Aggression Flashcards

Question

What is testosterone

Answer 1

- main hormone which decides whether an embryo develops into a male or female - this male sex hormone is an androgen responsible for development of masculine features - promotes muscle strength and is responsible for the sex drive

Answer 2

- influence present from young adulthood onwards due to actions in brain areas involved in controlling aggression - Sapolsky (1998) summarised research evidence in this area by describing how removing the source of testosterone in different species typically resulted in much lower levels of aggression

Answer 3

- Archer (2009) => men are more aggressive than women - Dabbs (1990) => men have higher concentration of testosterone than women - Daly and Wilson (1998) => testosterone concentration is highest between 21-35 and there is an increase in male-on-male aggression - Carre and Olmsted (2015) => claim testosterone concentrations are not static but fluctuate rapidly in context of changes to social environment. Changes in testosterone levels appear to influence aggressive behaviour by increasing amygdala reactivity during the processing of social threat

Answer 4

- female ovarian hormone which can help increase mood - acts as a natural antidepressant to lower anxiety - plays important role in female aggression - levels vary during ovulation cycle and are lowest during and just after menstruation

Answer 5

- Ziomkiewicz et al. (2012) - found negative correlation between progesterone levels and self reported aggression - suggests low levels of progesterone is linked to increased aggression in women

Answer 6

- Wagner (1979) - Giammanco et al. (2005)

Answer 7

- research support by finding if testosterone was implicated in aggression, especially in non-human animals - decided to test this theory by castrating mice - found aggression levels fell - provided support that testosterone is implicated in aggression

Answer 8

- reviewed studies - confirmed role of testosterone in aggression - e.g. in male rhesus macaque monkeys, there is an increase in both testosterone levels and aggressive behaviour during the mating season

Answer 9

- lack of generalisation in animal studies to humans in research - furthermore, Wagner’s (1979) research only provides correlational support for cause of aggression as research only demonstrates a relationship between lowered testosterone and lowered aggression - does not confirm if testosterone is a cause of aggression - biologically reductionist and deterministic - however reductionism can be seen as a positive as well

Answer 10

- consists of DNA strands - DNA provides instructions for physical features of an organism - may impact physiological features - genes are transferred from parents to offspring

Answer 11

- genetics - twin studies - adoption studies - candidate genes

Answer 12

- basic difference in men and women lie in genotype, most have 23 pairs of chromosomes - XY is male and XX is female - psychologists investigating aggression believed genetic cause of aggression could lie in Y chromosome - particularly interested in investigating individuals with XYY genotype => super males - shown in Court-Brown’s (1965) study who discovered 314 patients had XYY chromosome presentation - put forward view that these patients remain hospitalised due to increased likelihood of aggressive behaviour

Answer 13

- focus on examining individuals with normal XY genotype - psychologists have used selective breeding in animals - found that aggression is a trait that can be transmitted from parents to offspring - supports genetic explanation

Answer 14

- research with human subjects has focused on twin studies that have looked at the incidence of aggression displayed by MZ and DZ twins - MZ share 100% of genes - DZ share 50% of genes - differences in concordance rates of aggression between these sets of twins have indicated that aggression has a genetic element

Answer 15

- Coccaro et al. (1997) - studies pairs of male adult twins who were MZ or DZ - found concordance rate for aggression defined as a direct physical assault for MZ was 50% and DZ was 19% - concordance rate for aggression defined as verbal aggression was 28% for MZ and 7% for DZ - figures high enough suggesting there is a genetic component, although concordance higher for physical

Answer 16

- similarities in aggression between adopted child and biological parent suggest genetic influences are operating - similarities in aggression between adopted child and adoptive parents suggest environmental influences are operating

Answer 17

- Rhee and Waldman (2002) - carried out meta analysis of adoption studies of direct aggression and antisocial behaviour - found genetic influences accounted for 41% - research in line with findings of twin studies suggesting role of genetics to be important in aggressive behaviour

Answer 18

- advances in genetic testing shows specific genes for aggression => MAOA gene - responsible for production of the protein monoamine axidase - allows metabolising of noradrenaline, serotonin and dopamine - gene dysfunction results in these neurotransmitters not being broken down

Answer 19

- if adrenaline isn’t metabolised then too much adrenaline in body - causes hypersensitivity in fight or flight and individuals may overreact to external stimuli and perceive threat where one does not exist - increased levels of dopamine also link to aggressive behaviour - serotonin has calming influence and low levels implicated reduction in control

Answer 20

- low activity of variant of MAOA gene (MAOA - L) then people likely to be aggressive - MAOA - L (warrior gene) - shown by Lea and Chambers (2007) who found this gene was possessed by 56% of New Zealand Māori men compared with 34% of Caucasians - historically, Māori people have reputation for being ferocious warriors

