Aggression

Question 1

What is aggression?

Answer 1

An act with the intention to harm another person

Question 2

What is proactive aggression?

Answer 2

‘Cold-blooded’- it’s a planned method of getting what you want and so it is less emotional e.g. bullying, domination, teasing, name-calling

Question 3

What is reactive aggression?

Answer 3

‘Hot-blooded’- it’s angry and impulsive, and is accompanied by physiological arousal e.g. temper tantrums, vengeance.

Question 4

What are neural mechanisms?

Answer 4

Areas of the brain and how they communicate (e.g. neurotransmitters) that may be responsible for aggression

Question 5

What are hormonal mechanisms?

Answer 5

Chemical substances that circulate in the bloodstream that may be reponsible for aggression.

Question 6

What is the limbic system?

Answer 6

A set of subcortical structures in the brain that are thought to be closely involved in coordinating (deciding on and prepare you to do it) and regulating (controlling) emotional behaviour, including agression.

Question 7

Who first linked the limbic structures to emotional behaviour? And who later revised it?

Answer 7

James Papez (1937) and then was later revised by Paul Maclean (1952).

Question 8

What is the amygdala?

Answer 8

The most important strcuture in agressive behaviour.

Question 9

What is the role of the amygdala?

Answer 9

Plays a key role in how an organism assesses and responds to environmental threats and challenges. It is responsible for quickly evaluating the emotional importance of sensory information and prompting and appopriate reponse.

Question 10

What is greater reactivity in the amygdala a predictor of?

Answer 10

An important predictor of aggressive behaviour.

Question 11

What does the hippocampus do?

Answer 11

Involved in the formation of long-term memories, so an animal can compare the conditions of the current threat to similar past experiences.

Question 12

What does an impaired hippocampal function cause?

Answer 12

Prevents the nervous system from putting things into a relevant and meaniful context, and so the amygdala may respond inappropriately to sensory stimuli, resulting in aggressive behaviour.

Question 13

What is serotonin and what does that mean?

Answer 13

An inhibitory neurotransmitter, so it slows down and dampens neural activity.

Question 14

What are normal levels of serotonin linked with?

Answer 14

Reduced firing neurons, and so inhibit the responses to emotional stimuli that might otherwise lead to an aggresive reponse.

Question 15

What are normal levels of serotonin associated with?

Answer 15

A greater degree of behavioural self-control

Question 16

What do low levels of serotonin do?

Answer 16

Serotonin usually inhibits the firing of the amygdala. Low levels of serotonin remove this inhibitory effect.

Question 17

What effect does low serotonin have on behaviour?

Answer 17

People are less able to control their impulsive agressive behaviour. This means that when the amygdala is stimulated by external events, it becomes more active, causing a person to act on their impulses and making agression more likely.

Question 18

Neural mechanisms: Evaluation: What did Charles Whitman do and what did doctors find?

Answer 18

In 1966, he killed 13 people from an observation tower at Texas University, after killing his wife and mother. He left behind a note asking doctors to examine his brain as he was convinced there was something making him aggressive. He was found to have a tumour pressing agaisnt his amygdala.

Question 19

Neural mechanisms: Evaluation: What does Charles Whitman suggest about neural mechanisms?

Answer 19

This supports that the amygdala plays an important part in aggression in humans, with the tumour potentially making his amygdala more reactive triggering aggression, supporting the validity of the theory.

Question 20

Neural mechanisms: Evaluation: What did Raleigh et al. (1991) find about serotonin?

Answer 20

Supported the importance of serotonin in aggressive behaviour in a study of vervet monkeys. They found that individuals fed on experimnetal diets of high tryptophan (which increases serotonin levels in the brain) exhibited decreased levels of aggression. Individuals fed on diets in low tryptophan exhibited increased agressive behaviour, suggesting the differnece in aggression could be attributed to their sertonin levels.

Question 21

Neural mechanisms: Evaluation: What does Raleigh et al’s findings suggest about serotonin?

Answer 21

Supports the causal link between serotonin and aggression, as when serotonin levels were decreased, aggression increased and vice versa. Therefore this supports the internal validity of the role of serotonin levels impacting aggression.

Question 22

Neural mechanisms: Evaluation: What does Raleigh et al’s findings suggest about serotonin?

Answer 22

Supports the causal link between serotonin and aggression, as when serotonin levels were decreased, aggression increased and vice versa. Therefore this supports the internal validity of the role of serotonin levels impacting aggression.

Question 23

Neural mechanisms: Evaluation: What is a weakness of both the limbic system and serotonin?

Answer 23

The neural explanations of aggression are determinist in that they see aggressive behaviour as governed by internal, biologcial casues that we have no control over e.g. cannot control hormone levels or amygdala reactivity.

Question 24

Neural mechanisms: Evaluation: What are the implications of the weakness?

Answer 24

Has implications for our legal system and wider society. One of the rules of the law is that offenders are seen as legally and morally responsible for their actions. The links between serotonin, the amygdala and aggression, could complicate this principle. Additionaly, this may lead to screening of the population to identify this susceptibility and discriminate against those people.

Question 25

Neural mechanisms: Evaluation: What does the weakness of serotonin and the amygdala suggest about neural mechanisms?

