Aggression

Question 1

Outline one social psychological theory of aggression.

[4 marks]

Answer 1

• SLT involves models, imitation, vicarious reinforcement, personal reinforcement and punishment, and underlying cognitive processes such as mental representation.
• For de-individuation there should be reference to the loss of private self-awareness and increased anonymity (decreased public self-awareness).

Question 2

Discuss evolutionary explanations of human aggression.

[16 marks]

Answer 2

• Where aggression is thought to be adaptive.
• These include acquiring and protecting resources such as food, territory and mates, and status within the group, especially in males. High status then leads to greater access to resources in general and to mates in particular.
• Aggression in relation to infidelity and/or jealousy is usually linked to male mate-retention strategies in response to imagined or actual sexual infidelity. There is a range of mate-retention strategies several of which do not involve aggression of any sort.
• evolutionary context necessary - reference to potential cuckoldry and the evolutionary drive for men to invest resources only in their own offspring

Question 3

Outline and evaluate one social psychological theory of aggression.
[4 + 16 marks]

Answer 3

• For social learning theory, outline;
  observation, modelling and vicarious reinforcement
• For de-individuation:
  anonymity, and decreased self-assessment and self-awareness.

Question 4

Briefly explain how cognitive priming in the media might influence aggressive behaviour

Answer 4

• aggressive images in the media e.g. guns act as priming stimuli or cues for a script/schema/memory of an aggressive behaviour
• exposure to these cues in a similar context can trigger the memory leading to reproduction of the aggressive or antisocial behaviour
• effect may be specific (reproduction of specific aggressive acts) or more general (tendency to behave in a generally violent/aggressive/antisocial way).

Question 5

What are innate releasing mechanisms?

Answer 5

• Innate releasing mechanisms (IRMs) are hard-wired brain networks that respond to specific stimuli (signs or releasers) by initiating a fixed action pattern, a set sequence of behaviours.
• IRMs are a key part of the ethological (instinctive) approach to aggression (and other behaviours such as courtship/mating). Examples of IRM in relation to aggression include the male stickleback showing aggressive behaviour to red-bellied sticklebacks (male rivals).

Question 6

Discuss media influences on aggression.

Answer 6

• Social learning theory – concepts such as observation, vicarious learning, imitation
• Possible underlying mechanisms, such as desensitisation, disinhibition and cognitive priming
• Evidence from a range of research studies; lab-based studies, field experiments, longitudinal studies