Aggression

Question 1

What does the limbic system consist of?

Answer 1

• The hypothalamus, the hippocampus and the amygdala

- These subcortical structures are associated with emotional behaviour including aggression.

Question 2

Outline the amygdala’s role in aggression?

Answer 2

• Over-reactivity of the amygdala is linked to aggression because it plays a key role in how we interpret and respond to environmental threats.
• If certain areas of amygdala are electrically stimulated, an animal responds with aggression, e.g. snarling.
• If same areas are removed, aggressing response is eliminated.

Question 3

Outline the hippocampus’ role in aggression?

Answer 3

• Involved in forming long term memories.
• aids animals when they come across another animal that has previously attacked it- it responds aggressively
• Stored previous experience in LTM & responds appropriately.
• Impaired hippocampus=causes person to respond inappropriately with aggression because they are not able to put stimuli into context
• Habitually violent offenders show impaired hippocampus functioning.

Question 4

Outline serotonin’s role in aggression

Evidence?

Answer 4

Serotonin=calming, inhibitory effect on neural firing in amygdala

• when serotonin levels are low, aggression is more likely.
• Mann gave 35 healthy pps a serotonin reducing drug and assessed hostility levels using a questionnaire
• Results showed that the drug increased aggression scores in males but not females.

Question 5

Outline testosterones involvement in aggression

Evidence?

Answer 5

-Male sex hormone
-levels peak in young males, then decline
-high levels=difficulty controlling aggression
-increasing serotonin in several species leads to greater aggression; castration results in lower aggression.
-may explain why males are more aggressive.
-Wagner et all 1997 found that if a male mouse is castrated aggression reduces. If then given testosterone, aggression increases again.
-Dabbs (1987) measured testosterone in saliva of violent & non-violent criminals.
Highest levels of testosterone were found in violent criminals & lowest levels in non-violent criminals.

Question 6

Evaluate neural mechanisms of aggression

Answer 6

-Research support for Amygdala’s role= Pardini- longitudinal study of 56 male pps, with varying history of violence.
MRI scans showed that those with lower amygdala volume showed higher levels of aggression and violence.
-MRI support for role of hippocampus= Raine compared hippocampus of violent criminals using MRI scans. Some had been caught and convicted because they had acted impulsively. Others had not because they had acted in a more cold and calculating way. Found that the hippocampus in the right and left hemispheres were different in size in convicted violent criminals, but not in unconvicted violent criminals
-Research support for role of serotonin= Reduced serotonin levels in monkeys and dogs are associated with increased aggression (Raleig / Rosada)
This has been further supported by human studies. Mann gave 35 healthy pps a serotonin reducing drug and found that the drug increased aggression in men but not in women.
-Understanding of role of serotonin has been useful as it has led to treatment= Antidepressant medication (which raises serotonin levels) does decrease irritability & impulsive aggression.

Question 7

Evaluate hormonal mechanisms of aggression

Answer 7

Research support for role of testosterone in aggression- Wagner found that aggression (biting attacks) was reduced when male mice were castrated. It then increased again if the mice were injected with testosterone.
Whilst findings from animal studies may not be generalizable to humans, similar results have been found. Dabbs measured testosterone in saliva in violent and non-violent criminals. Highest levels of testosterone were found in violent criminals & lowest levels in non-violent criminals.
-Role of testosterone has been challenged= Some research has shown no correlation between testosterone and actual violence in male prison inmates.
Mazur suggests that testosterone may actually promote status-seeking behaviour, of which aggression is just one type. E.g. others may use wealth to achieve a high status.
-Issue of cause and effect affects understanding of links between neural and hormonal mechanisms and aggression- Most evidence is correlational
-Can experimentally manipulate variables in animals (e.g. castrate mice or remove areas of the amygdala) but not possible for ethical reasons in humans.
-Correlations only demonstrate a relationship between two variables. A third factor could be the cause of that relationship.