Answer 25

This has ethical implications for people with the biological predisposition (as they be monitored in their daily activites which breaches their right to privacy) as well as victims of crimes where criminals may not take responsibility for the crimes they have committed. Whilst this doesn’t challenge the validity of the explanations, it may make them less palatable explanations of aggression

Question 26

Neural mechanisms: Evaluation: What did Gospic et al (2011) do?

Answer 26

Exposed some particpants to mild provocation and their responses were recorded using an fMRI. When participants responded aggressively, the scans showed a fast and heightened response by the amygdala. They also found that a benzodiazepine drug (which reduces arousal of the autonomic nervous system) taken before provocation had two effects- decreasing the activity of the amygdala and reducing aggression (halving the rejections in the study).

Question 27

Neural mechanisms: Evaluation: What does Gospic et al
‘s study suggest?

Answer 27

Supports there is a casual link between the amygdala and aggression, as when provoked, the amygdala showed greater reactivity and this was linked to aggresive responses and when the amygdala reactivity was reduced, aggressive responses also decreased. Therefore this supports the internal validity of the limbic system as a causal factor in aggression.

Question 28

Hormonal mechanisms: What is male behaviour normally like and what has this led to?

Answer 28

Males are generally more aggressive than females. This has led to attention on the male sex hormone testosterone, an androgen reponsible for the development of masculine features.

Question 29

Hormonal mechanisms: What does testosterone have a role in?

Answer 29

Regulating social behaviour (including aggression) via its infleunce on certain areas of the brain implicated in aggression.

Question 30

Hormonal mechanisms: What is the relationship between testosterone and aggression and what evidence is there to support this?

Answer 30

It is thought that higher levels of testosterone are related to aggressive behaviour.
For example, Dolan et al (2001) found a positive correlation between testosterone levels and aggressive behaviours in a sample of 60 male offenders in UK maximum security prisons

Question 31

Hormonal mechanisms: What is progestrone?

Answer 31

A female ovarian hormone that is thought to play an important role in aggression in women.

Question 32

Hormonal mechanisms: Why do levels of progestrone vary?

Answer 32

Vary during the ovulation cycle and are lowest during and just after menstruation.

Question 33

Hormonal mechanisms: How is progestrone linked to aggression?

Answer 33

Low levels of progestrone are linked to increases aggression in women.

Question 34

Hormonal mechanisms: Evaluation: Progestrone: What did Ziomkiewica et al. (2012) find?

Answer 34

Found a negative correlation between progestrone levels and self-reported aggression.

Question 35

Hormonal mechanisms: Evaluation: Progestrone: What do Ziomkiewica et al. (2012) findings tell us about the role of hormonal mechanisms in aggression?

Answer 35

This supports that progestrone levels are linked with aggressive behaviour in humans, where lower levels are correlated with more aggressive behaviour, suggesting the explanation has some validity.

Question 36

Hormonal mechanisms: Evaluation: Progestrone: What did is a counter point for Ziomkiewica et al. (2012) findings?

Answer 36

This is only a correlation, meaning that from the study we cannot strongly support the internal validity of the role of progestrone in aggresion as we cannot determine cause and effect between progestrone levels and aggressive behaviour.

Question 37

Hormonal mechanisms: Evaluation: Testosterone: What did Dabbs et al. (1987) do and find?

Answer 37

Measured salivary testosterone in violent and non-violent criminals. Those with the highest testosterone levels had a history of primarily violent crimes.

Question 38

Hormonal mechanisms: Evaluation: Testosterone: What do Dabbs et al. (1987) findings tell us about the role of hormonal mechanisms in aggression?

Answer 38

This supports that testosterone levels are linked with aggressive behaviour in humans, where higher levels were correlated with more aggressive behaviour, suggesting the explanation has some validity.

Question 39

Genetic factors in aggression: What does propensity for aggressive behaviour lie in?

Answer 39

In a person’s genetic make-up i.e. offspring inherit aggression from their parents via genes

Question 40

Genetic factors in aggression: Why have researchers employed a variety of methodological techniques?

Answer 40

To disentangle the relative contributions of nature (genetic inheritance) and nurture (enviornmental influences).

Question 41

Genetic factors in aggression: What are concordence rates?

Answer 41

A measure of similarity (usually a %) between two individuals on a certain trait (in this case, aggression).

Question 42

Genetic factors in aggression: What did Coccaro et al. (1997) do and find?

Answer 42

They studied adult male monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins. For aggresive behaviour (defined as direct physcial assault), the researchers found concordence rates of 50% for MZ twins and 19% for DZs. The corresponding figures for verbal aggression were 28% for MZ twins and 7% for DZ twins.

Question 43

Genetic factors in aggression: What does Coccaro et al. (1997) findings suggest about aggression?

Answer 43

Suggests that aggression is at least partly genetic because the concordence rates are higher for MZ twins who share more of their genes (100%) than DZ twins (share 50%) and so the greater similarity in aggression between MZ twins is likely to be due to their greater number of shred genes.

Question 44

Genetic factors in aggression: What is Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA)?

Answer 44

An enzyme which regulates the metabolism (breaking down of a neurotransmitter after a neural impulse has been transmitted from one neurone to another) of serotonin in the brain. The MAOA gene reponsible for producing this enzyme has been associated with aggressive behaviour.