Answer 21

- Coccaro et al. (1997) - Godar et al. (2014) - Brunner (1993) - Stuart et al. (2014)

Answer 22

- supports role of genetics and aggression as concordance rate of physical aggression in form of criminal behaviour for MZ twins was higher than DZ - suggests role of nature plays a strong role in aggression

Answer 23

- refined selective breeding by specifically removing certain genes in mice - has been done with the MAOA gene - MAOA selectively bred mice showed increased aggression and also has abnormal levels of serotonin, demonstrating relationship between genes and neurotransmitters - when mice were given fluoxetine to raise serotonin levels, behaviour returned - supports role of genetics, especially MAOA

Answer 24

- link between MAOA -L gene supported - studied 28 men from large Dutch family who were repeatedly involved in impulsively aggression violent criminal behaviour, such as rape, attempted murder and physical assault - these men possessed MAOA-L gene

Answer 25

- studied 97 men who had been involved in severe domestic abuse to their partners - found most violent men had the faulty MAOA gene - men engaged in the highest level of physical and psychological aggression and inflicted the worst injuries on their partners

Answer 26

- Theilgaard (1984) - twin studies

Answer 27

- undertook research into men with the XYY genotype and found that XYY can cause an increase in height in individuals but not aggression - shows we cannot make generalisations about aggression as this research is howling no link between XYY and aggression

Answer 28

- may lack validity - twins share same environment - however DZ twins may not share same environment to same extent as MZ - e.g. MZ treated by parents and significant others in same way but DZ may not, especially if they are not the same sex - means due to MZ twins not only having same genes but also identical environmental experiences may contribute to their aggression instead

Answer 29

- seeks to understand innate behaviour of animals by studying them in their natural environment - focus on an ethological explanation is to try and account for behaviour in terms of its adaptive value to the specific species - ethologists believe that by looking at animal behaviour, this helps understand human behaviour - e.g. Lorenz (1966) geese

Answer 30

- aggression is seen as providing an adaptive function by ethologists - aggression is seen in all animal species and is believed to be an innate behaviour - if behaviour is innate, evolutionary psychologists propose behaviour must be beneficial for organism - aggression as a behaviour can help survival, as aggression can protect resources - can establish dominance hierarchies

Answer 31

- aggression in animals is often ritualistic - argued is more adaptive than direct aggression, as symbolic aggression would help ensure organism was not harmed - if organism sustained an injury as part of aggression, this could impair ability to reproduce - therefore, ritualistic aggression such as teeth baring would have effect of deterring an opponent without physical harm being caused

Answer 32

- aggression can be result of an evolved automatic biological response in the brain - believed animals have built in neural structure which when exposed to specific stimuli, will cause release of an automatic behaviour response

Answer 33

- inbuilt biological structure or process is called the innate releasing mechanism (IRM) - environmental stimulus triggers IRM - IRM releases specific sequence of behaviours - consequential aggression behavioural sequence is called the fixed action pattern (FAP)

Answer 34

- stereotyped, or relatively unchanging sequences of behaviours - universal, because same behaviour is found in every individual of its species - unaffected by learning, same for every individual regardless of experience - ballistic, once the behaviour is triggered, it follows an inevitable course an cannot be altered before it is completed - single purpose, behaviour only occurs in a specific situation and not in any other - response to identifiable specific sign stimulus

Answer 35

- Tinbergen (1951) undertook a experiment with male sticklebacks - species of fish is territorial and aggressive - in mating season, they develop red spot on underside - Tinbergen observed male sticklebacks will attack another stickleback theorising red spot initiated aggressive behaviour - to test, he presented male sticklebacks with a wooden model; if wooden model had red spot, stickleback would attack - without red spot, stickleback would not react and there was no aggression displayed

Answer 36

- Nisbett (1996) - Goodall (2010) - modal action patterns

Answer 37

- one weakness of explanation is it assumes behaviour is innate so is uniform across all cultures - found in lab experiment when South American white males were insulted they were more likely to respond aggressively than white North American males under same conditions - demonstrates cultural differences would be problematic for ethological explanation to account for as there was a high variation in aggressive responses

Answer 38

- animal kingdom aggression is not always ritualistic - studied chimpanzee behaviour for over 50 years - observed chimpanzees that wages a brutal war against neighbouring chimpanzees and slaughtered whole group - referred to this type of gang behaviour as systematic slaughtering by a stronger group - this aggression is hard to explain from an ethological standpoint as the risk of injury to the attacking group is high and thus does not appear to be adaptive behaviour