Question 8

Outline twin studies as evidence for role of genetics in aggression

Answer 8

-MZ twins share 100% of their genes, so should be more alike in terms of their aggression than DZ twins who only share 50% of their genes.
-This is supported by evidence from Coccaro:
Examined concordance rate for criminal behaviour (aggression) in twins
-MZ = 50%
-DZ = 19%

Question 9

Outline adoption studies as evidence for the role of genetics in aggression

Answer 9

-Separates nature and nurture
-If an adoptee’s aggressive behaviour correlates more with it’s biological parents than it’s adoptive parents, then a genetic influence is implied
Hutchings & Mednick- Looked at 14,000 adoptions in Denmark and found:
a significant number of adopted boys who had criminal convictions had a biological parent (usually father) who also had criminal convictions.
-Therefore suggesting that there is a genetic effect on aggressive tendencies.
-Miles & Carey- meta-analysis:
24 twin & adoption studies
Studies used either observation or parent/participant self-reports to measure aggressive behaviour.
Result: Strong genetic component found.
MZ average concordance rate = 32%
DZ average concordance rate = 14%.

Question 10

Outline the MAOA gene and it’s role in aggression

Research support?

Answer 10

-Produces enzyme- monoamine oxidase A (MAOA)-associated with aggression.
-MAOA regulates metabolism of serotonin in the brain. Low levels of serotonin = aggressive.
Evidence:
-Brunner (1993) studied a Dutch family in which the males were very violent.
Findings- males had abnormally low MAOA levels and a defect on their X chromosome of this gene.
MAOA-L- Some people inherit the low-activity version - MAOA-L – also known as the ‘warrior gene’.
MAOA-L disrupts the metabolism of serotonin in the brain and is associated with aggression (refer to Brunner study).
It occurs in about 2/3 of people in populations with a history of warfare.
Only around 1/3 of people in Western populations have this version of the gene.
MAOA-L evidence= Caspi- Studied 500 male children
Found MAOA variant was linked to aggression:
Those with MAOA-L variant = more likely to show antisocial behaviour
Those with MAOA-H variant (high levels) = less likely.
However, the antisocial behaviour only occurred if those MAOA-L males had been maltreated as children.

Question 11

Evaluate the genetic factors in aggression

Answer 11

Research support for role of MAOA gene- Tiihonen (2015) found that extremely violent behaviour in Finnish prisoners was associated with the MAOA-L gene in combination with the CDH13 gene. There was no substantial evidence for either of these genes in non-violent offenders.
However, critics argue that although these genes may make it harder for some people to control violent urges, they do not predetermine violent behaviour. Additionally, the prison sample that these studies are often using may not be representative of the general population and therefore not generalizable.
link= Therefore, whilst there are clear links between the MAOA gene and violent behaviour, the evidence is not conclusive.
-It is also possible that the MAOA gene can explain gender differences in aggression-e.g. the MAOA gene is linked to the X chromosome of which men have one whereas women have two.
In woman, an unaffected second X chromosome with a ‘normal’ MAOA gene may prevent the expression of an abnormal version of it.
-One issue with this area of research is that most studies have focused on people convicted of violent crime (problem of sampling)- However, convicted violent criminals form only a small sample of those who actually commit violent acts. They therefore represent just a small minority of those regularly involved in aggressive behaviour, casting doubt over the population validity of such studies.
Additionally, offenders designated as ‘violent’ on the basis of a court conviction are not necessarily the most persistent or most serious offenders.
-Another issue is the problem of assessing aggression - Some studies use self-report or parental report. Others use direct observation. It seems that different measurements produce different findings.
For example, in Miles & Carey’s meta analysis of 24 studies, genetic factors had a greater influence on aggression in studies using parental or self-report. Whereas observational studies showed significantly less genetic influence, and more environmental influence.
-It is difficult to establish the role of genetic factors on aggression with any certainty- e.g. more than one gene usually contributes to a behaviour, and there are many environmental influences on aggressive behaviour.
Genetic and environmental factors may also interact with each other. Coccaro studied aggressive behaviour in adult twins and found that concordance rates were far from 100% suggesting other factors than genetic inheritance at play.
In addition, Caspi found that male children with the MAOA-L variant were more likely to grow up to exhibit anti-social behaviour, but only if they had been maltreated as children.

