Aggression 1

Question 1

Define aggression

Answer 1

Any form of behaviour intended to harm or injure another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment

Question 2

Any form of behaviour intended to harm or injure another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment

This is known as…?

Answer 2

Aggression

Question 3

What are the 3 defining features of aggression?

Answer 3

1) Aggressor must intend to harm or injure another person

2) Aggressor must have awareness of the adverse effects of the behaviour

3) Target of the aggression must want to avoid the harm

Question 4

A man shot a gun towards a child but misses his target

Is this an example of aggression?

Answer 4

Yes

Question 5

A Dentist that causes pain when cleaning cavities with sprayed water

Is this an example of aggression?

Answer 5

No. It is accidental, not aggression.

Question 6

What is violence?

Answer 6

The intention or threat of causing serious physical harm

Question 7

The intention or threat of causing serious physical harm

This is known as…?

Answer 7

Violence

Question 8

What is the difference between violence and aggression?

Answer 8

1) All acts of violence are aggression

2) Not all instances of aggression are violence
(e.g. shouting at someone is aggressive but not violent)

Question 9

What are some examples of human aggression? List 6 examples

Answer 9

• Shouting
• Gossiping
• Terrorism
• Child abuse
• Domestic Violence
• Football hooliganism

Question 10

What are the 2 types of aggression?

Answer 10

1) Hostile aggression
2) Instrumental aggression

Question 11

Aggressive behaviour is motivated by the desire to express anger and hostile feelings

What type of aggression is this?

Answer 11

Hostile aggression

Question 12

Aggressive behaviour is performed to reach a particular goal, as a means to an end.

What type of aggression is this?

Answer 12

Instrumental aggression

Question 13

The overwhelming, uncontrollable, hot aggression you feel towards someone or something when they anger you IN THE MOMENT

Motivation = to release pent-up anger and harm the target

What type of aggression is this?

Answer 13

Hostile aggression

Question 14

A cold and pre-planned aggressive behaviour

Motivation = to reach a goal (e.g. a child runs into the road and nearly gets killed by a car. Mother smacks the child hard. The motivation here is not to harm the child, but to punish them and teach them to be safe.

What type of aggression is this?

Answer 14

Instrumental aggression

Question 15

Describe 3 features of Instrumental aggression

Answer 15

• Cold
• Premediated (pre-planned)
• Motive: to reach a goal, harm as a side effect

Question 16

Describe 3 features of Hostile aggression

Answer 16

• Hot
• Non-pre-mediated (unplanned, aggression performed in the moment)
• Motive: harm the target and release pent up anger

Question 17

How can we measure aggression? List 2 methods

Answer 17

1) Experiments that use ‘trivial’, non-serious acts of harm

2) Archival data

Question 18

Describe an example of experiments that use trivial, non-serious acts of harm to observe aggression after playing violent and no violent video games

Answer 18

1) You want to investigate whether violent video games lead to more aggressive behaviour

2) Ask 2 sets of participants to play two different games for 30 minutes

P1 = Violent game
P2 = Non-violent game

3) Give the winning participant a chance to ‘harm’ another participant using ‘aversive’ stimuli

Question 19

Give examples of aversive stimuli to measure aggression in an ethical way

Answer 19

1) “Electric shocks” (mild vs moderate vs severe) but it doesn’t actually shock the Ps

2) Quiet obnoxious noise vs loud obnoxious noise (Ps can crank up the volume until “permanent hearing damage” but it doesn’t actually cause damage)

3) Unpleasantly hot spicy sauce

4) Ice bucket

Question 20

We can measure aggression using aversive stimuli. What is taken as a measure of aggression when Ps are presented with aversive stimuli?

Answer 20

The willingness to inflict nastier experiences than necessary to another participant is taken as a measure of aggression

Question 21

We can measure aggression using aversive stimuli. What is the problem with this?

Answer 21

Lack ecological validity

e.g. It may seem that people who play violent games are significantly more likely to opt for harsher punishments for the loser

But this only suggests that people behave in an aggressive way IMMEDIATELY after playing a violent game

And that they had to perform a strange task that gives them direct power over the loser

Question 22

We can measure aggression using aversive stimuli. What validity does this show?

