Aggression evaluation Flashcards
Neural and hormonal mechanisms evaluation
neural strength- Gospic carried out brain scans on pts in a lab-based game that provoked aggression and found that aggressive reactions were associated with fast and heightened responses from the amygdala and that taking benzodiazepines before the game halved the number of aggressive reactions and decreased amygdala activity
neural strength- Berman split pts into 2 groups where pts were given either a placebo or a dose of paroxetine (enhances serotonin activity) pts then took part in a lab-based game where they gave electric shocks in response to provocation. Berman found that the placebo group gave more intense shocks because they didnt have a change in their serotonin levels
hormonal strength- Giammanco found that increases in testosterone are related to aggression and castration studies which decreased testosterone led to a reduction in aggressive behaviours
hormonal strength- Dabbs measured testosterone in the saliva of criminals and found that those with the highest levels had a history of violent crimes and those with the lowest levels committed only non-violent crimes
Genetic factors evaluation
strength- Godar ‘knocked out’ the MAOA gene in mice which showed increased serotonin and hyper aggression but when they were given an SSRI they reverted back to their normal behaviours which highlights the link beteen the MAOA gene and serotonin activity
strength- Brunner studied all 28 male members of a Dutch family who had a violent history and found that they had the MAOA-L variant this is a strength because it could help identify individuals at risk of becoming violent
limitation- a diathesis stress explanation may be more appropriate as Frazzetto found a link between aggression and the MAOA gene but only in those who experienced significant trauma during the first 15 years of life
Ethological explanation evaluation
strength- Tinbergen found that when male sticklebacks were presented with a series of models they would attack it in the same way regardless the shape as long as it had a red spot but would not attack if there was no red spot and the model looked like a stickleback. This supports IRM’s and FAP’s
limitation- Hunt argued that Lorenz underestimated the role of the environment as learning interacts with innate factors to produce subtle variations e.g. same species has different duration of each behaviour
limitation- Goodall observed two rival chimpanzee communities and found that their aggression was not impulsive but planned and co-ordinated and they ignored the others’ defencelessness and continued until death which is a weakness because it shows animal behaviour is not ritualistic
Evolutionary explanation evaluation
strength- Shackelford gave 107 married couples a questionnaire on mate retention inventory (for men) and the spouse influence report (for women) and found a strong positive correlation between reports of mate retention techniques and the partners aggressive behaviour
strength- support for evolutionary causation of aggressive comes from crime data e.g. male sexual jealousy is the single most common motivation for killings in domestic disputes in the US + account for 17% of murders in the UK
strength- accounts for gender differences as males are typically physically bigger and stronger so use aggressive behaviours to gain resources and status whereas women are more likely to resort to verbal aggression
Social psychological explanation (frustration-aggression hypothesis) evaluation
strength- Green had male pts complete a jigsaw puzzle under 3 different conditions (the puzzle was impossible, another student kept interfering, the confederate kept insulting the pt) the pts were then given the opportunity to give electric shocks to the confederate. Green found that group 3 gave the most shocks and group 1 gave the least which shows that people are more aggressive when they feel frustrated.
strength- Berkowitz and LePage had pts shocked by a confederate to induce frustration then the pts were given the opportunity to shock them in return and half the pts were randomly allocated to a condition where 2 guns were on the table next to the shock machine. Pts in the weapon condition gave an average of 6.07 shocks and the control group gave 4.67 shocks
limitation- Bushman found that pts who vented by repeatedly hitting a punching bag became more aggressive rather than less aggressive which questions the validity of the hypothesis
Social psychological explanation (SLT) evaluation
strength- Bandura found that children who observed aggressive behaviours of adults then imitated them almost identically (bobo doll experiment) this shows that we can learn aggressive behaviour through SLT
strength- real life applications of age restrictions on certain media as well as the watershed to censor aggression in order to improve society and limit children’s exposure to poor role models
strength- soft determinism approach as we have free will to choose to imitate someone, this supports the legal system unlike other explanations e.g. the genetic factors which state someone is determined to act aggressively if they have the MAOA gene
Social psychological explanation (deindividuation) evaluation
strength- Dodd asked his students an anonymous question about what they would do if they could do anything without being caught. He found that 36% of the responses were antisocial, 26% were actual criminal acts, and 9% were prosocial.
strength- real life applications e.g. Douglas and McGarty found a strong correlation between anonymity and sending threatening messages to other users online which shows people act more aggressively when they feel anonymous
strength- Zimbardo’s stanford prison experiment is an example of deindividuation as pts were given roles and numbers so could not be identified which led to impulsive behaviour by both parties
Institutional aggression (dispositional and situational explanation) evaluation
dispositional strength- Poole and Regoli found that the best indicator of violent amongst juvenile offenders was their level of pre-institutional violence regardless of situational factors which shows that the importation model may be the stronger one of the two
dispositional strength- DeLisi studied 800 juvenile delinquents and found a positive correlation between most negative dispositional factors and their likelihood of being brought to the parole board for aggressive behaviour in prison this is a strength as they could be targeted for support before entering the prison
situational strength- Bierie gave prison staff questionnaires on the conditions of their prison and matched them to records of violence. They found that extreme inmate violence was higher in prisons with poor physical conditions e.g. lack of privacy etc
situational strength- clear practical applications e.g. Wilson set up two units at a prison that were less claustrophobic with a view to the outside world, with music and lower temp and found it eradicated assaults on prison staff and other inmates
Media influences on aggression evaluation
strength- lab experiments have a high degree of control over variables so extraneous variables were controlled leading to high internal validity and establishment of cause and effect
limitation- it does not measure real-life aggression as there is no fear of retaliation to aggression so behaviour may be exaggerated and not generalisable to real life
limitation- correlational studies cannot establish cause and effect and can only establish a relationship therefore it limits the extent to which the researcher can draw firm conclusions from the research
The role of desensitisation, disinhibition, and cognitive priming evaluation
desensitisation strength- Krahe found that pts who regularly viewed violent media showed lower levels of arousal when shown violent film clips (were desensitised), this correlated to more unprovoked aggression in a noise blast task.
