Chapter 16: The Cognitive Approach: Relevant Research Flashcards
how does aggression begin according to the general aggression model?
Aggression begins with a social encounter that has the potential to trigger aggression
what influences how we react to aggression?
the kind of person we are and the situation we are in
when is aggression more likely?
when the situation includes provocation, frustration, or encouragement to act violently
when are personal and situational factors relevant in determining aggressive behaviour?
Personal and situational factors are relevant only to the extent that they activate aggression-related thoughts and emotions
when do violent acts become a real possibility?
When aggressive thoughts enter people’s awareness and remain easily accessible
what activates aggressive thoughts and emotions?
Any aspect of the situation that we associate with violence
video game avatars and aggression study
Both men and women were more aggressive after playing a violent video game with a male avatar than a female avatar, presumably because people are more likely to associate men with violence
violent song lyrics and aggression study
Exposure to violent song lyrics increases aggressive thoughts and feelings
hostile associations across people
Some people are more prone to make hostile associations with situations they encounter than others
cognitions in highly aggressive people
Highly aggressive people have a well-developed and easily accessible network of hostile cognitions
aggressive cognitions and violent TV
People who watch a lot of violent movies and TV bring aggression-related thoughts into awareness more easily than those who have not been exposed to a lot of violent media images
behaviour scripts
represent the ways to act that we have learned and sometimes practiced
where are behaviour scripts located?
among hostile cognitions
how do we learn aggressive scripts?
by watching aggressive models
what aggressive scripts are we more likely to act out?
ones that we have practiced
when are we more likely to act out an aggressive behavioural script?
- if it’s more accessible
- if we ruminate about the events that led to the aggressive thoughts
automatic aggression and behavioural scripts
- A lot of aggression takes place in an automatic or impulsive manner
- In these cases, highly accessible aggressive scripts can be particularly dangerous
cognitive scripts of violent-prone people
Violence-prone people continue to revisit provoking incidents, keeping their aggressive scripts highly accessible in their minds
Conditions that make hostile cognitions more accessible
- Anger
- Alcohol
- Frustration
aggression and interpreting situations
Aggressive conditions also trigger the way we interpret situations
general aggression model
- social encounters
- person & situation
- hostile, thoughts, and emotions & aggression scripts
- appraisal & decision
- thoughtful or impulsive action
aggression in boys vs. girls
Adolescent and preadolescent boys are much more likely than girls to engage in physical aggression
reactive aggression
the angry and aggressive way that some people respond to mild frustration
reactive aggression and radio study
- boys with a history of reactive aggression were more likely to see the act of another student breaking their radio as international and hostile than nonaggressive boys
- The aggressive boys had chronically accessible hostile thoughts that led them to interpret harmless acts as threatening
interventions for reducing reactive aggression
Several intervention programs are designed to reduce reactive aggression by changing a child’s aggression-related cognitions
Fast Track intervention study
- At-risk students placed in a Fast Track condition from grades 1-10, which included home visits and an enrichment program were significantly less likely to commit antisocial acts like assault and theft
- The reduction in antisocial behaviour was associated with changes in the student’s thoughts
- Students in the Fast track program were less likely to attribute a classmate’s actions to something provocative
- Students in the Fast Track program were also better able to think of constructive solutions to social problems and were better able to recognize the bad outcomes that were likely to follow if they became physically aggressive
Fast Track intervention study 10 years later
At age 26, Fast Track participants showed lower levels of aggression and lower testosterone reactivity when provoked
memory in men vs. women
- Men and women do not differ in their ability to memorize and recall information
- But, there are differences in what men and women remember
what do women remember better?
Women recall significantly more personal events than men (both positive and negative)
what do men remember better?
Men did better at recalling the facts they had learned in school or read about
men vs. women’s self-relevant information
- Genders differ in the extent to which self-relevant information is associated with emotions and the extent to which information about themselves is connected with information about personal relationships
- Women are more likely than men to encode information about themselves in terms of emotions