aggression lect 3

Question 1

what is aggression

Answer 1

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

Question 2

what is the biosocial approach to explaining aggression

Answer 2

includes biological drives and psychological elements
-agg is not inevitable in humans

Question 3

what is the frustration agg hypothesis

Answer 3

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)

Question 4

strength of frustration agg hypoth

Answer 4

Newhall et al
-meta analysis of 49 studies
-found frustration does lead to displacing agg

Question 5

criticism of frustration agg hypothesis

Answer 5

Berkowitz and bandura
-frustration doesnt always lead to agg
-agg can occur in absence of frustration

Question 6

what are the modifications of the frustration agg model

Answer 6

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!!

Question 7

berkowitz and LePage weapon study as modification of frustration agg hypoth

Answer 7

-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

Question 8

what is the excitation transfer theory

Answer 8

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

Question 9

study for excitation transfer theory

Answer 9

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

Question 10

what are the learning models of agg

Answer 10

-operant cond
-social learning theory

Question 11

what is operant cond in aggression

Answer 11

walters and brown
-acquisition of desired object through agg can reinforce agg behaviour

Question 12

social learning theory and agg

Answer 12

-we observe agg in others through vicarious reinforcement
-Bandura: children observe adult’s behaviour and watch consequences and behave accordingly

Question 13

what are the socialisation and learning influences of agg

Answer 13

-acquisition of agg
-instigation of overt agg
-maintenance of agg

Question 14

bandura bobo doll study

Answer 14

-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

Question 15

bandura adult modelling study

Answer 15

-adult aggressive to bobo doll
-conditions: live, video, cartoon, control
-first three conditions increase aggression
-indicates media can influence aggression

Question 16

what is the agg scripts model

Answer 16

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

Question 17

what is the social info processing model

Answer 17

Dodge
-sets out processing steps involved in aggressive responses

Question 18

what is the general agg model

Answer 18

DeWall and Anderson
-brings together range of approaches into a unified whole

Question 19

baron and richardson criticisms of bandura study on agg and the media with adult agg

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

media and agg study

Answer 20

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

Question 21

evaluation of libert and barch study

Answer 21

+ 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

Question 22

field study on media and agg

Answer 22

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

Question 23

what did anderson say about media violence

Answer 23

media violence is a sig risk in youth violence

Question 24

video games and agg study

Answer 24

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

Question 25

anderson and bushman study on video games

Answer 25

-meta analysis of 35 studies
-video games…
-increased agg, reduced prosocial behaviour
-increased agg thoughts and feelings
-increased physiological arousal

Question 26

anderson large meta analysis

Answer 26

looked at 136 papers and found exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased agg

Question 27

drummand et al research

Answer 27

-28 study meta analysis
-small effect size of agg game content and agg behaviour
-no meaningful association

Question 28

evidence of video games and agg with real crimes

Answer 28

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

Question 29

violent crimes research

Answer 29

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

Question 30

what dd freedman find

Answer 30

society became less violent over recent decades despite increased TV