paper 3 - aggression

Question 1

what is the limbic system

Answer 1

network of structures lying beneath the cortex.
includes the amygdala, hippocampus and hypothalamus
involved in regulating emotional behaviour such as aggression

Question 2

what is the amygdala

Answer 2

emotional centre of the brain
reactivity of amydala has been shown to be an important predictor of aggressive behaviour
if the amygdala malfunctions, levels of testosterone can be raised, making agressive behaviour likely

Question 3

what is the hippocampus

Answer 3

involved in forming long term memories
allows comparison of conditions of a current threat with similar past experiances
may cause amydala to respond

Question 4

evaluation of the limbic system

Answer 4

+ amydelectomy ( surgical removal of amygdala ) reduces aggression in previously violemt individuals.
- however a side effect of this surgery is that there is a loss of emotion, initiation and enthusiasm. this suggests that the amygdala does not directly cause aggression but it is involved in the processing associated emotions such as anger.
+ hippocampus. mri scans of violent offenders that had been caught ( unsuccessful pyschopaths ) revealed their hippocampus differed in size unlike a group od violent offenders who had evaded the law ( sucessful pyschopaths ). assymetry may lead to impulsive aggression in the unsuccesful group.

Question 5

how does serotonin influence agression

Answer 5

• widespread inhibitory effect throughout the brain
• inhibits firing of amygdala which helps control fear, anger
• low levels of serotonin have associated with an increased suseptibilty to impulsive aggression and violent suicide.

Question 6

evaluation of the role of serotonin on agression

Answer 6

+ vervet monkeys fed on a diet high in trptophan ( which increases levels of S ) showed decrease in agression whilst monkeys low in typtophan showed increase in aggression.
+ antidepressant drugs that raise serotonin levels tend to reduce impulsive aggression. serotonin has direct impact.
+ meta analysis of 29 studies found consistantly lower levels of serotonin in highly aggressive children and aduls as well as individuals who has attempted suicide.

Question 7

what are androgen hormones

Answer 7

male sex hormones such as testosterone
can also be in females
associated with the development of masculine features

Question 8

what is the basal model of testosterone

Answer 8

testosterone causes a change in a persons levels of dominance. The more testosterone a person has, the more competitive and dominant they become. It follows that a man with high levels of testosterone will take part in anti social behaviour such as fighting

Question 9

how do women show testosterone

Answer 9

posititve relationship between testosterone and aggression related behaviours such as competitivness in women

Question 10

what is the dual hormones hypothesis

Answer 10

testosterones role in status relevant behaviour should depend on concentrations of cortisol which is a hormone released in response to physical and pyschological stress.

Question 11

evaluation for the role of testosterone

Answer 11

+ testosterone in the saliva of criminals and found those with the highest levels had a history of primarily violent crimes, whereas those with the lowest levels had committed onlly non violent crimes.
- may suffer from gender bias. most studies have focused on males and have largely ignored the possibility different influence testosterone may have on females. it was found testosterone could make women nicer rather than agressive. testosterone promotes status seeking behaviour that can increase dominance of which agression is only one type.

Question 12

additional neural and hormonal explanantions

Answer 12

• may ignore evidnece that aggression may be learned through the environment. Bandura foound children were more likely to be aggressive towards a bobo doll when they had observed an adult role model being agressive towards a bobo doll. imitating behvaiour of a role model. suggests environmental and social play a role too.
  + determinist. Says aggression is out of our control. Suggests that agression is caused by the amydala, serotinin or cortisal levels. takes blame off individual.
  however, may be seen as wrong for legal system to punish pple for agressiev behaviour if it was not somthing in their conscious control

Question 13

what is the MAOA gene

Answer 13

responsible for producinf protien called monamine oxidase A.
MAOA regulates the metabolism of serotin
if MAOA us defective this can lead to low levels of serotonin

Question 14

what are the genetic factors affecting agression

Answer 14

genetic:
inherit defective MAOA gene whic codes for enzyme MAOA
MAOA enzyme becomes overactive andbreaks down too much serotonin
serotonin:
serotonin transmission is lower
cant have inhibitory effect on amygdala
limbic system:
amygdala fires readily
impulse agrssion

Question 15

positive evaluation of MAOA gene and agressive behaviour

Answer 15

+ defective MAOA gene in a dutch family with a history of male violence. MAOA associates with incerased risk of agressive behavior.
+ disabled MAOA gene in mice which influenced serotonin levels and males became highly agressive. Females remained unaffceted. Restoring function of gene in male mice returned them to a normal state.
however this is focused on non human research. physiologically different to mice. not generalisable.

