aggression Flashcards
reconstructive memory
The idea that remembering the past helps reconstruct the events that you have experienced more recently.
Hostile aggressive
A type of aggression that motivated by anger and a desire to cause pain to someone, usually in reason to a perceived threat or insult
Violent aggression
any behaviour, including verbal events, which involves attacking another person, animal, or object with the intent of harming the target.
verbal aggression
communication with an intention to harm an individual thiurough words, tone or manner, regardless of whether harm occurs.
bullying
the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power. Bullying can be physical, verbal or psychological
Vicious reinforcement
learning through the consequences of others
How can. operant conditioning explain aggression
the process of a behaviour change as a response to a consequence.
Behaviour is shaped by its consequences
Reinforced- likely to occur again
Punished- less likely to occur again
Aggression is mainly acquired and maintained via positive reinforcement
Positive reinforcement
Aggressive behaviours are mostly acquired and maintained through positive reinforcement because aggression is an effective way of gaining rewards.
Skinner argued that behaviours that are positively reinforced only occasionally are especially strong. This is called variable interval reinforcement. This reprints how reinforcement is more hit and miss in everyday life.
This idea of variable interval reinforcement can be applied to social media notifications. - Because you are waiting for them to arrive, but don’t know when they will, it becomes more rewarding when they do eventually arrive.
What might affect positive reinforcement
They type of reward
Aggression brings two main types of rewards
Tangible rewards such as money, sex and food. For children, Patterson et al (1967) found that tangible rewards like getting a toy positively reinforced up to 80% of child aggressive behaviours.
Another type is intangible rewards. These include pleasurable feelings and social status.
social learning theory Albert bandora 1973
He realised that aggressive behaviour in humans cannot be fully explained by direct forms of learning such as operant conditioning.
Instead we need to consider that behaviour can be learned in a variety of ways
Sometimes this even includes the media, and the way in which role models respond to it.
Doll test- seeing the black doll as the bad doll and the whit doll as the pretty doll.
Factors of social learning theory-
Observing learning and modelling- Children learn specific aggressive behaviours through observation aggressive models eg, parents, siblings, peers. This does not guarantee that the individual will behave aggressively.
Vicious reinforcement- People observe not only the individual committing an act of violence, bur the consequence they experience too. The observer experiences the consequence ‘second hand’. This increases the likelihood that the observer will imitate behaviour.
bandura
evolution of aggression
The behaviour is naturally selected because provided advantages for males (Buss et al). Sexual jealousy helps defend against this possibility by promoting aggressive countermeasures. Wilson and dally called these mate retention strategies. Strategies involve instrumental aggression bcs they are to achieve a goal- men use them to prevent their partners from ‘straying’EG strategies - direct guarding -man monitoring his partners behaviour and stopping her from seeing other men eg using physical violence. Negative inducements- man issuingthretas of violence/ other consequences ill kill u if u leave me
1 brain structure influence of aggression- amygalda
The amygdala is a part of our limbic system which regulates our emotional behaviour.
Amygdala reactivity is a key predictor of human aggression
Higher sensitivity= more aggression
Aggressive people tend to have amygadala’s that react quickly and strongly to threatening stimuli (Gospic et al 2011)
brain structure influence of aggression- oribitofrontal cortex
The orbitofrontal cortex is a region of the brain which plays an important role in higher cognitive functions such as rational thinking
It regulates impulse control
Remember the frontal lobe is all to do with personality and behaviour.
Activity in this region is reduced in people with psychiatric disorders that feature aggression
f the OFC is damaged or not functioning properly, it can lead to problems with controlling impulses and emotions, making a person more likely to act aggressively. For example, someone with OFC damage might struggle to manage frustration or anger, resulting in aggressive outbursts. So, the OFC helps keep aggression in check by guiding decision-making and emotional responses.
Dopamine causing aggression
Helps to regulate motivational behaviours and experience of reward. However, it interacts with serotonin to influence aggression. Seo et al (2008) argues serotonin under activity causes dopamine overactivity to cause impulsivity and aggression .
serotonin causing aggression
Levels in the OFC are normally associated with a reasonable degree of behaviours self- control. But decreased serotonin disrupts this link. Self- control is reduced and impulsive behaviour become more frequent.
testosterone causing aggression
Male sex hormone responsible for the development of masculine features. It is linked to aggression mainly because men are generally more aggressive than women and have much higher testosterone levels.
cortisol causing aggression
Works in conjunction with testosterone. When testosterone levels of high but levels of cortisol are low, this can increase aggression.
priming for aggression (lab)
Berkowitz and LePage (1967) noted that the presence of a weapon in a laboratory as associated with stronger electric shocks being selected by participants
They argued that the weapon was a cue that triggered (or primed) aggressive schemas in the minds of participants
Repeatedly viewing such media which indicates what violent situations involve and how they can develop.
The script is stored in memory until an environmental cue makes it easier to recall.
what impact does social media have on aggression
Constant exposure to angry and aggressive social media posts may prime aggressive thoughts in users
Priming happens without us being aware of it fully. We might observe someone’s hostile and aggressive behaviour in one social situation and then later make a wrong interpretation of someone else’s behaviour in a completely unrelated situation.
Happens in social media - view a text or post and think its aggressive when it isn’t -This is because of our cognition. We are set up over time to believe that one way of sending a message is better than another
Hostile attribution bias i
interpret other people’s behaviour as threatening or aggressive even is the behaviour of the other individual is neutral
eg someone bumping into u is a mistake but people with HAB may see it as they are deliberately doing
Crick and Dodge (1996) see HAB as a result of abnormal processing of social information. A person with HAB pays special attention to cues in a social situation that might be aggression-related
gender roles norms
Eagkey and wood - argue that norms dictate men should be independent and assertive and use aggression to achieve status - money/ social rewards.
women should generally not be aggressive but there are some exceptions. It is acceptable for women to be verbally aggressive as long as it releases anger
Conformity to the gender-role expectations varies depending on how much a person identified with their gender. For example, Reidy et al (2009) found women who identify with more masculine traits are more likely to be physically aggressive
culture norms
they are very different in levels of aggressive and violent crimes eg-Recorded cases of ‘intentional homicide’ are 18.1 per hundred thousand in the population of Mexico, 5 in the USA and 1.1 in England
US southern states share a culture of honour, a cultural norm that condones aggressive responses to perceived insults. It is entangled with gender-norms
role modelling
The media provides aggressive role models for people, especially children to imitate. Especially if they have characteristics the observer admires.
desensitisation
Normally when we witness aggressive behaviour we experience physiological arousal. But repeatedly viewing aggression may mean people get used to its effects- therefore becoming desensitised
disinhibition
These are strong social and psychological inhibitions against using aggression. These inhibitions are loosened after we observe aggressive behaviour in the media.
gang membership
Research into institutional aggression has mostly focused on prison. Aggression may be caused by the prison environment, which includes other people such as inmates and staff.
According to McGuire (2018) there are two ways in which other people influence prison aggression
staff behaviour
Being a gang member is strongly linked to a prison inmate engaging in violence, even if the inmate was not in a gang before prison. Gang leaders can exercise control over members in a prison environment. The more involved inmates are with gangs, the more likely they are to behave aggressively
Serious violence by inmates is higher in prisons where staff are inconsistent in applying disciplinary measures.