Question 12

Outline ritualistic aggression as part of the ethological explanation of aggression

Answer 12

• Some aggressive behaviour is ‘ritualised’ in the form of ‘threat displays’-a show of strength involving a lot of signalling.
• makes actual aggression less likely (less costly)
• This behaviour has been found in human tribal warfare too.

Question 13

Outline instinctive inhibition as part of the ethological explanation of aggression
-why is this adaptive?

Answer 13

-Lorenz argued that predators have instinctive inhibitions, preventing them from using their natural weapons -e.g. strong teeth against their own species.
-Instead the loser uses appeasement signals:
stops further aggression
indicates acceptance of defeat e.g. wolves expose their neck to the victor, deliberately making themselves vulnerable to a single bite in their jugular vein.
-Adaptive – prevents threat to survival of own species.

Question 14

Outline fixed action patterns as part of the ethological explanation of aggression

Answer 14

Tinbergen argued:

• all members of the same species have innate behaviours which occur in certain conditions.
• aggression occurs when a specific stimulus (sign stimulus) triggers an innate releasing mechanism (IRM).
• Sensory recognition circuits notice the sign stimulus
• Alerts the IRM
• IRM communicates with motor control circuits to release the FAP associated with that sign stimulus.

Question 15

Outline the characteristics of a fixed action pattern

Answer 15

• Stereotyped – behaviour always occur in the same way
• Universal – the same in all members of that species
• Innate – no learning involved
• Ballistic – once triggered, they can’t be stopped
• Specific triggers – each FAP has a specific trigger (sign stimulus).

Question 16

Outline Tinbergen’s research into FAP and IRM

Answer 16

Procedure=

• Male sticklebacks are highly territorial during mating season, when they also develop a red spot on their underbelly.
• If another male enters their territory, a sequence of highly stereotyped aggressive behaviours is initiated (a FAP).
• The sign stimulus that triggers the innate releasing mechanism is the sight of the red spot.
• Tinbergen presented sticklebacks with a series of wooden models of different shapes.

Findings:

• Regardless of shape, if the model had a red spot the stickleback would attack. But if there was no red spot, there was no aggression, even with a realistic model of a stickleback.
• These aggressive FAPs were always the same (stereotyped). Once triggered, the FAP always ran its course to completion (ballistic)

Question 17

Evaluate ritualistic aggression as part of the ethological explanation of aggression

Answer 17

-Ritualised aggression is also seen in humans and has the same benefits as for non-humans- e.g. Hoebel found that Inuit Eskimos use song duels to settle grudges and disputes.
Ritualised displays are also seen in cultures where aggression is common, such as the Yanamomo people of South America who use chest pounding and club fighting to settle conflicts (Chagnon)
-Lorenz’s idea of ‘instinctive inhibition’ is not supported by evidence.
-Lorenz believed that predators have instinctive inhibitions against using them on members of their own species.
However, male lions and chimpanzees routinely kill members of their own species.
For instance, Jane Goodall observed what she called the ‘four year war’ in a national park in Tanzania. Male chimps from one community systematically slaughtered all the members of another group in a co-ordinated fashion. The violence continued despite the fact that the victims were offering signals of appeasement and defencelessness.

Question 18

Evaluate fixed action patterns as part of the ethological explanation of aggression

Answer 18

-Evidence shows just how species-specific FAPs are- e.g. Ulrich showed how two rats given electric shocks will immediately attack one another. This behaviour (a FAP) follows a predictable sequence, involving both animals standing up on their hind legs and using their front paws to ‘box’ each other.
-Fixed action patterns are not simply innate, but can be modified by learning
-e.g. Lehrman says learning and experience interact with innate factors in complex ways.
Research also shows that there are subtle differences in the aggressive behaviour between members of the same species .
This shows that aggressive behaviour patterns are not as ‘fixed’ as Lorenz claimed, and many ethologists today no longer use the term FAP but instead talk of ‘behaviour pattern’ to reflect this.
-A human FAP of aggression is no longer adaptive.
-Some researchers suggest that whilst we have FAPs like smiling and the ‘eyebrow flash’ , FAPs such as aggression are not adaptive in modern times.
Human behaviour is more flexible than that of animals, and we can respond to environmental challenges more effectively.
Animals rely on stereotypical fixed patterns of behaviour to respond to environmental challenges.