Question 16

negative evaluation of genetic factors

Answer 16

• 500 male children. found defective MAOA gene led to increase of showing ant social behavior, but only if they had been maltreated as children. interaction between genes and environment.
• ignores evidnece that aggression may be learned through the environment. Banduras bobo doll study. not valid to say only biological facots affect aggression.
• biologically determinist. pre programmed to be aggressive, so have no free will over aggressive behaviour. May be wrong for the legal system to find people responsible for their aggressive ebhaviour if it was not somthing under thier conscious control

Question 17

what is the ethological explanation of aggression

Answer 17

whilst the potential for aggression may be innate, actual aggression is elicited by specific stimuli in the environment.

Question 18

describe the ethological explanation of aggression

Answer 18

main function of aggression is adaptive
allows individuals to become dominant over others giving them access to resources e.g mates ad territory.

Question 19

what did lorenz argue about the ethological explanation

Answer 19

fights between animals of the same species rarely result in physical damage and that most aggressive encounters consist of ritual signals and signs to allow individuals to assess their relative strength without the need for excessive harm being caused which would be damaging for the species as a whole.
All members of the same species have a repertiore of stereotyped behaviours which occur in response to specific triggers and do not require learing

Question 20

what are fixed action patterns

Answer 20

innate behaviours
produced by innate releasing mechanism - built in physiological process linked to a network of neurons in the brain
they are triggered by a sign stimulius - an environmental factor such as facial expressions whic may be seen as a threat.
the IRM communicates with motor circuit control to release the FAP associated with that stimulus

Question 21

6 main features of FAPS

Answer 21

1) stereotyped ( always occur in the samw way )
2) universal (found in every member of a species)
3) unaffected by learning (the same for every individual regardless of experiance)
4) ballistic (once triggered the behaviour cant be changed or stopped)
5) single purpose ( they only occur in a specific situation and not in any other)
6) specific triggers ( each FAP has a specific trigger)

SUUBSS

Question 22

positive evaluation of the ethological explanation of aggression

Answer 22

+ male sticklebacks were presneted a series of models, the sticklebacks would attack it in the same way, regardless of the shape of the model, if it had a red spot but would not attack if no red spot was present. IRM triggered by sign stimulus ( red spot ). suports FAPS as encounters were all the same.

Question 23

negative evaluation of the ethological explanation of agression

Answer 23

• lacks generalisability to humans. Lorenz and Tinbergen both tried to generalise the idea of FAPs observed in non human animals to humans, this has been critised for failing to acknowledge the flexibility of human behaviour in modern day life. e.g. our ever changing environment has meant that the ability to adapt our behaviour has proved more effective the more complex than FAPS.
• ignores the role of culture in human aggression. usa north south divides for homicide rates. more common in white males in the southern states than in the northern states. difference caused by a culture of honour as a learned social norm. Agression is not universal, culture overides innate influences.
• lorenz underestimated the role of the environment in developing behaviour patterns. learning and experinace interacts with innate factors to produce subtle variations in behaviour. e.g. animals in the same species differ in duration of behaviour. faps replaced with behaviour pattern to reflect the fact these behaviours are modified by experinace.
• FAPS avoid causing unecessary physical harm has also been heavily critised. e.g. male lions will kill off the cubs of other males and male chipanzees routinely kill members of another group. questions animal agression is ritualistic rather than real.

Question 24

what is the evolutionary explanation for agression

Answer 24

• agression is adaptive ( good for survival )
• would have been effective for solving a number of survival and reproductive issues among early humans
• acuiring/ defending resources, intmidating/ eliminating rivals for females, detrring mates from sexual infedelity
• enhanced survival and reproductive success, and therefore spread through gene pool

Question 25

what is sexual competition

Answer 25

- compete with other males for females ( intra sexual selection ) - eliminating the competition through aggression - successful individual increases their social status and been more successful in passing on their genes to offspring - led to development of genetically transmitted tendancy for males to be more aggressive than females

Question 26

what is sexual jelousy

Answer 26

- arises as a result of paternal uncertainty - men at risk of cuckoldry - when a men is deceived into rasing and investing into offspring that is not his - men use violence or threats to prevent their partner from straying as well as violence towards a percieved love rival

Question 27

positive evaluation of evolutionary explanations

Answer 27

+ offers plausible account of gender differences in aggression. female offspring is motivated to be less agrresive because such behaviour would not put only her own survival at risk but also her child. explain why women are more likely to use either verbal aggression or non verbal methods of addressing conflcit and resolving disputes. Explains why males act more aggresively. + crime data. male sexual jealousy is claimed to be the single most common motivation for killings in domestic disputes in ameirca. accounts for 17% of murder cases. Supports theory