Answer 22

Construct validity (measuring all constructs/what it’s supposed to be measuring)

People who are most aggressive outside the lab score most highly on lab measures

Question 23

How do we measure aggression using archival records?

Answer 23

Looking at crime statistics and calculating the incidence of particular types of crime

Question 24

By looking at crime statistics, what are the incidences of particular forms of aggression?

Answer 24

• Intimate partner violence
• Child sexual abuse
• Murder
• Grievous bodily harm
• Hate crimes

Question 25

What are the problems with using archival records to measure aggression?

Answer 25

• Not always in the right format for us
• We can’t always access everything we want because some can be confidential
• It’s not always captured in the way that scientists want it to be captured (set up by external, non-research agencies)

Question 26

Domestic violence spikes during Christmas. Why does this occur?

Answer 26

It can be hypothesised that during xmas time, there is an increase in stress due to:

• Tough financial situations
• Excess alcohol consumption
• Being stuck with family members that you may not like (tension and dispute)

Question 27

What are the 2 types of approaches attempting to explain aggression?

Answer 27

1) Biological approaches
2) Psychological approaches

Question 28

What are the 2 theories that provide biological explanations for aggression?

Answer 28

1) Behavioural genetics
2) Hormonal explanations

Question 29

What are the 2 theories that provide psychological explanations for aggression?

Answer 29

1) Frustration-aggression hypothesis
2) Excitation transfer model

Question 30

What does Behavioural Genetics suggest about aggression?

Answer 30

Some animals have been actively bred for aggression and that genes play a part in underpinning violent behaviour

Question 31

Who bred and studied the behaviour of aggressive mice?

Answer 31

Lagerspetz

Question 32

What did Lagerspetz do in this study testing for behavioural genetics in aggression?

Answer 32

1) Took normal mice and bred the most aggressive ones together and the least aggressive ones together

2) Twenty-six generations later, there was one set of ‘fierce’ mice and one set of ‘placid’ mice

3) Suggests aggression can be passed on through genetics

Question 33

A child who is non-aggressive at the age of 8 is significantly (more/less) likely to be aggressive at age 48 than a child who is aggressive at age 8

Answer 33

Less likely

Question 34

How is behavioural genetics observed? List 2 types of studies

Answer 34

1) Adoption Studies: Compare how aggressive a person who has been adopted is with the aggression levels of their adopted parents and their biological parents

2) Twin Studies: Compare the behaviour of identical and fraternal twins

Question 35

What hormone is linked with violence?

Answer 35

Testosterone

Question 36

Why are men more likely to be violent and aggressive?

Answer 36

Because they have higher levels of testosterone than women

Question 37

Archer, Buring and Wu (1998) claimed that highly aggressive men have (higher/lower) levels of testosterone than non-aggressive men.

Answer 37

Higher

Question 38

Who proposed the study on hormonal influences and the weapons effect?

Answer 38

Klinesmith, Kasser and McAndrew

Question 39

What did Klinesmith, Kasser and McAndrew do in their study testing for hormonal influences and the weapons effect?

Answer 39

1) Measured male participants’ testosterone levels (by taking a saliva swab)

2) Randomly assigned participants:
Condition 1= Participants were asked to ‘handle’ a gun for 15 minutes
Condition 2 = Participants were asked to handle a child’s toy for 15 minutes

3) Men were told to make a drink for another participant and to add as much hot sauce as they wanted. Their testosterone levels were measured again.

Question 40

What were the findings in Klinesmith, Kasser and McAndrew’s study testing for hormonal influences and the weapons effect?

Answer 40

1) Men who handled the gun added significantly more hot sauce to the water (13.61g) than those who held the children’s toy (4.23g)

2) Men who handled the gun had significantly higher levels of testosterone at the end of the experiment than at the start of the exp (62.05 pg/ml more testosterone)

Question 41

What did the findings in Klinesmith, Kasser and McAndrew’s study investigating hormonal influences and the weapons effect suggest?

