Brain Function & Aggression:

Question 1

What does damage to the Pre-Frontal cause?

Answer 1

Lead to problems with decision making, regulating aggressive response and impulse control. This can lead to aggressive outbursts as the person will make the wrong decision.

Question 2

What does damage to the Hippocampus cause?

Answer 2

Transferring info from STM to LTM and could be involved with aggression and violence. May not learn the appropriate response.

Question 3

What does damage to the Amygdala cause?

Answer 3

Regulating instinctive emotional response so damage could cause a person to be aggressive so more impulsive.

Question 4

What does damage to the Hypothalamus cause?

Answer 4

Regulates hormone production such as testosterone, M produce more T can affect the level of rage a person displays.

Question 5

Supporting Evidence: Phineas Gage:

Answer 5

I: The case study of Phineas Gage who had a tamping iron lodged through his skull during an explosion. This accident damaged his frontal cortex. It was found that after the accident he become more irresponsible and aggressive. J: That brain functioning is high in validity as accurately shows damaged to areas like the pre-frontal cortex causes aggression.

Question 6

Supporting Evidence: Charles Whitman:

Answer 6

The case study of Charles Whitman found that he shot and murdered 16 students at a Texas university, suggests that the brain tumour found in his limbic system (near his amygdala) was responsible for his impulsivity and aggression. This shows that damage to key areas that process emotional responses can cause an outburst of aggression.

Question 7

Supporting Evidence: Raine et al:

Answer 7

Raine et al. (1997) using PET scans it was found that murders has lower neural activity in the pre-frontal cortex and asymmetric functioning of amygdala compared to non-murderers. This shows that evidence has scientific credibility as it shows that that lower activity in brain areas can cause individuals to become aggressive and commit crimes like murder.

Question 8

Supporting Evidence: Animal Research: Downers:

Answer 8

Downer’s (1961) found that monkeys who had one amygdala removed did not process the presence of humans as aggressive but monkeys with an attached amygdala are aggressive towards humans. This suggests changes to the structure of the amygdala can cause changes to aggression.

Question 9

Critical Evidence: Bandura:

Answer 9

Bandura showed that children will observe and imitate aggression towards a bobo doll after observing a role model. Which shows that people can influence our levels of aggression and its not just how our brain works.