Answer 28

- better explained by socialisation as smetana foundn that parents are more likely to physically punish boys for bad conduct whereas if girls misbehave parents tend to explain why their actions were wrong. increases male physical violence and as girls learn they are less powerful than boys they adopt more verbal aggression. brings into doubt its evolutionary as it may be a result of cultural norms. - determinist. suggests violence is part of our evolution. agression in males is hard wired into genetic makeup, it is pre programmed. justifies violence. - gender biased. exagerrates differences between males and females ( alpha bias ) in terms of levels og aggression shown in relationships. family studies to find that there were equal rates of aggresive assaults by women as there are by men. men are viewed as more aggesive and this may not be true.

Question 29

what are the social pyschological explanations of human aggression

Answer 29

- frustraion aggression hypothesis - social learning theory - deindividuation

Question 30

what is the frustration agression hypothesis

Answer 30

- frustraion always leads to some form of agression, and agression is always the result of frustration - based on the concept of catharsis - process of releasing strong or repressed emotions to produce relief) - if our attempt to achieve a goal is blocked we experiance frustration - this creates an aggresive drive which leads to agressive behaviour - this is cathartic as the agression created by frustration is satisfied, reducing the drive and making further aggression more liklely - agression cant always be expressed onto the source as it may be abstract ( economy or govenrment ) , too powerful and we risk punishmnt or unavailable - as a result aggression is displaced onto an alternative who is weaker and available

Question 31

positive evaluation of the frustration agression hypothesis

Answer 31

+ swedish football teams perfored worse thna thier fans expected, more objects were thrown on the pitch. supporters were more lilely to fight with opposition when te team performed worse than expected. agression increases when expectations of good performance are frustarted

Question 32

negative evaluation of frustration aggression hypothesis

Answer 32

- not all agression arises from frustration. one of a large number leading to agression e,g. pain and extreme temps. found that as temp increases at a baseball game, pitchers agression woulf also increase ( throwing directly at batters head ). led to devlopment of revised frustration agression hypothesis which argues negative feelings produced by any unpleasnat experiance triggers aggression . - behaving aggresively is likely to lead to more rather than less aggression in the future. he found that aggresive behaviour kepy aggressive thoughts and angry feelings active in memory, making people more aggresive. contradicts theory.

Question 33

what is the social learning theory as applied to human aggression

Answer 33

- environmental influences, not genetics, underpin aggressive behaviour - slt states aggressive behaviour is learned through observiing aggression from role model and then imitating it. - aggressive behaviour is more likely to be repeated if behaviour is reinforced ( vicarious reinforcement ) - mediational processes ( ARRM) - children develop confidence is their ability to carry out aggressive acts- higher sense of self efficacy in their ability to use aggresive behaviour to resolve conflcits may therfore turn to agression to resolve conflict in the future

Question 34

evaluation of social learning theory of agression

Answer 34

+ bandura. bobo doll + scientific. banduras study was observable and measureable which was tested in controlled conditions - however mediational processes cant be observed. factors like attention and motivation have tio be inferred. iinference could be mistaken meaning we cant emperically measure all aspects of slt - practical applications. slt can help shape tv programming e.g. banning violent films. help to benefit society by encoureging less agression and more pro social behaviour

Question 35

what is de - individuation

Answer 35

- a pyschological state in which an indiviudal loses their personal identity and takes on the identity of the social group - occurs as a result of being in a large group or wearing a uniform - frees the indivual from a sense of moral responsibility, making anti social behaviour and aggression more likely - factors that contribute include anonymity, shared responsibilty or intoxication - zimbardo argues in crowds of de individuated people, there is less fear of negative consequences and reduced sense of guilt as they take on the identity of the crowd rather than an individual identity. moral responsibilty shifts, making aggression more likely.

Question 36

positive evaluation of deindivudaution

Answer 36

+ zimbardos hooded electric shock study. 4 female undergraduates were asked to deliver electric shocks to another student to aid learning. half the ppts wore hoods that hid thier faces and were reffered to by name and half wore their normal clothes and were given large name tags. ppts in de individuated group shocked the learner for twice as long as the indiviuated ppts. removes personal responsibility. + 1300 children on halloween night in america were studied. the children were more liley to steak money and sweers when they wore costumes in large groups, which meant that they were anonymous. - de individuation can lead to pro social rather than anti social behaviour like agression. replication of zimbardos electric shoch study, ppts shocked more than the control group when dresses like th kkk but actually shocked less than controls when dressed in nurse uniforms. agressive behaviour is dependant upon norms associated with the unifrom as opposed to the uniforms per se.

