence - acm fouses on prison management than inmate characteristics
• situational explanation - a01

  • deprivation model - clemmer - harsh prison conditions cause stress for inmates which leads to aggression
  • deprivation of material leads aggressive competition to gain them
  • and unpredicitable prison regimes that regualry uses 'lock-ups' which creates frustration and ultimatley aggression
• research into situational explanation

  • steiner - inmate on inmate violence was more common in prisons where there was higher proportions of

  1. female staff
  2. afro-american inmates
  3. hispanic inmates
  4. protective custody
  5. homosexual inmates

  support for deprivation model bc aggression was increased throgh condition of prison
• situational explanation a03

  1. cunningham - analysed inmate homocides in texas - found motivation were linked to some of the harsh conditions identified by the deprivation model - ID - culture difference norway prisons are so much better and so cannot explain aggression using situtaional
  2. hensley - studies inmates that were allowed to have sex with vistors however no reduction in aggressive behaviours - doesnt support deprivation model - experimental bias - only focused on lack of hetro sexual contact and not other parts of the deprivation model
• media influences

  1. experimental studies - bartholow and anderson - those that played violent games selected higher noise levels to punish opponent
  2. correlationals studies - delisi et al - significant correlation between how often violent games were played/ how much they enjoyed it and aggressive behaviour
• media influences p2

  3. longitudinal studies - robertson et al - time spent watching tv was a reliable predictor of aggressive behaviour measured in terms of convictions and violent crimes and antisocial behaviour - most important factor was amount of tv watched rather than violent content

  4. meta analysis - anderson et al - Exposure to violent computer games was associated with increases in aggressive

  behaviours, thoughts and feelings. Findings were true for both genders, and across both types of cultures.
• desensitisation

  • When we witness violent act we have increase physilogical arousal - frequent exposure decreases that arousal
  • funk et al - desensitisation is psychological - repeated exposure leads to a belief that using aggression is acceptable
  • less empathy is felt as aggression is normalised
• weisz & earls - desensitisation

  • ppt watched graphic rape scenes or a non-violent film
  • then watched a reanctment of rape trial
  • male ppt were more acceptant of rape myths and sexual aggression and showed less sympathy towards the victim in rape trial
• disinhibition

  • computer games show violence and it being rewarded
  • alos minimise or ignore the consequnces of violence
  • reward stregthen the new social norm in the viewer - violence is socially accepted
• cognitive priming

  • a script learned about how to behave to aggressive cues
  • repeatedly watching aggressive media can provide us with a script about how violent situations may play out
• huesmann - cognitive priming

  • sccript are stored and we become primed - ready - to be aggressive
  • direct process bc a script can direct out behaviour without us being aware of
  • script is triggered when we see a cue that we find aggressive
• fischer et al - cognitive priming

  • song lyrics to see if cognitive priming took place
  • male ppt listened to songs about women
  • ppt later recalled more negative qualities about women and behaved aggressivley to a female confederate
• desen,disinhib,cog prim a03

  1. krahe et al - habitual viewers of violent media showed less arousal also higher levels of pleasant arousal and lower anxiety arousal
  2. berkowitz and alioto - media may disinhibit aggressive behaviour when justified by vengeance - adds validity for explanation
  3. practical application for cp - Someone who watches mostly violent media accesses their stored aggressive clips more readily.They are more likely to interpret cues as aggressive therefore resorting to violence.