Answer 39

- not all fixed actions patterns are fixed - some evidence that learning and environmental factors can create variation within a species - may be more appropriate to discuss modal action patterns rather than FAPs - MAPs are behaviours that are instinctual but differ from one individual within the species compared to others - difference may be due down to result of selective breeding of characteristics

Answer 40

- focus on changes in species over millions of years based on idea of natural selection - behaviour that enhances survival and ultimately successful reproduction is perpetuated - therefore makes sense aggression is a behaviour aiding survival and therefore ben passed on through generations

Answer 41

- sexual jealousy - bullying - warfare

Answer 42

- major motivation explaining aggression in males from evolutionary perspective - occurs due to man can never be sure whether they are father of their child => paternity uncertainty is result of cuckoldry - therefore any investment in offspring who does not share male’s genes is waste of resources - in fact, contributes to survival of male rivals genes and leaves father with fewer resources to invest in his own offspring

Answer 43

- men who could avoid cuckoldry were more reproductively successful - psychological mechanisms have evolved to increase anti cuckoldry behaviour in males - thus sexual jealousy is experienced more strongly in males than females - leads to aggressive strategies men employ to keep partners and prevent them from straying - male retention strategies

Answer 44

- direct guarding => male is vigilant over partners behaviour - negative inducements => issuing threats of dire consequences for infidelity - physical violence => Wilson et al. (1995) asked women to report mate retention strategies to partners. Measured in terms of extent they agree with statements. Women who did agree with statements were twice as likely to have experienced physical violence from partners => 73% had required medical attention and 53% feared for their lives

Answer 45

- bullying occurs due to power imbalance => most powerful individual uses aggression deliberately and repeatedly against weaker person - researchers traditionally viewed bullying as maladaptive behaviour - however evolutionary ancestors may have used bullying as an adaptive strategy to increase chances of survival by promoting their own health and creating opportunities for reproduction

Answer 46

- Volk et al. (2012) argued characteristics associated with bullying behaviours are attractive to females => dominance, acquisition of resources, and strength - bullying has benefit of warding off potential rivals - bullying would be naturally selected because males would have greater reproductive success - may be beneficial for bully’s health as it was found teenage boys who gain reputation for being tough are less likely to experience aggression towards them as others avoid them - benefits health as they do not experience stress of bullying (Sapolsky, 2004)

Answer 47

- bullying often takes place within relationship - method used to control partner and prevent infidelity which means they continue to provide resources for future offspring - such behaviours would be naturally selected due to enhanced reproductive success (Campbell, 1999)

Answer 48

- Smith (2007) claims human warfare originated not only to gain valuable resources but also to attract mates and forge intragroup bonds - displays of aggressiveness and bravery are attractive for females => shown in past where male warriors in traditional societies had more sexual partners and children => direct reproductive benefit - aggression in combat also increases status leading peers to respect them

Answer 49

- gender differences - real life application

Answer 50

- evolutionary explanations explains gender differences in use of aggression - gender differences can be explained through evolutionary perspective in terms of adaptive strategies - e.g. Campbell (1999) argues not adaptive for female with children to be physically aggressive as she could put her own life and offspring’s life at risk - more adaptive strategy would be verbal aggression whereas a man would use physical aggression

Answer 51

- can be used to reduce bullying - one strategy to reduce bullying is address and question why a bully needs to bully and ask what they feel they are lacking in - another strategy is based on idea bullying is adaptive - idea can lead to anti bullying strategies such as showing bully costs of bullying

Answer 52

- Thomas (1958) - deterministic

Answer 53

- does not explain cultural differences in human aggression - Thomas studies Kung San people of Western Botswana and called them harmless as they had negative attitudes towards aggression - children from young age discouraged from showing aggression - these individuals who did show aggression lost status and respect in community - shows cultural and societal norms are more powerful in shaping aggression

Answer 54

- biologically deterministic - suggests we are aggressive due to ancestors and increased survival - suggests aggression is out of our control - says it is acceptable for males to use violence against female partner to retain them => male has no free will over his aggression - does not sit well in court of law where law states we are legally responsible for all our actions and cannot be physically violent against partner - ignores role of free will and is not relevant in real world

Answer 55

- focus on idea that aggresion is the result of an interaction between an individual’s characteristics and features of the situation in which the behaviour occurs

Answer 56

- frustration aggression hypothesis (F-A) - social learning theory - deindividuation

Answer 57

- proposed by Dollard et al. (1939) - based on psychodynamic explanation of catharsis - Freud believed drive for aggression was innate - only way to reduce aggression is to engage in activity which released it

