3:1 Aggression

Question 1

What are three manifestations of aggression?

Answer 1

1. Physical
2. Relational
3. Verbal

Question 2

Experiment: Babies were conditioned to move an arm to see a picture of a smiling face, and then were exposed to an extinction phase in which the arm movement no longer revealed the happy picture. What did this experiment show?

Answer 2

The thwarting of a goal-directed action is an unlearned spur to anger.

Most infants exhibited anger-like facial expressions, whereas little anger was shown in the training phase.

Question 3

At what ages did each of the following happen:

A) Physical restraint elicited NEGATIVE facial expressions.

B) Physical restraint elicited ANGRY facial expressions.

C) Thwarting goal-direction actions spurred ANGER.

Answer 3

A) 1 month

B) 4 months

C) 2-8 months

Question 4

Peak anger and frequency of angry outbursts occurs at two years old, this coincides with a number of factors which may increase levels of anger, such as:

Answer 4

○ Increased independence, but still unable to overcome obstacles effectively;

○ Increased understanding of object permanence, and the idea that a toy didn’t disappear but was taken away;

○ Increased understanding of cause and effect, therefore understanding that losing a toy means that mummy caused that to happen.

Question 5

After peak anger (2 years old), the trend of aggression follows a downward trajectory. Why?

Answer 5

• Strategies are acquired to deal with situations where aggression is not always the best option.
• Infants will learn that aggression may not lead to the outcome they desired.
• This is also shown in animals, where so-called violent-prone animals have inhibitory mechanisms which allow them to suppress anger when it is in their interest to do so.

Question 6

In what age range does oppositional behavior decrease?

What other behavior strategies are learned?

Answer 6

3-6 years old.

Snatching toys and pushing children.

Question 7

At 7 years old, aggression becomes more peer-directed. Give some examples.

Answer 7

○ Name calling
○ Criticizing others
○ Ridiculing

• It can also become more PROACTIVE, where they are still able to use social skills to dominate others.
• This behavior can be related to BULLYING and can be seen in those younger than seven also.

Question 8

In older children (13+), types of behaviors which are displayed correspond more with their:

Answer 8

Intellectual and social functioning.

Aggressive acts include lying and stealing, bullying and gossiping, and threats of violence, and criminal acts.

Question 9

True or false: Children who display above average frequency of aggressive behavior in early childhood are more likely to continue to display above average frequency of aggressive behavior in adolescence.

Answer 9

True.

Deviant children show stability and aggression similar to the stability of IQ.

Question 10

Lewis’ example of 2-8 month old infants’ reactions to no longer being rewarded for an action showed:

Answer 10

Frustration aggression – aggressive behaviors in the form of angry faces.

Question 11

Dollard (1939) and his colleagues suggested that the effects of SUCCESSIVE FRUSTRATIONS may SUMMATE over time so that several minor experiences at this time can combine to induce a stronger, aggressive reaction than any one alone.

What three factors were crucial within this model?

Answer 11

1. The reinforcement value or importance of the frustrated goal response.
2. The degree of frustration of the response, and
3. The number of frustrated response sequences. This was further demonstrated by Buss (1963).

Buss compared aggression levels in students who were exposed to a non-frustrating situation to those who were exposed to different forms of frustration, such as failure to win money, failure to get a grade and failure to win a task. Those who were under frustrating conditions showed more aggressive behaviors.

More frustration = more aggression.

Question 12

Frustrating situations can often occur at high intensities and frequencies, yet an aggressive response is not always elicited.

Berkowitz et al revised that observation with their conclusion that:

Answer 12

Aggressive behavior is primarily inhibited by the threat of punishment.

Question 13

What are the key problems with the aggression frustration hypothesis?

Answer 13

• Frustration may be just one reason for aggression.
• PUNISHMENT may serve as a source of frustration and so predict an increase in aggression.
• Gershoff meta-analysis: Corporal punishment by parents increased the incidence of aggression in children.
• NON-FRUSTRATING SITUATIONS can also lead to aggression.
• STIMULUS cues can also influence our behavior. Eg. exposure to guns.
• DISCOMFORT can also trigger aggressive behavior - Anderson et al (1995).

Question 14

The functionalist approach to aggression states that:

Answer 14

Aggression is innate and purposeful.

There is a strong evolutionary purpose to aggression to identify and cause harm to a source of threat and thus increase the likelihood for survival.

Eg: In animals, intermale fighting can be viewed as purposeful for natural selection.

