social psychological explanations for aggression

Question 1

what did bandura did suggest regarding social learning?

Answer 1

claimed that aggression is learned through either direct experience or by observing others

Question 2

how can aggression be learnt through direct experience?

Answer 2

if a child pushes another child and as a result gets something they want, the action is reinforced and it is more likely to occur again in similar situations

Question 3

how can aggression be learnt through vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 3

occurs when a child sees a role model display a behaviour, in this case aggression. child is then said to be imitating this behaviour. likely to occur due to the child observing consequences

Question 4

what are the 4 cognitive conditions of SLT

Answer 4

attention - can only learn if they attend to the model

retention - to model behaviour it must be remembered and placed into the ltm

production - individual needs to be able to reproduce the behaviour

motivation - an individual expects to receive positive reinforcement when modelling behaviour

Question 5

where did bandura believe most of our behaviour modelling came from?

Answer 5

our family

Question 6

describe bandura, ross, and ross’ study

Answer 6

• 66 nursery children in 3 groups, shown film of adult being aggressive to bobo doll
• group 1 saw the adult rewarded, group 2 saw them punished, group 3 saw no reaction
• children then went into play room with the bobo doll
• those who observed aggression then behaved aggressively towards the doll

Question 7

strengths of slt as an explanation for aggressive behaviour

Answer 7

high reliability - bandura carried his study out in a lab with control over variables

empirical support from patterson - found role models are important in development of anti social behaviour

real life application

Question 8

weaknesses of slt explaining aggressive behaviour

Answer 8

lacks ecological validity - lab experiments do not create mundane realism - doll was made to be hit whilst humans may not hit another person

over-simplistic - does not stress over biological factors. reductionist when explaining behaviour

ethical issues with encouraging children to be aggressive

Question 9

what is meant by deindividuation theory?

Answer 9

refers to the psychological state where an individual loses their personal identity and takes the identity of the group

Question 10

why does deindividuation increase aggression?

Answer 10

when in a group and identifiable, we are constrained by social norms- lose sense of identity and responsibility

Question 11

what is private self awareness?

Answer 11

concerns how we pay attention to our own feelings and behaviours. reduces when we are in a crowd.

Question 12

what is public self awareness?

Answer 12

refers to how much we care about what people think of our behaviour. this is also reduced when in a group

Question 13

strengths of deindividuation theory

Answer 13

real life applications - sports hooliganism

research to support - dodd asked p’s what they would do if there were no consequences - 36% of answers included antisocial behaviour

Question 14

limitations of deindividuation theory

Answer 14

deindividuation does not always lead to aggression - for example peaceful rallies - therefore this does not cause aggression

anti - normative - causes that being hidden within a group causes us to behave against social norms. spears and lea found deindividuation caused us to conform to norms

Question 15

what does the frustration aggression hypothesis state?

Answer 15

that aggression is always the consequence of frustration, and the existence of frustration always leads to some form of aggression.

Question 16

what did dollard say drives are?

Answer 16

the internal aspects of motivation that drive hunger

Question 17

how is frustration created?

Answer 17

when factors in the social world block our attempt to reach a goal

Question 18

why is aggression not always expressed directly against the source of frustration

Answer 18

• cause of frustration may be abstract e.g economic situation
• cause may be too powerful and risk punishment e.g teacher
• cause may be unavailable

Question 19

strengths of the frustration aggression hypothesis

Answer 19

research to support from newhall et al - meta analysis of 49 studies. researchers concluded displaced aggression is a reliable phenomenon - when target is unavailable

real life application - example of road rage as catharsis during traffic

Question 20

limitations of the frustration aggression hypothesis

Answer 20

difficulty establishing cause and effect - there are times we have been aggressive but not been frustrated - may be other factors involved in aggression

research from bushman shows aggression may not be cathartic - some people who reduced anger by hitting a punching bag became more frustrated instead of less

Question 21

what are situational models?

Answer 21

suggest aggression occurs as a result of internal factors within the prison

Question 22

what are dispositional models?

Answer 22

suggest aggression occurs due to individual characteristics of the prisoner

Question 23

what is meant by institutional aggression

Answer 23

Institutional aggression refers to aggressive behaviours adopted by members of an institution; for example prisoners may form gangs that commit violence against other inmates

Question 24

examples of situational factors

Answer 24

organisational - leadership, management
physical - security level, resources available
staff - gender , experience

Question 25

what is deprivation theory?

Answer 25

focuses on deprivation experienced by inmates, which often leads to aggression

Question 26

what 5 deprivations did sykes identify?

Answer 26

deprivation of liberty deprivation of autonomy deprivation of goods + services deprivation of heterosexual relationships deprivation of security

Question 27

what is deprivation of liberty ?

Answer 27

through imprisonment, society is informing an individual they are not a person who can be trusted to live freely

Question 28

what is deprivation of autonomy?

Answer 28

prisoners realise they have no power and few daily decisions to make. can lead to feelings of helplessness

Question 29

what is deprivation of goods and services?

Answer 29

prisoners are deprived of many goods and services they would expect to experience if not in prison

Question 30

what is deprivation of heterosexual relationships?

Answer 30

for many males, a female companion is an important part of self identity

Question 31

what is deprivation of security?

Answer 31

despite being in a secure institution, many prisoners report fears for their own security

Question 32

what is the popcorn model?

Answer 32

suggests first individual to become aggressive is like first piece of popcorn to pop - suggests it is worth considering what factors cause 'heat'

Question 33

what is the dispositional / importation model?

Answer 33

suggests prisoners bring their own social histories and traits with them to the prison environment, and these influence their behaviours in prison.

Question 34

what did mills find?

Answer 34

studied 202 canadian inmates using the alcohol dependence scale. found higher levels of misconduct in those with higher alcohol dependence scores

Question 35

strengths of explanations for institutional aggression in prisons

Answer 35

research to support importation model - camp and gaes studied 561 canadian inmates and found no differences in violence shown validity - studies were conducted in prisons themselves, ensuring that behaviour is more naturalistic

Question 36

limitations of explanations for institutional aggression in prisons

Answer 36

importation model is reductionist - doesn't consider other factors influencing prisoners behaviour such as how prison is ran contradictory research - hensley studied 256 prisoners who were able to have sex with partners during visits. There was no link between these visits and violence. situational factors do not significantly affect prison violence