Answer 58

- Dollard et al. (1939) proposed if we experience frustration, this leads to aggression - this aggression is a cathartic release of built up frustration - Dollard explains if individual is prevented from achieving goal by some external factor, this leads to frustration which leads to aggression - F-A recognises aggression is not always expressed directly for three reasons - defence mechanisms - weapon effect

Answer 59

- cause of frustration may be abstract - cause of frustration may be too powerful and we risk punishment by being aggression against it - cause of frustration may be unavailable at the time

Answer 60

- psychodynamic theory proposes we have ego defence mechanisms to protect ourselves when using aggression - sublimation => using aggression in acceptable activities such as sports - displacement => directing our aggression outwards onto something or someone else

Answer 61

- Berkowitz (1969) proposed revised F-A - argued frustration does not always lead to aggression - states aggression would only occur in presence of certain cues - e.g. cues such as presence of weapons will be more likely to trigger aggression

Answer 62

- Green (1968) - Berkowitz (1967)

Answer 63

- conducted lab experiment => asked male undergrad students to undertake jigsaw puzzle - while they were completing puzzle, he organised 3 different conditions that were designed to raise frustration levels - one condition imposed unattainable time limit, another jigsaw was impossible, another confederate issued derogatory remarks as they failed - in second part, participants had opportunity to give shocks to confederate if he answered incorrectly on another task - group who received insults from confederate gave highest levels of shocks - all three groups gave more shocks than control group

Answer 64

- carried out lab experiment where participants given opportunity to shock confederate who angered them - set up three different cues => one with aggression cue (gun), one with non aggressive cue (badminton racket), and one with no cue - found those who were in presence of aggressive cue gave higher levels of shocks than others - practical applications shed new light on gun control debate in America => if presence of guns leads to aggression, this weapon effect could have reaching implications for gun laws

Answer 65

- ecological validity - complexity

Answer 66

- most research support for F-A has come from lab experiments - questions ecological validity - whether participants in lab experiments would carry out actual aggression when faced with external stimulus that incited aggression is not certain

Answer 67

- link between frustration and aggression is more complex than theorised - early research into F-A shows frustration does not always lead to aggression - nothing automatic about the link between the two - someone who feels frustrated may behave in a range of ways rather than be aggressive - similarity someone who behaves aggressively does not always need to be aggressive, e.g. someone who has MAOA-L gene - does not take into account other factors => deterministic

Answer 68

- Bandura proposes aggression can be learnt by indirect mechanism of observational learning - give main cognitive factors that mediate control of aggressive behaviour => meditational processes

Answer 69

- attention - retention - motor reproduction - motivation - self-efficacy

Answer 70

- a person/child must attend to the aggressor - so a child must pay attention to an act of aggression carried out by a role model - e.g. when a child engages in a computer game or watches a violent film, they are attending to the aggression

Answer 71

- to model the behaviour, it needs to be placed into LTM - enables behaviour to be retrieved - child needs to remember the aggression they have witnessed

Answer 72

- the child needs to be able to reproduce the aggression => physical capacity - child will not be aggressive if they are unable to do so

Answer 73

- individual must be expecting to receive positive reinforcement for the modelled behaviour - child must expect they will get some kind of reward from carrying out aggression - tends to happen through vicarious reinforcement => observer would see a model being rewarded or punished for their aggressive behaviour

Answer 74

- individuals must believe their behaviour will attain a goal - must have confidence in their own ability to carry out the action and that they will be rewarded for that action - self efficacy relates to factor of self belief in one’s actions

Answer 75

- aggressive reinforcement in form of imitation of family members was most prominent source of behaviour modelling - parents are primary role model for children => through process of observation and identification their behaviour is modelled - role models in media can also provide source of vicarious reinforcement leading to aggressive behaviour being replicated - these role models can provide child with a script to guide their behaviour

Answer 76

- equal amount of boys and girls 3-5 years old exposed to one of three conditions - male and female adult role model behaving aggressively to BOBO doll, role models not behaving aggressively to BOBO doll, and control group where there were no role models - all children then take to room one by one where they were exposed to toys but told they cannot play with them (induce mild frustration) - then taken to room and allowed to play with toys - found children seeing role model behaving aggressively to BOBO doll also copied behaviour

Answer 77

- research support - practical applications

Answer 78

- environmental deterministic - complexity - FA hypothesis

Answer 79

- Bandura undertook several studies supporting SLT - Bandura (1963) conducted study with three experimental conditions - filmed aggressive model, cartoon aggressive model, and live aggressive role model, control with no model - matched pairs, 96 children 3-5 years matched for baseline aggression levels - children played with BOBO doll and aggressive actions were counted - concluded viewing of aggression was not cathartic but led to modelling of aggressive behaviour

