Aggression Flashcards
1
Q
What are the 4 parts of the Limbic system?
A
- Hypothalamus
- Amygdala
- Thalamus
- HIPPOcampus
2
Q
What are the roles of the hypothalamus?
A
regulation of ANS
3
Q
What is the role of the amygdala?
A
regulates emotions eg. fear & aggression
4
Q
What is the role of the thalamus?
A
processes & directs sensory and motor signals to the correct areas of the cerebal cortex
5
Q
What is the role of the hippocampus?
A
involved in memory (LTM), especially knowledge of how to react in different situations
6
Q
What was the procedure of Gospic’s ultimatum game?
A
- lab study
- proposer & responder
- proposer offers to split money, if responder accepts they split money
- no one gets any money, if the responder if the rejects offer
- responders were scanned using fMRI
7
Q
What were the finding’s of Gospic’s ultimatum game?
A
responders rejected unfair offers scans showed fast & heightened response in amygdala
- if responders took benzodiazepine before game, it halved the number of rejections & decreased activity in amygdala
8
Q
What does Gospic’s research provide evidence for?
A
the limbic system being implicated in aggression
9
Q
What is an limitation of the limbic system’s influence on human aggression?
A
opposing research!
- doesn’t operate in isolation, seems to work with orbito-frontal cortex (not part of the limbic system)
- Coccaro (2007) states that often the activity in OFC is reduced in patients who suffer from aggressive psychiatric disorders
10
Q
Is serotonin inhibitory or excitatory?
A
inhibitory
11
Q
What happens if there are low levels of serotonin in the OFC?
A
associated with increased aggression - individuals are less able to control their impulsive & aggressive responses
12
Q
which hormone works antagonistically with testosterone?
A
cortisol
13
Q
What was Virkkunen’s research (1994) on serotonin?
A
- found lower levels of serotonin in cerebrospinal fluid of violent impulsive than in non-impulsive offenders
- violent offenders suffered from more sleep irregularities
14
Q
higher levels of what hormone are linked to aggressive behaviour?
A
testosterone
15
Q
What is the role of tesosterone?
A
- regulates social behaviour
- responsible for the development of masculine features
- acts on the brain area involved in controlling aggression
16
Q
What is The Challenge Hypothesis?
A
Dabbs suggested that the testosterone increase in men is adaptative response to any threat to status
17
Q
What was Dolan’s research into testosterone? What did he find?
A
- sample of 60 male offenders in UK maximum security prison
- found there was a positive correlation between testosterone level and aggressive behaviour
- men often had personality disorders & histories of violent behaviour
18
Q
How does the case of Charles Whitman give evidence for neural explanations of aggression?
A
killed 13 people from an observation tower @ texas uni
- found to have a tumour pressing against his amygdala
19
Q
What was Raleigh’s research on serotonin and aggression?
A
found that monkeys who fed on a diet high in tryptophan showed less aggression than monkeys on a low tryptophan diet
20
Q
Who came up with the Frustration-Aggression hyothesis?
A
Dollard
21
Q
What is the Frustration-Aggression hypothesis?
A
see aggression as being the consequence of frustration
22
Q
Why are the 3 factors that cause frustration to increase?
A
- strong motivation to achieve a goal
- we expect pleasure from the outcome
- we have little control over the presence of an obstacle
23
Q
What are the 3 blockers to aggressive behaviour?
A
- threat of a punishment
- abstract cause (non-physical or indirect factors)
- absence of the cause
24
Q
What is the purpose of behaving aggressively according to the frustration-aggression hypothesis & the psychodynamic approach? (3 points)
A
- aggression is a psychological drive which needs to be satisfied
- to experience catharsis in order to satisfy our aggressive drive
- makes further aggression less likely
25
What does 'catharsis' mean?
the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from strong or repressed emotions
26
What was Brown's research on the 3 factors that lead to aggression? How can Brown's research be explained by the 3 factors?
- surveyed British holidaymakers who were prevented from travelling by ferry to France because of French fishing boats blocking the ferry port
- led to increase in hostile attitudes towards the French
- strong motivation to go to France, expect pleasure from the holiday & holidaymakers have little control over the presence of French fishing boats
27
What was Pastore's research on justified & unjustified frustration?
- asked prtpcnts to imagine how they would feel in different circumstances in which they may feel frustrated
- participants displayed much lower anger levels when the reason for frustration was justified than when it was unjustified
28
What is displaced aggression?