Question 45

Genetic factors in aggression: What variant of the MAOA gene has been associated to aggressive behaviour?

Answer 45

One low activity variant of the MAOA gene (nicknamed the ‘warrior gene’) leads to low MAOA activity in areas of the brain, and has been associated withe various forms of aggressive behaviour.

Question 46

Genetic factors in aggression: Who did Brunner et al. (1993) study and what did they find?

Answer 46

Studied 28 members of a large Dutch family who were repeatdly involved in impulsively aggressive criminal behaviours such as rape, attempted murder and physcial assault. They found that these men had abnormally low levels of MAOA in their brains and the low-activity version of the MAOA gene.

Question 47

Genetic factors in aggression: Evaluation: What did Mertins et al. (2011) study and what did they find?

Answer 47

Studied partipants with low-activity and high-activity variants of the MAOA gene in a money-distributing game. Partipants had to make decisions about whether or not to contribute money for the good of the group. Researchers found that males with the high-activity variant were more cooperative and made fewer aggressive moves than the low-activity participants.

Question 48

Genetic factors in aggression: Evaluation: What do Mertins et al. (2011) findings tell us about the role of genetic factors in aggression?

Answer 48

Supports the importance of the MAOA gene in aggresive behaviour. It suggests that possession of the high-activity variant leads to the exact opposite behaviour (cooperation) to that asscoiated with the low- activity variant (aggression).

Question 49

Genetic factors in aggression: What did Caspi et al. do and find?

Answer 49

Studied 500 children. They discovered a variant of gene asscoiated with high levels of MAOA and a variant associated with low levels of MAOA. Those with the low levels of MAOA were significantly more likely to exhibit antisocial behvaiour, but only if they had been maltreated as children. Children with higher levels of MAOA who were maltreated, and those with low levels of MAOA who were not mistreated did not exhibit antisocial behaviour.

Question 50

Genetic factors in aggression: Evaluation: What do Caspi et al. findings tell us about the role of genetic factors in aggression?

Answer 50

This suggests that whilst genes are crucial influences on aggressive behaviour, they do not act in isolation. It appears that neither the gene nor the enviornment has a significant affect in isolation. This suggests that it is the interaction between genes and the enviornment that determines behaviours such as aggression (diathesis-stress). This is another example of nature interacting with nurture.

Question 51

Genetic factors in aggression: Evaluation: What is a weakness of the supporting evidence ? (crime)

Answer 51

Many twin and adoption studies have focused in individuals who have been convicted of violent crimes. This leads to difficulties when traying to draw meaningful conclusions from the studies. Convictions for violent crime are relatively few comapred to the number of violent attacks that never result in a conviction. Additionaly those classed as ‘violent’ on the basis of court convictions are not necessarily the most serious, persistent offenders. For example, a convicted murderer may have otherwise had a lifetime free of crime and only committed one violent incidence.

Question 52

Genetic factors in aggression: Evaluation: What does the weakness tell us about the role of genetic factors in aggression? (crime)

Answer 52

This might go some way to explain why so many studies have found little to no evidence of heritability for violence. Howver, it also suggests that the resukts from the study may not be externally valid as the samples are not representaive of the majority of people who are involved in aggressive behaviour.

Question 53

Genetic factors in aggression: Evaluation: What is a weakness of the supporting evidence? (methods)

Answer 53

Twin and adoption studies make use of different research methods. Some use self-report techniques whilst others use observational techniques. For example, in Miles and Carey (1997) meta-analysis, they found that genetic factors explained a large proportion of the variance in aggressive behaviour in studies that used parental or self-reports. However, those that made use of observational ratings showed significantly less genetic contribution and a greater influence of enviornmental factors.

Question 54

Genetic factors in aggression: Evaluation: What does the weakness tell us about the role of genetic factors in aggression? (methods)

Answer 54

These inconsistences make it difficult to accurately assess the relative contributions of genetic and enviornmental infleunces on aggression. Therefore from the research it is difficult to strongly support the role of genetic factors in aggression.

Question 55

What is ethology?

Answer 55

The study of animal behaviour in natural settings. the findings are then extrapolated to humans because we are all subject to the same forces of natural selection.

Question 56

What do ethological explanations suggest about behaviour?

Answer 56

Suggest that aggression is an innate (instinct) behaviour that is mostly genetically determined.

Question 57

What do ethological explanations suggest aggression is?

Answer 57

Adaptive i.e that it is beneficial to survival, and therefore the animal is alive to reproduce. The aggression is then passed down to the offspring via natural selection.

Question 58

What are conspecifics?

Answer 58

Members of the same species

Question 59

Ethological explanations: What is ritualistic aggression?

Answer 59

A series of aggressive behaviours carried out in a set order.

Question 60

Ritualistic aggression: What did Lorenz note?

Answer 60

That fights between conspecifics involved very little physical damage.

Question 61

Ritualistic aggression: What happens in an aggressive encounter?

Answer 61

Consist of a period of ritualistic signalling in the form of threat displays e.g. baring claws and teeth ect. Such aggression is adaptive because it enables competitors to assess their relative strength before deciding to escalate a conflict. They are intended to intimate

Question 62

Ritualistic aggression: Why are threat displays adaptive?

