aggression key words

Question 1

Deindividuation

Answer 1

phenomenon in which people engage in seemingly impulsive, deviant, and sometimes violent acts in situations in which they believe they cannot be personally identified

Question 2

importation model

Answer 2

that individuals import their characteristics and traits into the prison, when they enter the prison.

Question 3

Innate releasing mechanism

Answer 3

A neutral network that, when stimulated by the presence of a releaser, communicates with motor control circuits to activate the fixed action pattern associated with that stimulus.

Question 4

vicarious reinforcement

Answer 4

learning through observation of the consequences of actions for other people.

Question 5

frustration-aggression

Answer 5

this sees aggression being the consequence of frustration, defined as ‘any event or stimulus that prevents an individual from attaining some goal and its accompanying reinforcing quality.

Question 6

Limbic system

Answer 6

the part of the brain involved in our behavioural and emotional responses, especially when it comes to behaviours we need for survival

Question 7

Monoamine oxidase A

Answer 7

an enzyme that breaks down important neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine and serotonin

Question 8

Negative inducement

Answer 8

when to control you somone offers a negative outcome that will be your fault if it happens.

Question 9

the challenge hypothesis

Answer 9

makes specific predictions about the association between testosterone and status-seeking behaviors, but the findings linking testosterone to these behaviors are inconsistent.

Question 10

fixed action pattern

Answer 10

a repertories of stereotyped behaviours which occur in specific conditions and which do not require learning.

Question 11

Cognitive Priming

Answer 11

temporary increase in the accessibility of thoughts and ideas. e.g. violent media activates thoughts about violence, which activates other aggressive thoughts through their association in memory pathways.

Question 12

Desensitisation

Answer 12

explanations based on this assume that, under normal conditions, anxiety about violence inhibits its use.

Question 13

Daly and Wilson (1988)

Answer 13

males have developed strategies to deter their partners from committing adultery, some of which are violent. The main drive behind such actions is male sexual jealousy, an adaptive response developed to help humans deal with paternal uncertainty

Question 14

Bandura (1963a)

Answer 14

Vicarious reinforcement was demonstrated in a repeat of the 1961 study whereby the observed actors were positively and negatively reinforced immediately after the action, reproduction through imitation was effected by this, but the behaviours were still internalised.

Question 15

Bandura (1961)

Answer 15

Bobo studies, observations of an aggressive model model led to children imitating the observed behaviours, physically and in 1/3 of the cases verbally too. empirical support for the SLT explanation of aggression.

Question 16

Archer (1991)

Answer 16

Low positive correlations between testosterone and aggression, but there are marked differences across studies.

Question 17

Scerbo and Raine (1993)

Answer 17

Anti social behaviour is linked to reduced levels of serotonin but not to dopamine, serotonin deficiency is particularly marked in suicidal individuals. serotonin inhibits impulsiveness and when reduced makes us more impulsive.

Question 18

McCorkle et al (1995)

Answer 18

found that overcrowding, lack of privacy and a lack of meaningful activity substantially increased levels of peer violence, suggesting that situational factors have a direct effect on levels of institutional aggression.

Question 19

Mann (1990)

Answer 19

administered the drug dexfenfluramine (which depletes serotonin in the brain) to 35 healthy adults. The researchers then used a questionnaire to assess hostility and aggression levels, which rose following administration of dexfenfluramine amongst males, but interestingly not amongst females. shows that inherent explanations of aggression can be different for males and females.

Question 20

Dabbs (1987)

Answer 20

measured salivary testosterone levels in violent and non-violent criminals, finding that those with high testosterone levels had a history or primarily violent offences whereas those with the lowest levels of testosterone had only committed non-violent offences.

Question 21

Brunner (1993)

Answer 21

conducted a case study where males were affected by a syndrome of borderline mental retardation and abnormal violent behaviour. These included impulsive aggression, arson, attempted rape and exhibitionism. The tests showed that the men had unusually low levels of MAOA in their bodies

Question 22

Buss (1988)

Answer 22

proposed that men have a number of strategies to deter their partners from being unfaithful; these are often referred to as ‘mate retention strategies’, the first of which is known as direct guarding. A second tactic highlighted by Buss that men use to deter their partners from committing adultery is negative inducements which involves using violence, or even the threat of violence to prevent a partner from being with another man.

Question 23

Lea (1983)

Answer 23

1. Stereotyped – the behaviour always occurs in the same way.
2. Universal – the behaviour is the same in all conspecifics.
3. Independent of individual experience – the behaviour is innate, with no learning involved.
4. Ballistic – once triggered, the FAP cannot be changed or stopped.
5. Specific triggers – each FAP has a specific trigger (sign stimulus).

Question 24

Huesmann (2003)

Answer 24

studied 557 children between the ages of 6 and 10, growing up in Chicago in 1977, and then 329 of these 15 years later in 1993. They found that habitual early exposure to TV violence was predictive of adult aggression later in life