Answer 80

- children readily imitate models when they observe them being rewarded for behaviour, especially if they identify with them - applies to modelling aggressive behaviour - one way to reduce this is to reward non aggressive role models => same learning processes can thus reduce aggressive behaviour

Answer 81

- underestimates influence of biological factors that could be more powerful in explaining aggression - e.g. genes and neural hormonal factors - research has shown aggression is very instinctive behaviour => based more on person’s biology than their environment - means hormonal influences such as testosterone could be more powerful in inducing aggression than SLT

Answer 82

- Christianson (2006) studies Kung San people of Kalahri Desert - found aggressive behaviour was rare in this society - Kung San parents do not use physical punishment => no value placed on aggression - no cultural norms for aggression and children do not display aggressive behaviour - shows case for SLT being complex - questions whether SLT in relation to aggression

Answer 83

- SLT can explain some forms of aggression, - however, reactive aggression is harder to explain with SLT - when aggression is carried out as a reaction to an external stimulus, this may be better explained by FA hypothesis rather than result of observational learning

Answer 84

- a psychological state in which an individual loses their personal identity and takes on identity of a social group - result may be decreased concern about evaluation of others

Answer 85

- crowd behaviour - deindividuation and aggression - reduced self awareness - research on deindividuation

Answer 86

- Gustave Le Bon (1985) - Festinger (1952)

Answer 87

- usually, because we are easily identified by others, behaviour is constrained by social norms - social norms tend to discourage aggression - when we are in a crowd, we lose restraint and have freedom to behave in ways we wouldn’t otherwise - lose senses of individual self identity and responsibly for behaviour - disregard norms and even laws - responsibility becomes shared throughout crowd, so we experience less personal guilt about directing harmful aggression at others

Answer 88

- coined the term deindividuation - suggested there is a reduction of inner restraints where individuals are submerged in a group - deindividuation has been used to explain violence in prisons, and also sporting events where large numbers of people are in close proximity to each other

Answer 89

- Zimbardo (1969) - Dixon and Mahendran (2012)

Answer 90

- distinguished between individuated and deindividuated behaviour - in an individuated state, behaviour is rational and normative => confirming to social norms - in a deindividuated state, behaviour is emotional, impulsive, irrational, disinhibited and antinormative - when in deindividuated state, we lose self awareness, stop monitoring and regulating our behaviour and ignore social norms - conditions of state promoting aggression include darkness, drugs, alcohol and uniform

Answer 91

- anonymity shapes crowd behaviour - we have less fear of retribution because we are a small and unidentifiable part of a faceless crowd - the bigger the crowd, the more anonymous we are - anonymity almost prevents us from being judged negatively

Answer 92

- Prentince-Dunn and Rogers (1982)

Answer 93

- experience of deindividuation as part of faceless crowd creating a greater likelihood of aggression is not due to anonymity directly, but due to consequences of anonymity - can be explained in two types of self awarenesses

Answer 94

- private self awareness - public self awareness

Answer 95

- concerns how we pay attention to our own feelings and behaviour - reduced when we are part of a crowd - attention becomes focused outwardly to events around us, so we pay less attention to our own beliefs and feelings - we are less self critical and less thoughtful, promoting a deindividuated state

Answer 96

- refers to how much we care about what other people think of our behaviour - reduced in crows - we realise we are just one individual amongst many, we are anonymous and our behaviour is less likely to be judged by others - we no longer care how others see us, so we become less accountable for our aggressive actions

Answer 97

- Dodd (1985)

Answer 98

- developed technique to demonstrate deindividuation - asked 229 undergraduate psychology students “if you could do anything humanly possible with complete assurance that you would not be detected or held responsible, what would you do?” - three independent raters rated students’ responses into antisocial or not - results found 36% of responses were antisocial and 26% were criminal - demonstrates connection between deindividuation as a result of anonymity, and subsequent aggression

Answer 99

- Diener et al. (1976) - Malmouth and Check (1981) - Johnson and Downing (1979)

Answer 100

- social learning theory - normative

Answer 101

- conducted natural experiment examine effects of deindividuation on aggression - on Halloween, concealed raters observed 1300 trick or treaters under different conditions - conditions => anonymity, non anonymity, alone, in a group - children given opportunity to steal sweets and money - 57% of those in group and anonymous stole, compared to 21% in group but non anonymous - demonstrates when in a group and anonymous, children more likely to behaviour in socially deviant way therefore supporting deindividuation

Answer 102

- conducted piece of research in North America - asked the question “would you rape if you could not be caught” - 35% of university students said yes, supporting theory that deindividuation can increase aggressive behaviour