Answer 62

They are intended to intimidates their opponents and make them back down. This makes costly and dangerous physical aggression less likely to occur ensuring the species survives.

Question 63

Ritualistic aggression: What dis Lorenz point out aggression ended with?

Answer 63

Aggression between conspecifics ends with ritual appeasment displays which indicate acceptance of defeat e.g. wolves exposing their jugulars. This is adaptive because in signalling defeat, it inhibits further aggression by the victor, preventing further damage or death of the loser, again ensuring the survival of the species.

Question 64

How is being aggressive (fighting) adaptive?

Answer 64

One adaptive function of aggression is to establish dominance hierarchies with the winners of conflicts climbing the social hierachry. This increased status leads to other benefits such as access to mates. Therefore aggression is adaptive because dominance over others brings benefits such as access to reources (aiding survival) and mates (reproduction- so aggression is naturally selected.

Question 65

What is the second reason being aggressive (fighting) is adaptive?

Answer 65

Also beneficial to survival because a defeated animal is rarely killed. Instead, they are forced to establish territory elsewhere. Therefore, individuals that win conflicts have greater access to resources as there is less direct competition for things such as food. It also has the added benefit of spreading members of a species out over a wider area, reducing the possibility of starvation for all.

Question 66

Innate releasing mechanisms: What are they?

Answer 66

They are a hard-wired network of neurons in the brain that respond to an environmental stimulus (a sign or releaser such as a facial expression) by initiating a fixed action pattern.

Question 67

Innate releasing mechanisms: What is a fixed action pattern?

Answer 67

A set sequence of behaviours (in this case aggression). These behaviours are stereotyped to occur only in specific conditions and do not require learning (i.e they are innate).

Question 68

Innate releasing mechanisms: What are the 6 main features of fixed action patterns?

Answer 68

1. They are stereotyped (relatively unchanging sequence of behaviours)
2. They are universal (Same behaviour is found in every individual of the species)
3. They are unaffected by learning (same for every individual regardless of experince)
4. They are ‘ballistic’ (Once behaviour is triggered it follows an inevitable course and cannot be altered before it is complete)
5. They are single-purpose (behaviour only occurs in a specific situation)
6. They are in reponse to an identifiable specific sign stimulus.

Question 69

Innate releasing mechanisms: What does the enviornmental stimulus trigger?

Answer 69

Innate releasing mechanisms (hard-wired set if neurons in brain that respond to this by triggering a fixed action potential).

Question 70

What do innate releasing mechanisms trigger?

Answer 70

Fixed action pattern (a set sequence of behaviours-aggression).

Question 71

Tinbergen study: What are is male stickleback behaviour like?

Answer 71

Male sticklebacks are highly territorial during mating season, where they also develop a red spot on their underbelly. If another male enters their territory, a fixed action pattern is initiated. The sign stimulus that triggers the innate releasing mechanism is the sight of the red spot.

Question 72

Tinbergen study: What did Tinbergen do?

Answer 72

Presented the sticklebacks with a series of wooden models of different shapes, some with red spots on their underbelly and some without.

Question 73

Tinbergen study: What did Tinbergen find?

Answer 73

Regardless of the shape, if the model had a red spot the stickleback would aggressively display and even attack it. But if there was no red spot, there was no aggression, even if the model looked realistically like a stickleback.

Tinbergen also found that these aggressive FAPs were unchanging from one encounter to another, and once triggered they always ran their course to completion.

Question 74

Ethological explanations: Evaluation: What supporting evidence is there for ritualistic aggression?

Answer 74

Anthropological evidence suggests that the benefits of ritualistic aggression are also present in human cultures. For example, Hoebel (1967) found that among Inuit Eskimos, song duels are often used to settle grudges and disputes.

Question 75

Ethological explanations: Evaluation: What does the supporting evidence of ritualistic aggression tell us about the ethological explanation of aggression?

Answer 75

This supports that rituals have the effect of reducing actual aggression and preventing injury or death or the combats as predicted by the ethological explanation, supporting that the results from animals may be generalisable to humans as we are subject to the same forced of natural selection.

Question 76

Ethological explanations: Evaluation: What undermining evidence is there- Nisbett (1993)?

Answer 76

Nisbett found that there was a north-south divide in the United States for homicide rates, with killings being found much more common amongst white males in southern states than in the northern states. In a lab study, Nisbett et al (1996) found that when white males from the south were insulted in a research situation, they were more liekly than northern white males to become aggressive.

Question 77

Ethological explanations: Evaluation: What does the undermining evidence- Nisbett (1993)- suggest about the ethological explantions of aggression?

Answer 77

Because this was only true of reactive aggression, Nisbett concluded that this difference was due to a ‘cultural honor’ i.e. the aggression is a learned social norm. It is difficult for the ethological explanation, with its view of aggression as instinctive, to explain how culture can override innate infleunces. This calls into question the validity of the explanation as a complete explanation of aggression.

Question 78

Ethological explanations: Evaluation: What undermining evidence is there- Goodall (2010)?