Question 19

Outline the evolutionary explanation of aggression

Answer 19

• Aggression is adaptive
• Natural selection weeds out characteristics that are of no advantage
• Behaviours and characteristics that are useful, and ensure survival, are ‘adaptive’ and will persist and ensure production.
• Aggression seems to have evolved to help us survive and reproduce.
• because aggression offered solutions to a number of adaptive problems for early humans-
• securing resources
• establishing status
• deterring attack
• sexual competition

Question 20

Outline sexual jealousy and mate retention strategies as part of the evolutionary explanation of human aggression

Answer 20

• Sexual jealousy is greater in males because it is an evolved psychological mechanism to prevent cuckoldry.
• This ensures the male does not waste his resources raising another man’s child.
• Extreme sexual jealousy is linked to aggression

Mate retention strategies-
-Some males
restrict their partner’s independence (direct guarding) to deny other men access to her
-threaten them (negative inducement) to prevent them straying

-These strategies are linked with aggressive behaviours.

Question 21

Outline the evolutionary explanation of aggression in warfare
Evidence?

Answer 21

• Although warfare is costly, it also has clear adaptive advantages:
• The winning side gains status over another group, giving them access to their land, resources and women.
• This benefits the individual and their offspring.

Chagnon’s study of the Yanomami tribe in the Amazon Rainforest=

• Successful male warriors in traditional, tribal societies tend to have more sexual partners and more children (high status).
• suggests the are more attractive to women
• their aggressive and brave behaviour may also be a signal of good genes to females.

Question 22

Evaluate the evolutionary explanation of human aggression

Answer 22

• Support for link between aggression and sexual jealousy=
• Wilson found that women who agreed with certain questionnaire items e.g. ‘he is jealous and doesn’t want me to talk to other men’ were twice as likely to have experienced serious violence from their partner.

-Dobash & Dobash found that partner’s extreme jealousy was cited as the key cause of violence by most battered women.
Real life application=certain mate-retention strategies used by males can be an early indicator of violence against a female partner- Knowing this is the case, women themselves, and their friends and family can be more alert to the danger signs and potentially step in to avoid any violence ever happening.
-educational opportunities= teaching people better strategies to avoid the more possessive mate-retention strategies.
-initiatives such as ‘Clare’s law’, give people the right to have information disclosed about a new partner’s past.
-Explanation can account for gender differences= Men commonly engage in more physical aggressive acts than women as a female with offspring is motivated to be less aggressive because such behaviour would put not only her own survival at risk but also that of her child. So a more adaptive strategy for females is to use verbal aggression.
However, it is equally possible that such sex differences in aggressive behaviour may be due to socialisation not evolution.
Research (Smetana) has found that parents are more likely to explain to a girl why a behaviour is wrong, but to punish boys physically for misbehaviour. This in turn might increase male physical violence.

Question 23

Outline the frustration aggression hypothesis

Answer 23

Dollard et al- aggression is the result of frustration & frustration always leads to some form of aggression.
-Frustration is caused when our attempts to achieve a goal is blocked by some external factor.
-based on psychodynamic concept of catharsis
views aggression as a psychological drive, similar to biological drives such as hunger
-frustration creates aggressive drive, leading to aggressive behaviour
-cathartic because aggression created by frustration is satisfied, thereby reducing the drive. (feel better for having gotten it ‘off our chest’)

Question 24

Outline displacement as part of the frustration aggression hypothesis
-key study

Answer 24

• The hypothesis recognises that sometimes we cannot express aggression directly against the source of our frustration e.g. if the cause is too powerful or not available.
• it is therefore displaced onto a weaker and available alternative in order for catharsis to occur.

-Green (1968)- pps who had experienced frustration during an earlier impossible task gave stronger electric shocks to a confederate than non-frustrated pps.

Question 25

Outline the role of environmental cues as part of the frustration aggression hypothesis

Key study

Answer 25

-Frustration creates readiness to be aggressive but the presence of aggressive cues makes aggression much more likely.

Berkowitz and Lepage (1967)- pps gave more electric shocks to a confederate when guns were present in the experimental situation than when absent.