Answer 103

- conducted lab experiment with 3 conditions - female participants dressed in Ku Klux Klan outfits masking faces, dressed as nurses, normal clothes - participants then had to give fake electric shocks to confederate - participants in KKK outfits gave much higher levels of shocks to confederate than other groups - demonstrates deindividuation when disguised on aggression

Answer 104

- very difficult to separate effects of deindividuation from other explanations such as SLT - sporting events, such as football have a long history of violence and aggression on the pitch and from fans - but sports such as rugby and cricket also attract huge crowds yet have not experienced problems with anti-social behaviour that football has - may suggests rather than deindividuation being responsible for aggression and crowd behaviour, it may be cultural factors internalised by SLT

Answer 105

- deindividuated behaviour is normative rather than antinormative - deindividuation theory argues we behave in contrary to social norms (disinhibited aggression) when we are less aware of our private identify - however in Social Identity Model of deindividuation, Spears and Lea (1992) argue deindividuation leads to conforming to group norms - norms can be both pro social (helping) or anti social (aggression) - happens because anonymity shifts an individual’s attention from their private identity to that of a group member - suggests people in deindividuation remain sensitive to norms rather than ignoring them

Answer 106

- prisons - form of institutional aggression

Answer 107

- places where many people are often confined in cramped surroundings

Answer 108

- social environment in the prison causes aggression

Answer 109

- individual’s traits and characteristics that together create and individual’s identity (disposition) are the main factors in any aggression displayed by that individual

Answer 110

- Irwin and Cressey (1962) => importation model - DeLisi et al. (2011) => background - Drury and DeLisi (2011) => gangs

Answer 111

- individuals import characteristics into prison - if individual comes from subculture where violence is the norm and is used to settle disputes, it will be used in prison - model explains higher levels of aggression are a result of certain characteristics => would be violent in any setting - often its younger inmates that behave violently => find it harder to adjust to prison life so engage in more conflicts as they see aggression as an appropriate way - model argues it is not the situational pressures of prison but disposition of individuals

Answer 112

- studied group of juvenile offenders with negative backgrounds (trauma, anger, substance abuse) - individuals were importing characteristics - compared with control group of inmates with no negative features - findings showed negative inmates were more likely to engage in suicidal activity, sexual misconduct and acts of aggression

Answer 113

- found invidious who had been members of gangs prior to imprisonment were more likely to commit various types of misconducts in prison => murder, hostage taking, assault with deadly weapon

Answer 114

- Adams (1981) - Camp and Gaes (2005)

Answer 115

- found in American prisons, black inmates were more likely to be associated with violent acts compared to white inmates - argument for this is that black prisoners tend to come for poorer backgrounds with higher crime rates - imported their cultural norms into the prison - supports importation model

Answer 116

- studied 561 male inmates with similar criminal histories and predispositions to aggression - half were randomly placed in low security prisons and half in high security - findings show within 2 years, there was no significant difference between the prisons in terms of number of prisoners involved in aggression => 33% for low security and 36% for high security - researchers thus concluded features of prison environment are less important predictors of aggressive behaviour than characteristics

Answer 117

- Dilulio (1991) - gender bias

Answer 118

- importation model ignores other key factors that could be relevant in explaining aggression in prisons - Dilulio claims important model ignores factors such as how the prison is run - instead he proposed an administrative control model (ACM) - states poorly managed prisons are more likely to have inmate violence

Answer 119

- most research has been undertaken on male prisoners - androcentric to presume same reasons for male violence can be used to explain female violence - may be other factors involved that can result in female prison aggression - research can be accused of beta bias - may be males import aggression into prison environment but there are differences to extent that dispositional or situational factors affect each gender

Answer 120

- propose that aggression in prisons is the result of environmental factors - social psychologists maintain that when individuals are in crowded conditions, this can cause a rise in aggressive behaviour - additionally, by their very nature as a form of punishment, prisons are stressful environments

Answer 121

- Skyes (1958) => deprivation model - Cooke et al. (2008)

Answer 122

- aggression results from a number of environmental deprivations => deprivation of liberty => deprivation of autonomy => deprivation of goods => deprivation of heterosexual relationships => deprivation of security

Answer 123

- prisoners are deprived of freedom - this is the main form of punishment when an di visual is sent to prison - they have to remain in the prison environment with no freedo at all - prisoners often have to obtain permission to eat, sleep, shower, etc. (Blomberg and Lucken, 2000)

Answer 124

- prisoners have no power and very few choices - leads to a feeling of almost helplessness among inmates - can lead to frustration and aggression

Answer 125

- in prison, access to things normally taken for granted are restricted or denied entirely - brings about a frustrated sense of failure to most prisoners => leading to aggression (Skyes, 1958)