Answer 78

Goodall (2010) observed chimpanzees at the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. During the ‘four year war’, male chimps from one community set about systematically slaughtering all members of another group. They did this in a coordinated and predetermined fashion. On some occasions, a victim was held down by rival chimpanzees while others hit and bit it in an attack lasting up to 20 minutes. The violence continued despite the fact the victims were offering signals of appeasment and defencelessness. In other species such as lions, males will often kill the cubs of other males, and male chimpanzees will routinely kill members of their group.

Question 79

Ethological explanations: Evaluation: What does the undermining evidence- Goodall(2010)- suggest about the ethological explantions of aggression?

Answer 79

The appeasment signals did not inhibit the aggressive behaviour of the attacking chimpanzees as predicted by the ethological explanation and cast doubt on the claim that much of animal aggression is ritualist rather than real. Additionaly, killing was systematic rather than accidental, which goes agaisnt the prediction that a defeated animal is ‘rarely’ killed to ensure the survival of the wider species and spread the species out over a wider area to reduce competition pressure for resources. Therefore, this calls into question the validity of the ethological explanation as an explanation of aggression.

Question 80

Ethological explanations: Evaluation: What supporting evidence is there- e.g. Brunner et al?

Answer 80

There is lots of evidence to support the ethological explanation. For example, Brunner et al (1993) found that the low-activity variant of the MAOA gene is closely associated with aggressive behaviours, suggetsing an innate basis. Additionaly, research on the relationship between the limbic system and aggression provides evidence for the existence of innate releasing mechanisms for aggression in the brain in humans and other animals.

Question 81

Ethological explanations: Evaluation: What does the supporting evidence- Brunner (1993)- suggest about the ethological explantions of aggression?

Answer 81

This supports the validity of the ethological explanation of aggression as the evidence supports its suggestion that aggression is genetically determined, heritable and adaptive. This is because Brunner et al’s study supports the innate basis of aggression, as suggested by the ethological explanation of aggression.

Question 82

What do evolutionary explanations of aggression suggest about aggression?

Answer 82

They suggest that aggression enhanced survival and reproduction and was therefore naturally selected. This means that aggressive genes are passed on to successive generations and so aggression becomes more widespread in the population.

Question 83

What are the evolutionary explanations of aggression (there are 3)?

Answer 83

• Competition for resources
• Sexual competition- intimidating or eliminating rivals for females
• Sexual jealousy- deterring mates from sexual infidelity

Question 84

Sexual jealousy: What is aggression motivated by?

Answer 84

Suggests that male aggression (violence) agaisnt their partners is motivated by jealously to ensure their own paternity and genetic success.

Question 85

Sexual jealousy: What can men never be certain of?

Answer 85

Unlike women, men can never be certain that they fathered a child. This paternity uncertanity gives rise to the threat of cuckoldry.

Question 86

Sexual jealousy: What is cuckoldry?

Answer 86

That the man raises an offspring that is not his own and so contributes to the survival of a rival’s genes and is left with fewer reources to invest in his own offspring in the future.

Question 87

Sexual jealousy: What happened to men who could avoid cuckoldry and how has this evolved?

Answer 87

Men in our evolutionary past who could avoid cuckoldry were more reproductively succesful. So male aggressive strategies evolved(were adaptive) to help retain their mates and deter them from sexual infidelity.

Question 88

Sexual jealousy: What did Wilson and Daly (1996) identify?

Answer 88

Male retention strategies- direct guarding and negative inducements

Question 89

Sexual jealousy: What is direct guarding?

Answer 89

(strategies that restrict freedom)- involves male vigilance over a partner’s behaviour e.g. checking where she’s been, who she’s been with, coming home early, installing tracking apps on her mobile ect.

Question 90

Sexual jealousy: What are negative inducements?

Answer 90

(strategies to deter infidelity)- threats of the consquences of infidelity (e.g. ‘i will kill you’) or violence to prevent her from straying.

Question 91

Sexual jealousy: What did Wilson et al (1996) find?

Answer 91

That women who reported mate retention strategies in their partners were twice as likely to have suffered physical violence at the hands of their partners (73% required medical attention and 53% feared for their lives). Therefore mate retention strategies are linked to physical violence.

Question 92

Sexual jealousy: How was aggression adaptive?

Answer 92

Aggression was adaptive in our evolutionary history as it would have made it more liekly that males would reproduce successfully by solving adaptive problems of sexual infidelity and cuckoldry.

Question 93

Sexual jealousy: What happens to the aggressive genes?

Answer 93

Aggresive genes for males to be aggressive towards their partners are passed down on to successive generations and so aggression becomes more widespread in the population.

Question 94

Competition for resources: What would aggressive individuals be able to do?

Answer 94

Aggressive individuals (particularity men) would have been able to compete (against other men) for resources such as food.

Question 95

Competition for resources: What did aggressive enhance?

Answer 95

Aggression enhanced survival and likelihood of reproducing succesfully (especially as women are attracted to men with resources), and so is an adaptive behaviour that is naturally selected to solve the adaptive problem of gaining resources.

Question 96

Competition for resources: What happens to the aggressive genes?

Answer 96

The aggressive genes are passed on to successive generations and so aggression becomes more widespread in the population.

Question 97

Sexual competition: What did ancestral men have to do?

