Week 6 Flashcards
What is human aggression?
any behaviour directed toward another individual that is carried out with the proximate (immediate) intent to cause harm.“ (Anderson & Bushman, 2002) • “The target must be motivated to avoid the behaviour.“
What is violence?
• Violence is aggression that has extreme
harm as its goal (e.g. severe injury or death).
• All violence is aggression (but not all aggression is violence)
What does animal behaviour tell us about gender differences with aggression?
• Male animals more aggressive, more likely
to attack, more likely to fight
What is the hydraulic hypothesis?
Konrad Lorenz
Aggression instinctual
• Not caused by the environment – rather it
is ‘released’ or ‘unlocked’ in certain circumstances
• Instinctual aggression then ‘pushes out’
• Needs to be ‘released’ regularly or aggression becomes pent up
Lack of empirical support
What are the four personality types linked with aggressive behaviour
• Anti-social, Narcissistic, Borderline, Paranoid personality disorders
What is an example of clinical psychology dealing with aggression?
Conflict management, relationship systems, counselling for aggression
What are neural networks?
Human beings when they experience things, associate it with other things and wire together their memories.
The more often nodes are activated together, the nodes become stronger.
What is the problem with neural networks and aggression?
the more aggression and
violence we experience, the greater the
number of nodes and the strength of the connection
What is cognitive neo-association theory?
Assumes that memories, emotions, thoughts
and plans for action are linked together in
the brain.in just this way
See Berkowitz,
the linked parts (such as the parts that register anger, contain the concepts of various swear words, or store memories of other frustrations), also become
activated.
What is script theory?
• When a situation is very familiar we tend to play things out in a similar way most times until the response becomes automatic whenever that situation arises (domestic
violence can occur in this way)
It then becomes chronically accessible
How is developmental psych linked to aggression?
Children who are aggresive to their peers tend to stay that way in adulthood.
What is the subgroup of people found in developmental psych studies?
Sub group of people who dont follow the norm and become more aggressive throughout their lifespan. Tend to have hostile upbringings
What are the links between emotion and aggression?
Anger and aggression, shame and aggression, humiliation, jealousy.
What is the link between anger and aggression?
Anger is behaviour, aggression is a feeling.
Links between the two
What is shame and aggression?
People who are shame prone tend to try and aggressively hide their flaws. When they act on it it fuels their shame
Jealousy and aggression?
Reproductive success, aggression etc
What is the frustration-aggression hypo?
Built on Freud’s ideas about frustrationin the pursuit of pleasure
• When blocked from attaining a goal frustration ensues.
• All frustration leads to aggression
• All instances of aggression can be traced back to frustration
• Clearly not always true (but often is)
whats the link between health psychology
Particularly concerned with links between physical health and psychological phenomena. Type A personality and heart disease Anger and hypertension Alcoholism and aggression Injury, recovery, trauma
What is the link between aggression and learning?
Classical conditioning Instrumental learning (Reward aggression, punishing non aggression)
What is the link between social learning theory and aggression?
suggests that people acquire aggressive tendencies through
direct experience (aggressive behaviour
has brought them rewards in the past) or through observing and copying the
behaviour of aggressive role models
Children who viewed violent models subsequently displayed the novel forms of
aggression toward the Bobo doll whereas control
children rarely, if ever, did so
How many genes are there that are indirectly linked to aggressive behaviour?
16/17
What are the neurotrasmitters linked with aggression?
• Serotonin deficits linked to aggression
• Serotonin linked with impulse control;
low serotonin poorer impulse control
• Hi GABA levels in rodents linked with
aggression; little human data
• Dopamine levels with ADHD, impulsivity
• Impulsivity then linked with aggression
What are the hormones linked with aggression?
- High testosterone linked to aggression
- Especially when also low cortisol, serotonin
- See Montoya et al 2012
- Low cortisol, low oxytocin
- But some paradoxical effects with oxytocin
- Low oestrogen, progesterone
- Some evidence, findings mixed
What are the brain structures that link to aggression?
ifferent brain structures • Damage to the frontal lobes (uninhibited) • Structural and functional deficits in • Orbitofrontal cortex (mostly RH) • Anterior Cingulate Cortex (Mostly RH) • Dorsolateral Prefrontal cortex (LH) • Activation of Limbic System (‘old’ part of brain; primitive instincts and survival) • especially in Amygdala (emotion centre
What is the link between arousal and aggression?
Increased aggression is associated with:
• Lower resting heart rate (even at age 3!)
• Under-arousal of both the central nervous
system and autonomic nervous system
• Lower electrodermal, cardiovascular, and
cortical (i.e., EEG) arousal
• Low basal cortisol (stress hormone) levels
Whats the link between big 5/6 and aggression?
• Low agreeableness (Straightforwardness, compliance, altruism) • Low conscientiousness (deliberation) • High neuroticism (angry hostility) • Low extraversion (warmth) • Big 6 (HEXACO) Lee & Ashton (2004) • Low Honesty/humility
Whats the social interaction theory?
Aggression is something you do when you want to get something.
