Biological Explanations of Aggression Evolutionary Explanations of Aggression Ethological Explanations of Aggression Flashcards
Which of the following best describes aggression? definition of aggression
Any physical or non-physical behaviour that is threatening or intends to harm humans or objects.
The hypothalamus is involved in…
Econtrolling the fight or flight response.
Aactivating the sympathetic nervous system.
Dproducing aggressive behaviour.
We’ve now seen that the amygdala…
Fdecides whether an event is ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
Adetermines the emotional meaning of events in the environment.
If the events are bad or dangerous, then the amygdala sends
If the events are bad or dangerous, then the amygdala sends nerve impulses to the hypothalamus , causing it to produce aggressive behaviour.
The main part of the brain involved in storing long-term memories is the…
Dhippocampus.
What role does the hippocampus play in aggression?
It sends information stored in our memory to the amygdala.
Together, the hippocampus, amygdala and hypothalamus are called…
the limbic system
The frontal cortex sends electrical signals that inhibit neurons in the amygdala. This causes neurons in the amygdala to…
generate fewer nerve impulses.
If a person’s frontal cortex can’t generate electrical signals then…
Ethey are more likely to be aggressive.
Btheir amygdala will not be inhibited.
Csignals will continue to be sent to the hypothalamus.
What role does the frontal cortex play in aggression?
it inhibits neurons in the amygdala.
If the frontal cortex is damaged, then…
Bthe amygdala keeps sending impulses to the hypothalamus.
Cthe brain continues to produce aggressive behaviour.
When neurons send electrical signals to other neurons at the synapse, they release
When neurons send electrical signals to other neurons at the synapse, they release neurotransmitters that bind to receptors on the post-synaptic membrane.
Name a neurotransmitter that we have already come across.
GABA, dopamine, acetylcholine, serotonin.
Serotonin plays a role in…
Adetermining how we feel about things.
Ccontrolling our mood.
Since serotonin inhibits neurons in the amygdala, this means that the amygdala sends fewer nerve impulses to the…
Dhypothalamus.
Which of the following statements are true about the role of serotonin in aggression?
GSerotonin reduces nerve impulses sent to the hypothalamus.
ESerotonin reduces aggressive behaviour.
CSerotonin inhibits neurons in the amygdala.
If neurons in the amygdala are damaged, so that there is less neural activity in the amygdala, then there should be
If neurons in the amygdala are damaged, so that there is less neural activity in the amygdala, then there should be less nerve impulses sent to the hypothalamus, meaning that aggression should decrease.
One limitation of the study support for the role of the amygdala in aggression is that…
the results of the studies haven’t all been consistent.
While some studies have found that a damaged amygdala is associated with a decrease in aggression, others have reported an increase in aggression. This suggests that…
Ethe role of the amygdala may be more complicated than first thought.
Athe role of the amygdala might differ depending on the sub-region of the amygdala.
Serotonin is released at synapses in the limbic system
where it
Serotonin is released at synapses in the limbic system
where it inhibits neural activity, leading to a decrease or drop or fall in aggression.
What do we call different versions of a particular gene?
alleles
Genes influence our aggressive behaviour by influencing processes in our…
brain
Since aggression is a complex behaviour…
there are many genes that control it.
Which of the following are true for the genetic explanation of aggression?
CThere are many different genes involved in aggression.
DGenes influence our level of aggression.
ADifferent gene alleles make people behave more or less aggressively.
We’ve seen that higher levels of serotonin usually lead to…
lower levels of aggression
Which of the following statements are true about the role of genes in controlling aggression?
FThere are two alleles of the MAOA gene, a long one, and a short one.
DThe MAOA gene produces a chemical that controls the levels of neurotransmitters available at the synapse.
The short MAOA gene allele…
Ais worse at breaking down neurotransmitters like serotonin.
Ctends to make people more aggressive.
Which of these best describes concordance rate?
The percentage of twins in each group that both display a particular behaviour or trait, given that one twin displays that trait.
Small changes can happen to alleles during reproduction, called…
mutation
Being aggressive was an adaptive behaviour, meaning that it helped us to
Being aggressive was an adaptive behaviour, meaning that it helped us to survive or reproduce and reproduce or survive .