Answer 97

Ancestral men seeking access to females would have had to compete with other males (sexual competition).

Question 98

Sexual competition : What happens to aggressive men?

Answer 98

Aggressive men would be more able to compete with other men for access to mates, making it more likley they would reproduce succesfully.

Question 99

Sexual competition : Why is it adaptive?

Answer 99

It is an adaptive behaviour taht is naturally selected to solve the problem of rivals for females.

Question 100

Sexual competition : What happens to the aggressive genes?

Answer 100

The aggressive genes for males to be aggressive towards other males are passed on to successive generations and so aggression becomes more widespread in the population.

Question 101

Evolutionary explanations: Evaluation: What is the supporting evidence?

Answer 101

Daly and Wilson (1988) found that many tribal socities bestow increased status and honour to men who have committed murder. Campbell (1993) found that this was also the case in industrialised societies such as the USA . The most violent gang members often have the highest status among their peers.

Question 102

Evolutionary explanations: Evaluation: What does the supporting evidence suggest about the evolutionary explanation of human aggression?

Answer 102

This supports that aggression may have evolved in repsonse to the adaptive problem of access to resources, as individuals who are aggressive gain status and reources and so are more liekly to survive and reproduce succesfully. This means that aggressive genes are passed down to subsequent generations. AS the result =s are simialr in many diverse cultures, this implies that aggression may have evolved rather than being a result of cultural learning as proposed by the theory.

Question 103

Evolutionary explanations: Evaluation: What is a weakness of the supporting evidence?

Answer 103

It is extremely difficult to test hypotheses about the evolution of behaviours to solve problems of adaption in our evolutionary past. Most of the research is therefore correlational, for example findings between mate retention strategies and aggression. This does not enable us to draw cause and effect conclusions. Even a very strong correlation between aggressive behaviours and evolutionary influenced characteristics does not allow us to conclude that sexual jealousy , for instance, causes aggressive behaviour.

Question 104

Evolutionary explanations: Evaluation: What does the weakness of the supporting evidence suggest about the evolutionary explanation of human aggression?

Answer 104

Because these two variables are just measured and not manipulated, correlational research can never rule out the effects of other factors on aggressive behvaiour (cultural differences, for example). Therefore from the research, it is difficult to strongly support the internal validity of the evolutionary explanations of human aggression.

Question 105

Evolutionary explanations: Evaluation: What is the undermining evidence?

Answer 105

Human can be incredibly cruel. For example, there was wide-scale slaughter of whole groups in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Humans will also torture and mutilate their opponents when they have already been defeated and no longer cause a threat. Anthropological evidence suggests that this may be more of a consquence of deindividuation effects than of evolutionary adaptions.

Question 106

Evolutionary explanations: Evaluation: What does the undermining evidence suggest about the evolutionary explanation of human aggression?

Answer 106

This suggests that the evolutionary explanations may not be entirely valid as they cannot explain all instances of human aggression. In this case, if the aggression were to solve the adaptive problems proposed by the theory, the aggression would have stopped after the opponent was defeated and no longer cause a threat to the male’s resources of partner’s fidelity. This was clearly not the case and so the theory cannot be considered to be completely valid as an explanation of aggression.

Question 107

Evolutionary explanations: Evaluation: What is the real-world application?

Answer 107

An important implication of the research in this area is that mate-retention tactics may be seen as early indicators of potential violence against a female partner. The use of mat-retention tactics can alert friends and family members to the danger signs that might lead to future violence in relationships. Realtionship counselling may then be used before the situation escalates to the type of violence seen in research studies.

Question 108

Evolutionary explanations: Evaluation: What does the real-world application suggest about the evolutionary explanation of human aggression?

Answer 108

This supports the external validity if the evolutionary explanations of human aggression as they can be used to help reduce aggression in relationships.

Question 109

Deindividuation theory: What happens when we are in an individuated state?

Answer 109

We are easily identified by others, our behaviour is constrained to social norms (we live in a society where most aggressive behaviour is discouraged.

Question 110

Deindividuation theory: What leads to deindividuation?

Answer 110

When we are in certain situations that increase our anonymity (e.g. crowds), this leads to the loss of self-identity and personal reponsibility called deindividuation.

Question 111

Deindividuation theory: Why does deindividuation happen?

Answer 111

This is because when we are in a crowd, our attention becomes focussed outward to the events around us so we pay less attention to our own beliefs and feelings (lowering of private self-awareness). We are less-critical and evaluative, fostering a deindividuated state.

Question 112

Deindividuation theory: What is the second reason we foster a deindividuated state?

Answer 112

Our public self-awareness is lowered. Being in a crowd, we realise our behaviour is less likely to be judged by others and so we care less about how others see us and become less accountable for our aggressive actions, fostering a deindividuated state.

Question 113

Deindividuation theory: What happens in a deindividuated state (social norms)?

Answer 113

Causes our behaviour to be less constrained by social norms (we lose our inhibitions) and behaviour becomes more impulsive, emotional and disinhibited. This increases the likelihood of antisocial behaviour such as aggression.

Question 114

Deindividuation theory: What happens in a deindividuated state (Responsibility)?