Dollard argued that aggression can displaced from the source on to someone or something else - so catharsis can be still be experienced
29
What are strengths of Frustration-Aggression theory?
supporting evidence from Brown & Pastore
30
What are 2 limitations the Frustration-Aggression hypothesis?
Deterministic - Berkowitz argued that frustration is one of many unpleasant experience which leads to aggression
- it is the unpleasant feeling not the frustration that causes the aggresssion
Opposing evidence - SLtheorists argue that aggression is learnt & not the result of frustration
eg. Bandura's bobo doll study
31
What is strength of Brown's research?
naturalistic experiment - high ecological validity
32
What is a limitation of Pastore's research?
uses methods of self-report - so could have a social desirability bias
33
What does the social learning theory suggest about why people are aggressive? (4 points)
- learnt by imitating role models
- vicarious reinforcement takes places where an individual witnesses a model being rewarded for behaving aggressively
- so individual is more likely to imitate this behaviour
- the 4 mediational processes must occur for the behaviour to take place
34
What is deindividuation?
- a loss of personal identity & self-awareness due to being immersed in a group, which can often lead to impulsive & reckless behaviour
35
What did Festinger say about what happens in deindividuation?
- there is a reduction of inner restraints of self-awareness where individuals are 'submerged in a group'
36
Why does deinidividuation occur in a crowd? (4 points)
an individual becomes anonymous & lose their personal sense of identity
- thus, loosening their normal inhibitions
- this weakens the process of continual self-assessment
- cannot see the consequences of any aggression
37
How does deindividuation lead to aggression?
- we lose self awareness & stop filtering our behaviour, ignoring social norms
- as a result we are emotional, impulsive & irrational which can lead to aggressive behaviour
38
What is the research support for deindividuation?
Dodd (1985)
procedure: asked students 'if you could do anything knwoing that you would not be detected or held responsible, what would you do?'
findings:
- 36% referred to anti social behaviour
- 26% were criminal acts
- 9% were prosocial
conclusion: shows a link anonymity between deindividuation & aggression
39
What are the 4 types of studies used to support genetic explanations of aggression?
1. twin studies
2. adoption studies
3. the MAOA gene
4. gene/environment interaction
40
What types of twins are compared in twin studies of aggression?
monozygotic & dizygotic
41
What percentage of genes do monozygotic twins share?
100%
42
What percentage of genes do dizygotic twins share?
50%
43
Who studied concordance rates for MZ & DZ twins involved in physical assault?
What were the concordance rates?
Coccaro
- 50% for MZ & 19% for DZ twins
44
What does Coccaro's study tell us about genetic explanations of aggression?
there is a genetic link
45
Who used adoption studies to assess the aggression of an adopted child & their biological parents?
What were the findings?
Rhee & Waldman
- 41% of aggressive behaviour could be linked to genes
46
What is the role of the MAOA enzyme?
break down neurochemicals, including serotonin, after a nerve impulse has passed
47
Which version of the MAOA gene produces less of the MAOA enzyme?
L-MAOA (low activity)
48
What has been found about L-MAOA and its link to the limbic system?
people with L-MAOA display greater reactivity in the amygdala during emotional arousal
- reactivity in the amygdala has been shown to be related to aggression, suggesting a link between L-MAOA and impulsive forms of aggression
49
What is the variant of the MAOA gene, which is specifically linked to aggressive behaviour called?
Warrior gene
50
What was Brunner's study into the Warrior gene? What were his findings?
studied 28 males members of a Dutch family who were involved in impulsive, aggressive behaviour (eg. rape, attempted murder & physical)
- all members had the Warrior Gene
51
What did Frazetto discover about the the Warrior gene's link to aggression?
there was only a link, if the individual has also experienced a form of abuse during their first 15 years
52
What type of model, relating to mental disorders, does Frazetto's study strongly support? Why?
diathesis-stress model
- showed that for the Warrior gene to be linked to aggression, environmental factors had to play a role as well
53
What are 2 explanations used to explain institutional aggression?
1. dispositional factors
2. situational factors
54
What are dispositional factors?
to do with the personal characteristics of the prisoners
55
What are situational factors?
to do with the environment within the prison
56
What does the Importation Model suggest about why violence occurs in prison?
individuals have predispositions for violence
- this is due to beliefs, culture & social norms of the individuals
57
What was the procedure of DeLisi's research into the Importation Model?