Answer 126

- men may feel emasculated from the loss of heterosexual relationships - feel less than a man - additionally, greater opportunity for homosexual behaviour in prison may lead to anxieties for prisoners

Answer 127

- prisoners may live in fear of aggression from other inmates - leads to heightened sense of physical threat - feeling of perceived continual threat can result in an aggressive response as a form of defence

Answer 128

- claims that in order to understand institutional aggression, we need to consider the situational context where violence takes place - argue that violent prisoners are only violent in certain circumstances => overcrowding => heat and noise => job burnout

Answer 129

- a government report in 2014 (Ministry of Justice, 2014) attributed the record rates of murder, suicide and assaults to increased overcrowding in British prisons - a Japanese study (Yuma, 2010) found that prison population density had a significant effect on inmates on inmate violence rates, even after controlling for other possible contributing factors

Answer 130

- prisons tend to be hot and noisy places - high temperatures and noise exacerbate effects of overcrowding and may predispose inmates to aggressive behaviour - in a study by Griffitt and Veitch (1971), who studied students and found a combination of high temperatures and high population density produced more negative emotions than was the case with more comfortable temperatures and lower population density

Answer 131

- job burnout among prison stag refers to the experience of being psychologically worn out and exhausted from a job and a gradual loss of caring about the people with whom they work - has been linked to the development of violence in prison settings due to a deterioration in relationships with inmates (Maslach et al., 2001) and the overall functioning of the prison

Answer 132

- Gaes et al. (1985) - Wilson (2005)

Answer 133

- Camp and Gaes (2005) - McCorkle et al. (1995)

Answer 134

- suggests overcrowding does not just lead to aggression and violence - instead can also cause ill health and general misconduct - proposes overcrowding can heighten stress - results in an overreaction to other factors in the institution

Answer 135

- practical applications in understanding that the prison environment can lead to aggression - Wilson set up 2 units in HMP Woodhill where overcrowding was reduced, music was introduced to reduce noisy conditions and temperature was carefully controlled - found that initiating these conditions was a successful way to lower levels of aggression

Answer 136

- field experiment where they randomly allocated 561 male inmates to two different prisons (low and high security) - inmates were matched on criminal history and predisposition to aggression - found individuals were just as likely to behave aggressively in low sec prison (33%) as high sec (36%) - demonstrates aggression in prison is more likely to be result of individual than situation - low sec should have afforded less stress to inmates so there should have been lower levels of violence - demonstrates dispositional factors are more important

Answer 137

- investigated aggression in 371 US state prisons - found little evidence supporting link between violence and overcrowding - points out stress is experienced by most individuals in prison but not all resort to aggression - therefore assumption that stress and frustration always lead to aggression is a flawed presumption

Answer 138

- individuals live in media saturated world - any form of communication can be defined as media - computer games can be defined as a game played on a screen - growing evidence that computer/video games have a more powerful effect on aggression than traditional screen based media

Answer 139

- player takes a more active role compared to a relatively passive viewer - game playing is more directly rewarding for player => operant conditioning

Answer 140

- alternative measures of aggression used - Taylor competitive reaction time task (TCRTT) - lab measure - participants deliver blasts of white noise at chosen volumes to punish (non-existent) opponents - Bartholow and Anderson (2002) found students who played a violent computer game for 10 mins selected significant higher volumes of white noise than those playing non violent game - e.g. Mortal Kombat and PGA Tour

Answer 141

- can be supported by SLT as a framework - e.g. Bandura’s BOBO doll studies - showed when role models were behaving aggressively, children copied behaviour through imitation and modelling - similarly, when children are playing violent computer game which requires them to kill the villain, children will do so as their favourite hero does the same

Answer 142

- aggression is defined in many ways - difficult to measure objectively - e.g. DV in studies to measure violence in computer games is volume of white noise blasted at opponent - however violence and aggression are not the same thing - all violence is aggression but not all aggression is violent - therefore effects depend very much on how aggression s defined - questions validity of studies

Answer 143

- role of desensitisation - role of disinhibition - role of cognitive priming

Answer 144

- with continual exposure to a stimulus, responses to that stimulus decrease - if aggression presented daily, there is a reduction in responses to aggression - under normal circumstances, sympathetic nervous system switches on in response to witnessing aggression => heart rate increases, adrenaline released, physiological stress response causes a desire to remove ourselves from object - viewing aggression will cause initiation of evolved fight or flight response - adaptive for ancestors

Answer 145

- response was adaptive for ancestors and helped keep them alive - however, it was adaptive for ancestors to become accustomed to environmental stimuli that were frequently encounter - e.g. some tribes became tree dwellers fo their own safety - on the face of it, living high in trees seems stressful and frightening - but they become desensitised to fear - psychologists proposed desensitisation can provide adaptive response to environment