Question 15

Give an example of functionalist aggression in humans.

Answer 15

A child’s aim is to demand as much as possible from their mother to meet their needs and ensure their own survival.

The mother’s aim, however, is to place limits upon the child and inhibit some of those innate responses to situations.

Question 16

What are three areas of the brain involved with aggression?

Answer 16

Amygdala
Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)
Hippocampus

Question 17

Stimulation of which brain area will provoke rage?

Answer 17

Amygdala.

Lesions and alterations are associated to a reduction in violent behavior.

Case of Charles Whitman - murdered mother and wife then mass shooting. He had a tumor that compressed the amygdaloid nucleus.

Question 18

Which area of the brain is important in the interpretation of social cues and decision making?

Answer 18

Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC).

Inhibitory inputs from the OFC to the amygdala may inhibit aggression.

Question 19

Describe the neural processes of those without aggression.

Answer 19

• Negative correlation between the PFC and amygdala activation.
• Greater OFC activation and less amygdala activation.

Question 20

Describe the neural processes of those with aggression.

Answer 20

• Negative correlation between PFC and amygdala not observed.
• The OFC inhibits the amygdala less.
• Violent offenders had impairments in the PFC.
• Functional differences in the OFC rather than the amygdala.

Question 21

What role does the hippocampus have in aggression?

Answer 21

The hippocampus holds strong neural links to the amygdala and may also hold an inhibitory role.

Question 22

Measurement of a man’s basal testosterone level predicts:

Answer 22

Many dominant or antisocial behaviors.

High levels of testosterone are necessary, but not sufficient, to trigger aggression.

Question 23

Describe three presentations of dominant behavior.

Answer 23

1. Aggressive with the intent to inflict harm.
2. Can be expressed non-aggressively.
3. Can take the form of antisocial behavior.

Question 24

In what two ways can competition affect male testosterone?

Answer 24

1. Rises in the face of challenge.

2. After competition, it rises in winners and declines in losers.

Question 25

Describe serotonin’s inverse relationship with aggression.

Answer 25

Lower serotonin levels correlate with higher aggression.

Low levels are associated with murderers, arsonists, police contact, and personality disorder.

Question 26

Using medication to upregulate 5-HT in aggressive patients showed:

Answer 26

• Levels of 5-HT increased.
• Improvement in aggressive behavior.
• Increased glucose metabolism in the OFC.
• Greater activation of the OFC (inhibits the amygdala).

Question 27

What is the warrior gene?

Answer 27

MAO-A

MonoAmine Oxidase A

Question 28

What does the warrior gene (MAO-A) do?

Answer 28

It is an enzyme which deaminates and deactivates noradrenaline, adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine which is also deaminated by MAO-B.

Those with the gene variant linked to a lower MAO-A activity may be more predisposed to violence compared with individuals with a different version of the gene linked to a higher MAO-A activity.

Question 29

Subjects with MAOA-L predisposed to aggressive behavior and showed:

Answer 29

Decreased levels of activation in the anterior cingulate and increased levels in the amygdala (ie. reduced inhibitory action upon the amygdala)

Question 30

Subjects with MAOA-H predisposed to aggressive behavior and showed:

Answer 30

Higher MAO-A activity.

Lower levels of adrenaline.

Question 31

What biological factors correlates with antisocial behavior and conduct disorder in children?

Answer 31

A low resting heart rate. This is the best-replicated biological correlate, with resting heart rate at 3 years old predicting aggressive behavior at 11.

Complications at birth.

Prefrontal damage at birth.

Fetal exposure to nicotine –> impacts PFC –> ADHD.

Poor nutrition during the 1st and 2nd trimester of pregnancy –> increase in anti-social personality disorder by 2.5 times.

Question 32

What conditions are associated with a higher resting heart rate?

Answer 32

Anxiety
Depression
Schizophrenia

Question 33

A patient of yours has damaged the front of their head and has subsequently become more aggressive.

What could be happening here?

Answer 33

They have damaged their orbitofrontal cortex and can no longer inhibit the amygdala, therefore they act more aggressively.

Question 34

Compare children with MAOA-L and MAOA-H in the presence of physical abuse.

Answer 34

• Those who were abused and had the MAOA-L gene were more likely become sociopathic and violent as adults.
• Remember MAOA-L is associated with lower MAOA activity and higher levels of adrenaline.
• Those who were abused, but lack the MAOA-L gene, were no more likely to be violent than children who weren’t abused.
• Those with low activity gene who grew up in non-violent homes were no more prone to violence and so, in the absence of environmental adversity, individuals with these variants show similar levels of aggressive behavior.