Question 26

Evaluate the frustration-aggression hypothesis

Answer 26

-Research support for displacement= Amy Marcus-Newhall-meta analysis-49 studies of displaced aggression-Pps who were provoked but unable to retaliate directly against their source of frustration were significantly more likely to aggress against an innocent party than people who were not provoked.
However, the concept of catharsis has little research support= e.g. Bushman found that behaving aggressively is likely to lead to more aggression in the future. This is because aggressive behaviour keeps aggressive thoughts and angry feelings active in memory and makes people more angry and more aggressive. -This is in direct contrast with Dollard’s claim that aggression reduces arousal, and makes people less likely to behave aggressively.
-Not all aggression is caused by frustration= Berkowitz revised the hypothesis, and argued that frustration is just one of many averse stimuli that create negative feelings. Others include jealousy, heat, pain and loneliness.
Reifman, for example found that as temperatures increased, so did the likelihood that pitchers would be aggressive to batters (threw faster balls directly at their head).
That means aggressive behaviour is triggered by negative feelings generally, rather than by frustration specifically.

• link= Berkowitz called revised hypothesis ‘negative affect theory’-arose because original F-A was inadequate- could only explain how aggression arises in some situations and not in others.
• challenged by social learning theorists= say that frustration produces generalised arousal, but aggressive behaviour depends on whether someone has seen it being directly or vicariously reinforced-rather than frustration always leading to aggression, people learn to produce aggression and the circumstances it is most likely to be successful in.
• Can be used to explain mass killings= e.g. Staub- mass killings often due to frustration caused by socio-economic difficulties, leading to ‘scapegoating’ and then aggression towards the ‘scapegoat’- Goldhagen- ordinary Germans condoned violence towards Jews after ww1, seeing them as being responsible for German’s loss and subsequent hardship.

Question 27

Outline the social learning theory of aggression

Answer 27

-Direct learning= Aggression may be learned directly through operant conditioning
-Indirect learning= may also be learned indirectly through observation, vicarious reinforcement and imitation, e.g. child observes a role model with whom they identify, and then imitates their behaviour- Children learn the consequences of aggression by watching others being rewarded or punished for it (vicarious reinforcement/punishment). This way children learn if a behaviour is worth repeating.
-Cognitive factors= For social learning to happen 4 cognitive conditions occur: attention, retention, reproduction and motivation
-Self-efficacy= child’s confidence in their ability to behave aggressively grows as they gain practice and learn that being aggressive brings rewards.
Children who haven’t been very good at aggressive behaviour in the past have low self-efficacy, and may resolve conflicts in other ways.
-Key study= Banduraet al. (1961): children imitated adult model they had seen behaving aggressively towards a Bobo doll.

Question 28

Evaluate SLT of aggression

Answer 28

• Methodological issues= e.g. Bandura- aggression shown towards a doll, not an actual person- children may have experienced demand characteristics- e.g. a child was heard saying ‘look mummy, there’s the doll we have to hit’.- suggesting children acted as they thought they were expected to rather than as they normally would, questioning validity of findings.
• Some real world support= Huesman et al- longitudinal study of large group of children in Chicago (557)- found significant correlation between childhood viewing of violent TV shows and later adult aggression- more a child had identified with same-sex model, more likely they were to be aggressive later in life-high violence viewers in boyhood had 3x as many crime convictions compared to low-violence viewers.

Can explain individual differences in people’s use of aggression= some families encourage aggression, whereas others don’t- some have violent peers, some don’t.-this has been a bearing on the amount of aggression used by people.
-link= However, the theory cannot explain crowd aggression and why people who may not normally engage in aggression, do so. This is better addressed by the effects of anonymity, lowered self awareness and the adoption of group norms as explained by the Deindividuation theory.

-Can be used to explain cultural differences in aggression= e.g. aggression is very rare in the children of the !Kung San tribe in the Kalahari desert.

Parents do not use physical punishment with their children, and aggressive postures are avoided by adults and devalued by society as a whole.

