aggression lect 3 Flashcards
what is aggression
baron and richardson
-any form of behaviour directed towards the goal of harming or injuring another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment
what is the biosocial approach to explaining aggression
includes biological drives and psychological elements
-agg is not inevitable in humans
what is the frustration agg hypothesis
part of biosocial approach
-Dollard et al
-agg arises through frustration
-goal striving causes frustration which leads to agg
-people strive for goals and achievement is cathartic
-by thwarting goal achievement there needs to be another way to vent arousal- this leads to agg
-agg normally directed towards source of goal thwarting but when not possible it is displaced (scapegoating)
strength of frustration agg hypoth
Newhall et al
-meta analysis of 49 studies
-found frustration does lead to displacing agg
criticism of frustration agg hypothesis
Berkowitz and bandura
-frustration doesnt always lead to agg
-agg can occur in absence of frustration
what are the modifications of the frustration agg model
Berkowitz
-when frustrated many diff behaviours may arise
-agg may be dominant
-agg needs to be cued by environment so it is the chosen behavioural response over others!!
berkowitz and LePage weapon study as modification of frustration agg hypoth
-pp and confederate
-confederate annoys pp
-1 cond: sports equipment left out (told from previous study)
-2cond: weapon left out (previous study)
-frustrated pp from annoying confederate gave more electric shocks in the presence of weapon than sports equipment
-weapons are a cue for agg, maybe we need environmental cues to stimulate agg
what is the excitation transfer theory
part of biosocial approach
-Zillmann 1979
-residual arousal from unrelated event can feed readiness to aggress
-agg more likely if person is aroused from previous event
-residual non specific arousal labelled from cues in the environment
study for excitation transfer theory
Zillmann and bryant
-group 1: non arousal task (threading wire)
-group 2: high arousal task (physical exercise)
-2 mins later pp receive provocation (loud sound blast)
-6 mins later pp have opportunity to give loud sound blast back
-high residual arousal group administered more intensive sound blast
what are the learning models of agg
-operant cond
-social learning theory
what is operant cond in aggression
walters and brown
-acquisition of desired object through agg can reinforce agg behaviour
social learning theory and agg
-we observe agg in others through vicarious reinforcement
-Bandura: children observe adult’s behaviour and watch consequences and behave accordingly
what are the socialisation and learning influences of agg
-acquisition of agg
-instigation of overt agg
-maintenance of agg
bandura bobo doll study
-children who watch adults aggress against bobo doll and get rewarded will behave in a similar way when placed in the same situation with the bobo doll
bandura adult modelling study
-adult aggressive to bobo doll
-conditions: live, video, cartoon, control
-first three conditions increase aggression
-indicates media can influence aggression
what is the agg scripts model
Huesmann
-inter-representation of how to act in certain situations
-e.g behaviour in a cafe vs restaurant
-previous learning history gives scripts for how to behave e.g child who grew up in aggressive home may think this is the way to behave
what is the social info processing model
Dodge
-sets out processing steps involved in aggressive responses
what is the general agg model
DeWall and Anderson
-brings together range of approaches into a unified whole
baron and richardson criticisms of bandura study on agg and the media with adult agg
- can bobo doll really be a victim as it’s not motivated to avoid agg behaviours, so is it really agg
- was it realistic to allow children to aggress in exactly the same circumstance as witnessed, this is unlike the media we see as we cannot usually imitate what we see exactly
-not representative of media or agg types, adult modelling agg is not like agg that is seen on TV
media and agg study
Libert and Barch
-children aged 5-9 watched short film clip
1: agg programme
2: non agg programme
-each child presented with opportunity to hurt or help another child with a task
-children who watched agg clip were more likely to press the hurt button than the non agg clip watchers
evaluation of libert and barch study
+ real TV used here
- button pressing not representative of everyday
- no danger of retaliation like in real life
- exposure to clip was unrealistically short
-kids may have thought experimenter approved of agg, so not true behaviour
field study on media and agg
Black and bevan
-researchers spoke to cinema goers and asked to fill out questionnaire
-pp were either waiting to see violent/non violent film or had just seen a violent/non violent film
-most agg responses on questionnaire seen by those who had just watched agg film
-next agg response was those anticipating a violent film
what did anderson say about media violence
media violence is a sig risk in youth violence
video games and agg study
Bartlett et al
-studied violent cues in video games and the effects on
1: hostility 2: physiological arousal
-players on max and medium blood settings showed more hostility and higher arousal
anderson and bushman study on video games
-meta analysis of 35 studies
-video games…
-increased agg, reduced prosocial behaviour
-increased agg thoughts and feelings
-increased physiological arousal
anderson large meta analysis
looked at 136 papers and found exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased agg
drummand et al research
-28 study meta analysis
-small effect size of agg game content and agg behaviour
-no meaningful association
evidence of video games and agg with real crimes
Beerthwizen et al
-crime in young adults associated with boredem
-computer games give something to do
-video games occupy the criminal so reducing crime
-e.g
-release of GTA 5 in netherlands
violent crimes research
Markey et al
-compared changes with USA violent crimes with…
1: monthly changes in video game sales
2: changes in internet searchers for violent video game guides
3: violent crimes following release of 3 popular games
-higher game sales = lower violent crime
-higher game related searches = lower assaults and homicides
-homicides decreased 3-4 months after release of 3 popular games
what dd freedman find
society became less violent over recent decades despite increased TV
