Lecture #10 Flashcards
1
Q
Aggression
A
- Aggression is found amongst all kinds of animals - ancient behaviour
- Recently, aggression has been viewed as not purely maladaptive- malfunctioning, aggression can have negative outcomes but there can also be benefits
- Aggression has functional benefits to those who use it
- Different animals have differences in aggression
2
Q
Delinquent behaviour
A
- A significant proportion of delinquent behaviour is thought to be caused by adolescents- peaksin men around 18-24 years of age
- Moffitt suggests that delinquency may be the result of late teens trying to enter the world of adults by committing adult acts- because your not kids anymore they want to show that they are adults, engage in criminal behaviours to show how they are grown up
- Harris suggests that delinquency is the result of trying to establish an identity unique from mainstream adult society- its because they are trying to distance themselves from adults, show how they are very different form their parents
3
Q
YMS (young male syndrome)
A
- Daly& Wilson believe that it is YMS, or Young Male Syndrome- the male version of PMS but worse and lasts years
- Young-men compete with each other to gain status- males competing for a reputation and status really really counts
- Status allows men to get more/better mates
4
Q
Developmental trajectory of aggression
A
- Aggression peaks in the early preschool/JK years- present in every child, different children though have different trajectory
- As children get older, physical aggression decreases compared to other forms
Transition to middle school is an important source of renewed conflict - Aggression Development -most kids there’s a big drop off between ages 4-6 when school starts
5
Q
Adolescent conflict – bullying (a goal-directed harmful act aimed at a weaker individual)
A
- Bullying may be defined as: “as a goal-directed harmful act aimed at a weaker individual”
- Goal-directed, harmful, power imbalance
- Bullying is found throughout all age groups but it tends to peak during the transition to high school- bullying is found everywhere, maladaptive behaviour on a huge scale
- Bullying in Canada- haven’t changed much over time
6
Q
Signs of being a bully
A
- Little concern for others’ feelings
- Does not recognize impact of own behaviour on others
- Aggressive with siblings, parents, teachers, friends and animals
- Bossy and manipulative to get own way
- Possessing unexplained objects and extra money
- Secretive about possessions, activities and whereabouts
- Holds a positive attitude toward aggression
- Easily frustrated and quick to anger
7
Q
Bullying myths
A
- Bullies are not stereotypically lonely, dumb, cowardly or from broken homes
- Bully-victims are; pure bullies are average or higher on: social skills, intelligence, physical size and health, mental health and feeling of high self-esteem
8
Q
Why bully?
A
- Bullies are average in social skills and mental health
- To get stuff
- To get dates
- To get popularity
9
Q
Signs of victimization
A
- Not wanting to go to school or participate in extra-curricular activities
- Anxious, fearful, overreactive
- Exhibits low self-esteem and makes negative comments about themselves
- Headaches and stomach aches without obvious cause
- Lower interest and performance in school
- Loses things, needs money, reports being hungry after school
- Injuries, bruising, damaged clothing, broken things
- Unhappy, irritable, little interest in activities
- Trouble sleeping, nightmares, bedwetting
- Expresses threats to themselves or others
10
Q
Altruism
A
- Altruism stems from two sources – kin selection (caring for copies of your genes in another body)and reciprocity – you scratch my back; I’ll scratch yours (karma)- something humans are better are than any other animal
- Universals of human morality
- Capacity for cooperating that surpasses any other mammal-
- The two combined (e.g., an eye for an eye, blood is thicker than water) are universals of human social behaviour
- People are not just predisposed to aggression
- We are very cooperative apes
- Children began displaying empathy as infants, begin sharing behaviour at around 18 months
- Continue developing and showing these tendencies as they get older
- Does not appear to naturally develop along kinship lines without exposure to kin, often reinforced by teachings
- Altruism becomes more complex with theory of mind and increasing memory capacity
11
Q
Altruism and empathy
A
Altruism and empathy are first seen in infancy when infants will cry when other infants cry
Toddlers will respond to sadness in attached figures
When theory of mind emerges, true altruism and empathy can emerge as one understands another’s pain- emerges around 4 years of age
12
Q
Callous empathy
A
- Callous empathy is a termed used to describe adult psychopaths- violate basic norms
- They are able to understand other’s emotions, but are unaffected by them
- This allows them to callously manipulate the emotions of other people without suffering from internal emotional consequences- can interact with people without having emotional consequences
- Psychopaths commit more than half of all violent crimes -Adult psychopaths respond to empathy therapy by becoming worse! (normal criminals become better)
- Evidence exists that this behaviour is “locked into” by adolescence- by mid late adolescence the cues seem to lock in and no intervention is effective
- Current search is looking into how this callous empathy develops in younger children
There are several early emotional cues that begin to emerge in childhood
13
Q
Callous empathy
A
Shallow emotional affect- not really emotional, may get very upset though
Fearlessness
Low inhibition- tend to be reckless
Good emotion regulation (really just shallow affect?); glibness- means slick, charming
Boredom, sensation seeking
Grandiosity
14
Q
Emotional deception
A
- Like other measures of emotional competence, is positive associated with social skills
- Better liars are more popular
- Children and adults appear to regularly practice emotional deception, degree varies by individual, age and culture