Answer 41

Just being exposed to an aggressive cue (e.g., a gun) can increase testosterone levels and make people more aggressive

Question 42

What term is used to describe this?

People behave in a more aggressive way when cued by a violent cue

Answer 42

Weapon effect

Question 43

Define the weapon effect

Answer 43

When people behave in a more aggressive way when cued by a violent cue

Question 44

There are 3 main parts of the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis. What are they?

Answer 44

1) All frustration leads to aggression. All aggression comes from frustration.

2) Frustration is a blockage of goal-directed activity (when you can’t seem to achieve a certain goal, you get frustrated)

3) Aggression is driven by a goal to overcome/neutralise the feeling of frustration (catharsis)

Question 45

Aggression is driven by a goal to overcome/neutralise the feeling of frustration

This is known as…?

Answer 45

Catharsis

Question 46

Define catharsis

Answer 46

When aggression is driven by a goal to overcome/neutralise the feeling of frustration

Question 47

Does aggression really lead to catharsis?

Answer 47

There’s little evidence

Research shows that doing nothing (sitting quietly) actually is more effective in reducing anger than ‘venting’ (Bushman, 2002)

Question 48

Participants were asked to write an essay and the essay is then graded by another student in a different room (actually non-existent)

A short time later, the experimenter brings back the essay with comments made by the other participant

All participants received bad evaluations consisting of negative ratings on their essays

They also received a handwritten note “This is one of the worst essay I have ever read”

Half the participants were allowed to “vent” anger by hitting pillows or a punching bag or shouting

What were the findings of this study?

Answer 48

• The group who were allowed to vent their anger experienced increased anger levels and increased subsequent aggressive behaviour
• The group who sat quietly did not experience an increase in anger levels or any increased subsequent aggressive behaviour

Question 49

What was the Excitation-Transfer Theory influenced by?

Answer 49

Schachter and Singer’s two-factor theory of emotion

Question 50

According to Schachter and Singer’s two-factor theory of emotion, what is emotion based on?

Answer 50

1) Physiological arousal
2) Cognitive label

Question 51

How might a person feel before an event occurs, according to Schachter’s theory of emotion?

Answer 51

Our emotional state depends upon attributing physiological arousal to our cognitions

Question 52

Can increased physiological arousal lead to an increase in aggression if someone encounters an anger-eliciting stimulus?

Answer 52

Yes but only if we had some form of anger-related arousal before we are met with an event that could trigger/elicit anger

e.g.
There’s a traffic jam -> You experience anger-related arousal

The arousal persists -> You experience delay at the airport gate -> You experience arousal and irritation

Question 53

Physiological arousal from a neutral activity is still present when …?

Answer 53

A person encounters an anger-eliciting situation and the earlier pent-up arousal (excitation) is transferred onto the anger-related arousal and falsely is labelled as anger

This leads to an increased likelihood that the individual will behave aggressively

Question 54

Neutral activity = going to the gym
Anger eliciting situation = flatmate eating your food

Because of your leftover arousal from the gym, you end up behaving in an aggressive way because your flatmate ate your food (anger-eliciting situation)

What theory supports this?

Answer 54

Excitation Transfer Theory

Question 55

Why are sportsmen often aggressive?

Answer 55

If a sportsman is tackled unfairly when near the goal/ near scoring, the anger-related arousal based on the foul might be magnified by the physiological arousal left over from playing the sport/exercising

A player might lash out at the opponent rather than simply complain to the referee

Question 56

Describe Zilman and Bryant’s excitation transfer study on aggression

Answer 56

1) Participants had to perform either a physically non-arousing task (threading disks on a wire) or an arousing task (pedalling a bicycle for 1min)

2) 2 min later, Ps were provoked with an obnoxious and unpleasant/aversive noise

3) 6 min later, Ps had the opportunity to administer obnoxious and aversive noise blasts to the person who had provoked them

Question 57

Describe the results of Zilman and Bryant’s excitation transfer study on aggression

Answer 57

Participants in the high arousal group (pedalling a bicycle for 1min) administered a louder noise blast than those in the non-arousal condition (threading disks on a wire)

Good evidence for excitation transfer theory