Question 29

Outline de-individuation
Refer to Zimbardo
Factors contributing to de-individuation

Answer 29

• ‘the loss of one’s sense of personal identity’.
• we use it to refer to a form of aggression that occurs in a group.

Zimbardo distinguishes between

• Individuated behaviour (rational, conforms to social norms)
• De-individuated behaviour (which does not) -lose their personal identity and inhibitions about violence when they join crowds or large groups.

Factors contributing to de-individuation=

• Anatomy (also obtained through use of uniform, masks etc
• Altered consciousness (through use of alcohol or drugs).

Question 30

Outline Zimbardo’s research illustrating de-individuation

Answer 30

Procedure & Results:

• Milgram-like experiment
• ‘Teachers’ were put into one of two conditions:
• Individuated – wore name tags & normal clothing.
• Deindividuated – no name, wore big lab coats and hoods.
• The latter gave more shocks.

Conclusion:
-Anonymity increases aggression

Question 31

Evaluate de-individuation

Answer 31

-Research support= Rehm observed “handball” games in Germany-one team wore same coloured shirts, other team all wore different coloured shirts- orange shirted teams showed significantly more aggressive acts than the other team.

-Also anthropological evidence for the concept of de-individuation.- Watson collected data on warriors in 23 societies and whether they changed their appearance before going to war, and whether they killed, tortured or mutilated their victims.
Warriors who significantly changed their appearance, through costumes or war paint-more likely to be highly aggressive towards their victims than those who did not.

-However, large groups and anonymity do not automatically lead to aggression. It depends on the group norm and the situation we are in= Johnson & Downing used similar format as Zimbardo’s Milgram like study- but divided pps into three conditions: wearing either KKK costumes, nurses uniform or normal clothes. Most shocks delivered by KKK group- least shocks by nurses group.
This suggests that people conform to a perceived group norm which may be aggressive (KKK) or helpful and caring (nurses)

-Gender differences in how people respond to de-individuation conditions= Cannavale and Diener- in de-individuated situations, increase in aggression in the all-male groups, but not in the all-female groups.
Men tend to respond to provocation in more extreme ways than women do.

Question 32

Outline the importation model (dispositional explanation) as part of institutional aggression in prisons

• ‘Code of the streets’
• Gang membership

Answer 32

• Prisoners bring violent pasts to prison, use them as coping mechanisms.
• Aggression is therefore not a product of the institution, but of the people who enter it.
• Prisoners are not ‘blank slates’ when they enter, normative systems in outside world, such as violence, are ‘imported’ into prison.

‘Code of the streets’=

• Informal rules about how to behave (incl. violence)
• at heart of the code is issue of respect i.e. being granted respect one deserves.
• code relates to gang membership and is ‘imported’ into prisons.

-Gang membership=
-Pre-prison gang membership-strong predictor of aggression, consistently related to prison violence
-Alexander & Marcell:
Gang members engage in prison violence more often than non-gang members.

Question 33

Outline the deprivation model (situational explanation) as part of institutional aggression in prisons

Answer 33

• Suggest it is the prison institution itself that makes people aggressive
• Prison aggression influenced by prison-specific variables rather than by prisoners
• Sykes described the specific deprivations a Liberty, Autonomy, security

Other prison characteristics associated with prisoner aggression include

• Overcrowding (deprived of privacy)
• Heat
• Noise
• Lack of meaningful activity
• The stress and frustration caused by being deprived of all these things=aggression
• Aggression can release/ reduce this stress
• Aggression allows prisoners to obtain some of the things they have lost e.g. status, resources, control.

Question 34

Evaluate institutional aggression in the context of prisons

Answer 34

-Research support for importation model= Mears found that a ‘code of the street’ belief system affects inmate violence.
This effect is especially noticeable in prisoners who lacked family support and were involved in gangs before they were imprisoned.
-link= suggests that inmate behaviour stems in part from the norms and beliefs inmates import with them into prison.

-However, the importation model’s claims about pre-prison gang membership has been questioned- DeLisi found prisoners with prior street gang involvement were no more likely than others to behave aggressively in prison.

This could, however, be explained by the fact that prisons tend to isolate violent gang members from the other prisoners.