Question 37

evaluation of all three social pyscholigcal theories of agression

Answer 37

- fail to account for the role of biological factors in agression. e.g. MAOA gene fault in dutch family history of violence. testosterone has also been show to play an important role in determining some aggresive behaviour. limited - struggles to explain the higher level of aggresison and violent crime in males. unclear why males would be more affected by frustration, social learning and deindividuation. may require to explain gender differences in aggression.

Question 38

what are the 2 main theories as to why aggression occurs in prisons

Answer 38

1) dispositional explanation = focuses on characteristics of the prisoners themselves, they are violent and people and therefore bring agression into the prison 2) situational explanation = attributes aggresson to the situation, the conditions and deprivation in prisons are the issue

Question 39

what is the dispositional explanation to aggression

Answer 39

- importation model - institutional aggression is the result of personal traits and social histories that prisoners bring in with them to prison - agression is imported into prison via the prisoners - they posess charcteristics such as low self control, impulsivity and anger - e.g. gang membership - pre prison gang membership appears to be an important predictor of their institutional aggression - background and learned behaviour of a prisoner can affect whether they are likely to be aggressive and violent when put in prison

Question 40

positive evaluation of the dispostional explanation of aggression

Answer 40

+ number of violent offences was related to the learned history of the offender. if the prisoner had a low level of education, a more serious criminal record and more time unemployed they were more likley to be aggressive when in prison. + the best indicator of violence amongst juvenile offenders was their level of pre institutional violence regardless of any situational factors. importation model is a strong explanation. + practical applications. isolating known gang members reduces the rates of violence by 50%.

Question 41

negative evaluation of the dispositional explanation

Answer 41

- inmates with a history of gang membership were no more likely than other inmates to enagage in prison violence. suggesting agressive tendancies are not always imported into institutions. (+ however this lack of relationsuip may be explained by the fact violent gang members tend to be seperated from general inmate population, restricitng oppertunities)

Question 42

what is the situational explanation

Answer 42

- deprivation model - institutional aggression a result of prison environment and not necessarily the individuals themselves - stressful and oppressive situations - outlined 5 deprivations - leads increased stress and frustration making aggression more likely in order to reduce stress and obtain desired resources

Question 43

what are the 5 deprivations outlined in the situational explanation

Answer 43

1) deprivation of liberty = loss of freedom- to move around etc 2) deprivation of autonomy = no independance - when to eat etc 3) deprivation of goods and services = losing access to material possessions 4) deprivation of heterosexual relationships = losing female company- may reduce sense of self worth 5) deprivation of security = report fears of their own safety

Question 44

positive evaluation of the situational explanation

Answer 44

+ survey of prisoners that overcrowding, lack of privacy and lack of meaningful activity all significantly influence peer violence. aggressive incidents significanrly corellated to the amount of living space available to each prisoner. ( - howver corellation does no mean causation, could be other factors influencing ) + practical applications. 2 units at HMP woodhill that were less claustrophobic and gave a view of the outside world, masked prison noise with music and lowered temp so it was no longer extremelt hot. these chnages eradicated assaults on prison staff and other inmates. helps improve safety.

Question 45

negative evalaution of the situational explanation

Answer 45

- from analysing 2 prisons that allowed conjuical visits that there was no link between involvement in these visits and reduced aggresive behaviour. deprivation of heterosexual relationships does not affect prison violence

Question 46

additional evaluation of dispositional and situational explanations

Answer 46

+ deprivation model was better able to explain violence againts prison staff, whereas the situational model was better able to explain aggression with other inmates. both explanations are effective.

Question 47

what is the experimental research into the effects of computer games of agression

Answer 47

- lab experiment - students played aither a violent computer game or a non violent game before being asked to deliver blasts of white noise at chosen volumes to punish an opponent. - it was found that those who has played the violent video game selected higher noise levels - violent games cause an immediate increase in agressive behaviour

Question 48

correlational study into the effects of computer games on aggression

Answer 48

- correlational analysis of data from interviews with 227 juvenile offenders with histories of serious aggression. - found that the offenders aggresive behaviour was significantly correlated with how often they played violent computer games - violent computer ganes are a risk factor for aggression

Question 49

meta analysis into computer games and aggression

Answer 49

- 98 studies - found that violent video game use was linked to an increase in aggression whilst exposure to prosocial games was linked to an increase in prosocial behaviour - link between violent compiter games and aggression