Answer 114

Responsibility is shared throughout the crowd as we assume the group identity, so we experince less personal guilt at harmful aggression directed towards others, making aggressive behaviour more likely.

Question 115

Deindividuation theory: Evaluation: How does Johnson and Downing’s study support deindividuation theory?

Answer 115

Conducted a study where female partipants had to give (fake) electric shocks to a confederate. In one condition, the partipants were dressed in a KKK-type outfit with masks hiding their faces. Partipants in another condition dressed as nurses, a third group (control) wore normal clothes. Comapred with the control group, the KKK-dressed partipants gave more (and more intense) electric shocks, and the ‘nurses’ gave fewer at lower levels. ‘Nurses’ were also more compassionate towards their ‘victim’.

Question 116

Deindividuation theory: Evaluation: What does Johnson and Downing’s study suggest about deindividuation as an explanation of aggression?

Answer 116

This suggests that both aggression and prosocial behaviour are potential outcomes of deindividuation, and that normative cues in the situation determine which is most likely to occur because of the increased anonymity in the KKK group which makes the partipants loose their private and public self-awareness, causing them to enter a deindividuated state. This then means their behaviour is less constrained by social norms leading to aggressive behaviour. This supports that deindividuation is a valid explanation of aggression when normative cues are present.

Question 117

Deindividuation theory: Evaluation: How does Zimbardo’s (1969) study support the theory?

Answer 117

Groups of 4 female undergraduates were required to deliver electric shocks to another student to ‘aid learning’. Half the partipants wore bulky lab coasts that hid their faces, sat in seperate cubicles and were never refered to as their names. The other participants wore their normal clothes, were given large name tags and were introduced to each other by name. They were also able to see each other when seated at the shock machines. Partipants in the hooded condition were more liekly to press a button that they believed would give shocks to a ‘victim’ in another room. They held the shock button down for twice as long as did identifiable participants.

Question 118

Deindividuation theory: Evaluation: What did Zimbardo’s study suggest about deindividuation as an explanation of aggression?

Answer 118

This supports the link between anonymity, deindividuation and aggressive behaviour as it suggests that when partipants were more anonymous, their private self-awareness was lowered (they paid less attention to their own thoughts and feelings about harming someone else) ans their public self-awareness was lowered (they cared less about how others would see them if they carried out the harmful behaviour). This suggests that deindividuation occured with the partipants experiencing a loss of self-identity and personal responsibility for their actions which then led to them giving long electric shocks (aggressive behvaiour). Therefor basis of the research we can be confident about the valisity if deindividuation as an explanation of aggression.

Question 119

Deindividuation theory: Evaluation: How does Watson’s (1973) findings support the theory?

Answer 119

Watson collected data on the extent to which warriors in 23 societies changed their appearance prior to going to war (e.g. through war point, tribal costumes ect) and the extent to which they killed, tortured or mutilated their victims. 12 out of the 15 socities that changed their appearance were highly aggressive, compared to 1 out of the 8 who did not change their appearance.

Question 120

Deindividuation theory: Evaluation: What did Wilson’s findings suggest about deindividuation as an explanation of aggression?

Answer 120

This supports the external validity of the theory as an explanation of aggression as the thoery can account for real life instances of aggression whereby the anonymity from changing appearance triggers deindividuation and therefore more aggressive behaviour. (reference to flow diagram)

Question 121

Deindividuation theory: Evaluation: What is a real-world application of the theory?

Answer 121

Can help us to understand aggressive behaviour online, including online gaming services such Xbox Live. These service have many features that promote a psychological state of deindividuation. There is a reduction of personal identity, with players using ‘handles’ to identify themselves; game-playing in such an enviornmnet is arousing and immersive; there is the presence of a ‘crowd’ in the form of an audience.

Question 122

What is media?

Answer 122

Communication channels through which news entertainment and data are made available e.g. TV, computer games

Question 123

What are media influences on aggression?

Answer 123

Changes in behaviour (aggression) that are attributed to exposed media (then use definition of media)

Question 124

Media infleunce on aggression: Key study- effect of TV and film on aggression: What was the procedure of Bandura et al’s (1963) study?

Answer 124

Replicated the Bobo doll study (children watched adult either playing aggressively towards a doll, or playing calmly with a doll), but instead of the role model being live, the children watched a film of the adult role model being aggressive towards the Bobo doll.

Question 125

Media infleunce on aggression: Key study- effect of TV and film on aggression: What was the findings of Bandura et al’s (1963) study?

Answer 125

Found very simialr results to the orginal study with children imitating the aggressive behaviour of the role model (and also a cartoon version).

Question 126

Media infleunce on aggression: Key study- effect of TV and film on aggression: What was the conclusion of Bandura et al’s (1963) study?

Answer 126

Suggests that children learn aggressive behaviour via social learning that occurs via media as well as face-to-face.

Question 127

Media infleunce on aggression: Key study- effect of computer games on aggression: What was the procedure of Bartholow and Anderson’s (2002) experiment?

Answer 127

43 undergraduate (22 men and 21 women) were randomly assigned to play either a violent (Mortal Kombat) or nonviolent (PGA Tournament Golf) video game for 10 minutes.
Partipants then competed with a confederate in a reaction time task that allowed provocation and retaliation. This blasts white noise at volumes chosen by the winner to punish their opponent. Punishment levels set by partipants for their opponents severed as a measure of aggression.