Answer 146

- environment consists of media saturated world - aggression and violence often reported - violence is a feature of many computer games - proposed desensitisation as a response to violence viewed in computer games can have a negative effect - individuals may not respond to real aggression with any physiological arousal e.g. fear - result may be individuals more likely to accept violence and aggression and more likely to respond violently and aggressively when presented with the opportunity to do so

Answer 147

- Weisz and Earls (1995) - showed 86 male and 106 female uni students 1 of 4 films depicting various types of aggression => sexual aggression against a male, sexual aggression against a female, physical aggression, neutral film with no aggression - after viewing, participants completed a 252 item questionnaire measuring acceptance of interpersonal violence, acceptance of rape myths, attraction to aggression and levels of empathy - participants then viewed reenactment of a rape trial and completed a 23 item rape trial questionnaire - showed males more accepting of interpersonal violence/rape myths, more attracted to sexual aggression, less sympathetic to victim, less likely to judge defendant as guilty, especially those who watched films depicting violence against males and females

Answer 148

- most studies lack ecological validity - carried out in labs - measured aggression on questionnaire or with subsequent behaviour towards confederates - raises issues of validity as to whether the measured violence would occur in a real world setting - norms governing behaviour and particularly aggression behaviour in public may be more likely to inhibit aggressive response where repercussions could be fines/prison sentence

Answer 149

- proposes normal restraints are loosened after exposure to media violence - aggressive behaviour becomes normalised and norms governing behaviour become altered from non acceptance to acceptance - one normalised aspect of aggression is aggressive response as a result of a real or imagined wrongdoing => if viewed aggression is seen as revenge, it it deemed normal and justified - has a greater disinhibited effect on consequential aggressive behaviour

Answer 150

- social learning - Bandura (1977) proposed we learn how to behave from observational learning of role models - however as child grows, media becomes an increasingly powerful role model - superheroes provide an aggressive role model in the name of justice - adult films present role models (James Bond) which children may look up to and imitate - however when aggression levels are normalised in role models, child can grow up with norms that aggression is socially acceptable as a response - many computer games reward player for imitating violence

Answer 151

- Berkowitz and Alioto (1973) - practical applications

Answer 152

- lab experiment - participants saw a film depicting aggression as vengeance gave more electric shocks of longer duration to a confederate - propose that aggression is more likely to occur if the viewed aggression is seen as an acceptable response and disinhibition is more likely to occur

Answer 153

- American army using games as a recruiting tool - from perspective of armed forced, recruiting individuals with interest in violence and disinhibited response to aggression is beneficial for soldiers - soldiers in war likely to behave in aggressive/violent way - more beneficial for them to response aggressively as norm - if they did not automatically respond aggressively in a threat situation, this would have issues for their own survival - therefore role of disinhibition is not always a negative thing

Answer 154

- children as young as 10 have been exposed to 8k murders and 100k other violence acts on TV (Huston et al., 1992) - cognitive priming proposes influence of aggression in media/computer games provides individuals with scripts for response and behaviour when they perceive an aggressive stimuli - maintain that there is a priming effect of media images on previously learnt behaviours or cognitive schema - can activate memories and make aggression more likely

Answer 155

- increase likelihood of aggression in players who learnt aggressive responses/hold aggressive schema - child may play computer game where aggression is rewarded - when they fin themselves in a potentially aggressive situation, they will have schema to win through aggressive response - therefore violence in computer games has effect of priming an individual to violence - can occur without conscious thought and become an automatic response to cues in environment

Answer 156

- Bushman and Anderson (2002) - Fischer and Greitemeyer (2006)

Answer 157

- practical applications - argue someone who habitually watched violent media accesses stored aggressive scripts more readily - more likely to interpret cues as aggressive and resort to violence as they have been primed - suggests interventions could potentially reduce aggressive behaviour by challenging hostile cognitive biases

Answer 158

- found male participants who had been exposed to aggressive song lyrics about women were more likely to give higher levels of hot chilli sauce to female confederates than male confederates than those participants who heard neutral lyrics - also found misogynistic lyrics result in males recalling more negative attributes of women and reporting higher levels of aggression towards women - procedure was replicated with female participants and men hating song lyrics with similar results - shows cognitive priming from song lyrics

Answer 159

- confounding variables - e.g. research into effects of video games found violent games primes violent behaviour more than non violent games - problem is that violent games tend to be more complex in gameplay than non violent games - complexity is a confounding variable => its the complexity causing priming effect - Zendle et al. (2018) found when complexity was controlled, priming effects of violent video games disappeared - suggests findings supporting cognitive priming may be partly due to confounding variables, affecting validity of research