This is backed up by Fisher who found that isolating known gang members in special units reduced the rate of violence by 50%
-link- therefore might explain why we don’t always see aggressive behaviour from pre-prison gang members in the prison itself.

-Research support for deprivation model= McCorkle found situational factors, such as overcrowding and a lack of meaningful activity, significantly influenced the amount of aggression inmates displayed.
This includes both inmate-on-inmate assaults and inmate-on-staff assaults.

-However, the link between aggression and situational factors has not always been supported by research= Harer & Steffenmeier collected data from American prisons, including importation variables such as race and criminal history, and deprivation variables such as staff-to-prisoner ratios and security levels.

They found that only the importation variables were significant predictors of prison violence.

Question 35

Outline media influences on aggression

Answer 35

-SLT: observation of violent role models in games or on TV. Vicarious learning- imitation
-Experimental studies: Anderson & Dill (2000): pps who played computer games-significantly longer blasts of noise to opponent than who played non-violent game- also rated themselves higher on hostility.
-Correlational studies: DeLisi- positive correlation between juvenile offenders aggressive behaviour and how often they played violent games
-Longitudinal studies: Huesman (from SLT section)
Anderson (2007): Children with high exposure to violent games became more verbally and physically aggressive over time.
-Meta-analyses- Greitemeyer & Mugge (2014): 98 studies-37,000 pps
-findings- violent video games linked to small increase in aggressive behaviour and reduction in pro-social behaviour, and opposite pattern for pro-social video games.

Question 36

Evaluate media influences on aggression

Answer 36

• Experimental studies suggest a causal link between violent video games and aggression= However, they only measure short term effects and also the measure used is often unrealistic…. (e.g. chilli in hot drink, electric shocks, noise blasts)
• link= therefore the supporting evidence doesn’t accurately represent the influences of media on aggression and whether there really is a definitive relationship.

-Another major issue in this area of research concerns the measurement of aggression= Artificial measures of aggressive behaviour, such as administering noise blasts to other pps, are typically used as dependent variables.
Longitudinal studies can measure both short- and long-term real-life aggression, but cannot control for exposure to other forms of media violence.

-Game difficulty and mastery may be more important variables in causing aggressive behaviour= Przybylski-it’s player’s experience of frustration and failure during the game, not violent storyline-causes aggressive behaviour-Found that in both violent and non-violent games, it was game difficulty that led to frustration and aggression - Link to frustration-aggression hypothesis.

Question 37

Outline explanations of media influences

Answer 37

-Desensitisation: If people repeatedly exposed to violence through tv or gaming, become habituated to its effect.
-Has 2 effects: -Physiological: become less aroused/anxious when seeing violence-violence more likely
Psychological: less likely to notice aggression in real life-negative attitudes towards violence weaken, less empathy felt for victims-violence more likely

• Disinhibition: watching/playing violent media may weaken normal restraints against using violence, legitimise use of violence in real life
• especially true if media portrayal minimises effects of violence on victims, suggests its justified.
  e. g. vid games show violence rewarded at same time, consequences ignored.
• creates new social norms in viewer, makes them feel less inhibited about behaving aggressively.
• Cognitive priming: aggressive images in media=cues for schema or memory of aggressive behaviour- exposure to cues in similar context can trigger memory-lead to aggressive behaviour being reproduced.
• effects may be specific (reproduction of specific aggressive acts)-or more general (tendency to behave in generally violent way).

Key study: Fischer and Greitemeyer (2006): listening to negative song lyrics about the opposite sex was linked with greater aggression towards an opposite-sex confederate.

Question 38

Evaluate explanations of media violence

Answer 38

-Research support for desensitisation: -Carnagey-violent/non-violent game-response to 10 mins clip of real life violence
-But desensitisation to aggression can be useful for some people, but not for others= Bushman & Anderson
Can reduce helping behaviour
But can make soldiers more effective in their role
-The likelihood of disinhibition taking place depends on other factors such as age and family environment= Collins – age
Heath – households with strong norms against violence vs those who use physical punishment.
-Research support for cognitive priming: Bushman – violent film / reaction times to aggressive words
Anderson & Dill – violent games = more aggressive thoughts
Atkin – only if violence viewed is realistic