Question 35

Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment offered an empirical example of aggression as a:

Answer 35

Learned response.

Children observe aggression –> children copy this observed behavior.

Social learning theory.

Question 36

Cairns (1979) found that the most aggressive animals are often:

Answer 36

Those isolated from birth.

With no social contexts to model aggressive behavior.

Question 37

In monozygotic twins, differences in aggressive behavior are correlated with:

Answer 37

Differences in maternal negativity and warmth.

These differences can be attributed to differences in the environment, and the social learning of the twins, as monozygotic twins, are genetically almost identical.

Weak family bonds and poor communication have been shown to correlate with children’s development of aggressive or criminal behavior.

Question 38

Males are more like to engage in ________ aggression.

Females are more likely to engage in ________ aggression.

Both sexes are equally likely to engage in _______ aggression and have similar levels of _____ aggression.

Answer 38

Males - physical aggression.

Females - relational aggression.

Both sexes - verbal and raw aggression.

Question 39

What are the usual consequences for males versus females?

Answer 39

Males are more likely to be punished.

Females are more likely to have consequence of their own actions explained to them.

There is also lower threshold for acceptable physical violence in females, thus they learn what is undesirable.

Question 40

What can the coercion theory help explain?

Answer 40

Why negative behaviors are repeated.

By following an escape-avoidance paradigm, both parent and child are rewarded for a negative behavior, thus increasing the likelihood of the behavior occurring again.

Eg: When an adult’s request is ignored, the intensity of the request is heightened and the aggression and frustration of the child is also heightened. When the child ends the interaction by leaving, both parties feel relief and reward at the termination of the unpleasant interaction.

These behaviors become hardwired and more frequent.

Question 41

Billy is playing with some toys in the kitchen while his mother is cooking.

She shouts at him to clear up his things, but he keeps playing.

She continues to shout and Billy gets upset and begins to kick her.

Eventually he storms out of the room and plays alone in his bedroom.

His mother continues to cook in peace.

The next day, Billy is being messy again and will not tidy his things. What is the likely outcome of this?

Answer 41

By leaving the room, Billy and his mother are both rewarded by terminating the unpleasant interaction.

The next time this happens, he’ll remember that this made him feel better, and he’s more likely to do it again.

In this way, he’ll not change the bad behavior, but he will learn to react in a different way.

No desire to change bad behavior.

Question 42

List some factors that may contribute to a child’s aggressive behavior.

Answer 42

POOR SCHOOL PERFORMANCE: If the child is performing worse than expected, they may have a specific learning difficulty.

RESTLESSNESS: if your child is fidgety and cannot sit still, they may have ADHD.

POOR PARENTING: ineffective parenting can be a strong contribution to aggressive behavior.

A lack of warmth and positive encouragement.

Low involvement and poor supervision of the child.

Inconsistent parenting and inconsistent consequences to their action; neglectful parenting.

Persistent sadness.

A difficult temperament, some children may be particularly touchy.

Question 43

To identify the full picture of a young person’s family life and history, an assessment must gain an understanding of:

Answer 43

• The history of their aggression, context, frequency, outcomes, goals and severity of aggression.
• The predominant parenting style.
• Parent-child relationships,
• The presence of abuse and neglect.
• Their language ability and IQ.

Question 44

List the psychiatric diagnoses associated with aggression:

Answer 44

○ ADHD, 
		○ conduct disorder, 
		○ oppositional defiant disorder, 
		○ depression, 
		○ head injury, 
		○ pervasive developmental disorders, 
		○ bipolar disorder, 
		○ post-traumatic stress disorder and 
		○ dyslexia.

Question 45

Which cognitive behavioral approach aims to better understand aggressive behavior with a view of changing it?

Answer 45

Functional analysis - the four-term contingency.

Question 46

What are the four steps of functional analysis?

Answer 46

1. What is the motivation for the behavior?
   
   2. What are the antecedents of the behavior? What may trigger it?
   3. Was it the behavior itself? The frequency? The severity? The type of the behavior?
   4. And finally, what are the consequences of the behavior in the natural environment of the subjects, which may maintain this behavior?

Following a detailed functional analysis of the behavior, a behavioral intervention may be planned involving changes in either antecedents or consequences of the behavior.