Question 128

Media infleunce on aggression: Key study- effect of computer games on aggression: What was the findings of Bartholow and Anderson’s (2002) experiment?

Answer 128

Those who played the violent video game selected significantly higher noise levels (5.97 decibels) compared with non-violent players (4.6 decibels). This effect was larger for men than women.

Question 129

Media infleunce on aggression: Key study- effect of computer games on aggression: What was the conclusion of Bartholow and Anderson’s (2002) experiment?

Answer 129

Violent video games lead to more aggressive behaviour.

Question 130

Media infleunce on aggression: Key study- effect of computer games on aggression: What was the procedure of DeLisi et al. (2013) correlation?

Answer 130

Studied 277 juvenile offenders, all with histories of serious aggressive behaviours such as hitting a teacher/ parent/ gang fighting.
Using structured interviews, they gathered data on several measures of aggression and violent computer game-playing.

Question 131

Media infleunce on aggression: Key study- effect of computer games on aggression: What was the findings of DeLisi et al. (2013) correlation?

Answer 131

Found that offenders’s aggressive behaviour was significantly correlated with how often they played violent computer games and how much they enjoyed them.

Question 132

Media influence on aggression: Evaluation: What is a weakness of the studies?

Answer 132

Many studies of media aggression fail to account for other variables that explain why some people display aggressive behaviour and why those same people choose to play violent video games. For example, Ferguson et al (2009) found that effects of violent media content on aggressive behaviour disappears when other potential influences such as trait aggression, family violence and mental health are taken into account.

Question 133

Media influence on aggression: Evaluation: What does the weakness of the studies tell us about media infleunces on aggression?

Answer 133

This suggests that other risk factors, rtaher than exposure to media violence, are the primary causes of aggressive behaviour. As such, the research may not be able to strongly support the validity of the proposal that media infleunces lead to aggressive behaviour.

Question 134

Media influence on aggression: Evaluation: Supporting evidence that media infleunces behaviour, but does not have to be aggressive?

Answer 134

Granic and Lobel (2013) found that playing a violent shooter games can improve a player’s caapcity to think about object in 3D, develop problem-solving skills and enhance creativity.

Question 135

Media influence on aggression: Evaluation: What does the supporting evidence suggest?

Answer 135

This suggests that playing violent computer games does not always have anti-social consquences (aggression), and that playing such games could have importnat implications for education and career development, as research has established the power of spatial skills for achievement un STEM subjects.

Question 136

Media influence on aggression: Evaluation: Weakness of correlation studies?

Answer 136

Whilst correlational studies allow us to investigate realistic forms of aggression, we cannot draw causal conclusions from them because no variables are manipulated and there is no random allocation of partipants to violent or non-violent conditions. Therefore, a positive correlation between viewing or playing violent media and aggressive behaviour could be because aggressive media causes people to become more aggressive or because people who are already aggressive select aggressive media.

Question 137

Media influence on aggression: Evaluation: What does the weakness of the correlation studies suggest about the infleunce of media on aggressive behaviour?

Answer 137

The directional causality cannot be settled by correlational studies and as such from this evidence we cannot strongly support the internal valisity if the suggestion taht media infleunces aggressive behaviour.

Question 138

Desensitisation: What normally happens?

Answer 138

Normally, when we witness violent actions, we experince physiological arousal associated with the sympathetic nervous system e.g. increased heart rate, higher blood pressure ect.

Question 139

Desensitisation: What is desentisation?

Answer 139

The idea that repeated exposure to violence (e.g. violent computer games or other violent media) reduces normal levels of physiological and psychological arousal associated with anxiety, making aggressive behaviour more likely.

Question 140

Desensitisation: Affect on physiological arousal?

Answer 140

Reduced physiological arousal associated with SNS- so heart rate doesn’t increase as much, don’t sweat as much, i.e. less physiologically anxious

Question 141

Desensitisation: Affect in psychological arousal?

Answer 141

Reduced psychological arousal, through repeated exposure to media violence promotes a belief that using aggression to solve conflict is socially acceptable, less empathy for victims, injuries minimised or dismissed, less negative attitudes, which makes aggression more likely.

Question 142

Desensitisation: Evalaution: Weisz and Earls (1995)- supporting evidence?

Answer 142

They showed their participants the film Straw Dogs, which contains a prolonged and graphic scene of rape. Partipants then watched a re-enactment trail. Their results were compared to those who had watched a non-sexually violent film. Comapred to those who watched a non-violent film, male viewers of Straw Dogs showed a greater acceptance if rape myths and sexual aggression, expressed less sympathy towards the rape victim in the trail and were less likely to find the defendant guilty. There was no effect of film type on female partipants.

Question 143

Desensitisation: Evalaution: What does Weisz and Earls (1995) supporting evidence suggest about the theory of why the media infleunces aggression ?

Answer 143

This supports the predictions made by desentisation. Partipants who are exposed to violent media, showed reduce psychological arousal with anxiety (e.g. less empathy for yhe victim), supporting the validity of desentisation as an explanation of media infleunce on aggression.