813 juvenile delinquents
- had several negative dispositional features eg. childhood trauma, history of violence
58
What were the findings of DeLisi's study into the Importation Model?
inmates were more likely to engage in suicidal activity & sexual misconduct
59
What was the procedure of Camp & Gaes' research into violence in prisons?
- field experiment
- random allocation of inmates to low security or high security prisons
- inmates matched on criminal history & predisposition to aggression
60
What were the findings of Camp & Gaes' study into violence in prisons?
33% of prisoners in low security inmates involved in aggressive misconduct within 2 years
36% of prisonsers in high security inmates involved in aggressive misconduct within 2 years
61
Which explanation of institutional aggression does Camp & Gaes research support?
dispositional factors - no significant statistical difference between low & high security prison
- suggests that situational factors do not explain institutional aggression
62
What does the Deprivation model suggest about why violence occurs in prisons?
it is the results of the environment within the prison, due to the lack of freedom, independence & access to goods
63
What is the situational explanation of insitution aggression also known as?
The Deprivation Model
64
What is the Dispositional explanation of institution aggression also known as?
The Importation Model
65
What was the procedure of Cunningham's research into the Deprivation Model?
- analysed details of 35 inmate homicides in Texas prisons
- found motivation for behaviours was linked to inmates' abilities to possess/do certain things
- eg. drugs, homosexual relationships, fights about possessions
66
What idea about aggression in animals did Lorenz propose?
aggression is ritualistic
- he suggests that a display of aggressive behaviours eg. teeth baring, where the animals are not actually harmed, is used to deter an opponent without physical harm occuring
67
What are Innate Releasing Mechanisms?
inbuilt biological stuctures or processes, which have evolved as an automatic biological response to a specific stimuli
68
As a result of Innate Releasing Mechanisms, what is the consequential sequence of aggressive behaviours called?
Fixed Action Patterns
69
What was Tinbergen's inital study into IRMs and FAPs?
studied male sticklebacks & found that they attack other males in their territory during mating season
- believed that the red spot on the belly of the male sticklebacks was a stimulus for an IRM
70
What was the procedure & findings of Tinbergen's research into male sticklebacks?
presented male sticklebacks with a wooden model; if model had a red spot, the stickleback would attack
if the red spot wasn't present, the stickleback would not attack
71
What does SLT suggest about media influence on aggresssion?
individuals may identify with an attractive but violent hero, and be more likely to imitate their aggressive behaviour
- the observer may learn via vicarious learning that aggression can gain rewards
72
What were the findings of Craig & Anderson's research into the effect of computer games on aggression?
playing a violent computer game for 10 mins resulted in higher levels of aggression than playing a non-violent computer game
73
Why is sexual jealousy an evolutionary explanation of aggression? (3 points)
- men can never be sure they have fathered their child, as fertilisation is hidden - risk of cuckoldry
- contributes to survival of his rival's genes
- psychological mechanisms to prevent cuckoldry are therefore adaptive
74
What are the psychological mechanims to prevent cuckoldry called?
mate retention strategies
75
What did Wilson & Daly identify as the two main mate retention strategies?
1. direct guarding
2. negative inducements
76
What is direct guarding?
keeping a careful watch over partner's behaviour & actions eg. phone checking, not letting them see their friends
77
What are negative inducements?
issuing threats in case of the partner cheats
78
What did Wilson find when reporting on MTS' in couples? What does this tell us?
women who reported MTS' in their partner were twice as likely to report physical violence from their partner
- positive correlation between MTS & aggresssion
- sexual jealousy linked to aggression
79
What was the procedure & findings of Shackelford's research on MTS' ?
procedure:
- studied newly weds
- gave them two reports to fill out
findings:
- positive correlation between men's reports of their MT behaviours & women's reports of their partner's physical violence
suggests men who used MTS' were more likely to be violent to their wives - links sexual jealousy -> aggro
80
What did Volk suggests about bullying & relationships?
the characteristics of being a bully are attractive to females
eg. dominance, acquistion of resources & strength
81
What have evolutionary psychologists suggested about bullying?
it is adaptive, increases your survival chances
- ward off rivals & prevent cuckoldry
82
Why does female bullying in relationships occur, according to psychologists?
to secure a partner's fidelity, to make sure the partner sticks around & provides for offspring
