Agression

Agression

1. Defining aggression

   • The intent to physically, verbally and psychologically harm and/or the physical destruction of property

2. Types of aggression

   • Hostile aggression
     • The primary goal is the injury of another human being and cause the victim to suffer
   • Instrumental aggerssion
     • The intention is also to harm the victim but the aim is to receive some other type of reward

3. Biological reasons for aggression

   • Scientists have not found a gene that is responsible for aggression
   • They have mostly focused on how areas of the brain are involved in it
   • The limbic system
     • The limbic system is in the middle of the brain and shaped like a wish bone
     • This is where the several structures come together that are responsible for recognising, producing and controlling emotions
       • They are also responsible for producing the emotional needs for survival fear and aggression
   • The amygdala
     • This is part of the limbic system directly responsible for recognising and producing fear
     • Animal studies
       • The removal of the amygdala causes animals to become very calm and not responding to threatening situations and aggression
     • Human case studies
       • A woman who's amygdala was removed was electrically stimulated during an operation became threatening and verbally aggressive until the current was turned off
       • Charles Whitman
         • Whitman murdered 18 people in a mass shooting in Texas, 1966
           • Whitman had left a note in his house asking for an autopsy
             • The autopsy found a brain tumor that was pressing on his amygdala
           • Whitman also died in this mass shooting

4. Hormones and aggression

   • Testosterone is the male sex hormone which is secreted by the adrenal gland and testes
   • It is needed to produce sperm, develop male reproductive organs and produce male features such as facial hair
   • Animal studies
     • Research done on animals showed that the higher the testosterone levels the more aggressive they become
   • Human studies
     • It is unethical to intentionally increase the levels of testosterone to study
     • Psychologists can take blood to test the levels of testosterone
       • You can never get any definitive results without an experiment

5. Social Tearning Theory

   • Before this theory learning theories focused on trial and error learning through the consequences of our own actions
     • However, Albert Bandura argued that this ignored the cognitive processes humans have and understanding of consequences of their behaviour
       • We don't have to experience the alternatives ourselves to work out what to do but we can learn from watching an imitating others
         • Albert Bandura 1977
           • By observing others we can not only how to do things but predict the likely consequences of our behaviour
             • The general principle of SLT is that and adults learn through observing and imitating the behaviours of people around them
               • The people who are observed and imitated are known as role models
                 • The act of imitating an observed behaviour is called modelling
                   • This process is known as observational learning
                     • Role model
                       • We are more likely to copy someone people than others
                         • When we are younger we seek to imitate people who are similar to us and older than us
                           • These role models don't imitate us as they're are more experienced
                         • The people we're are most likely to imitate and copy are those we identify with
                           • They're are skilled, older and similar to us
                     • Selecting behaviours to imitate
                       • It is important to note that not all behaviour is imitated
                         • There are two main factors that determine whether we imitate certain types of behaviour
                           • What we believe we can doe
                           • The expected outcome
                     • Processes of observational learning
                       • Attention
                       • Remember
                       • Reproduce
                       • Motivation to imitate
                       • Positive reinforcement
                         • A reward or pleasant outcome that makes a behaviour more likely to be repeated
                       • punishement
                         • An unpleasant outcome that makes a behaviour less likely to be repeated
           • Vicarious reinforcement
             • Vicarious to do something through someone else
             • We are more likely to imitate someone if we think we'll get a reward in it for us
             • Vicarious learning
               • Being encouraged to imitate someone because we have been rewarded for it

6. Case Studies

   • Anderson & Dill (2000)
     • Aim
       • To see if people who played violent video games became violent
     • Participants
       • 210 psychology students split in to 2 groups
     • IV
       • The video game played
         • Myst: a non violent fantasy game
         • Wolfeinstien 3D: a violent and graphic shoot em up game
     • DV
       • The volume and the duration of the blast of noise inflicted on their opponent in a reaction test game
     • Design
       • 210 psychology students split in to two groups
         • So that participants couldn't give others any hints
     • Procedure
       • Participants were invited to a lab to complete a study on the development of motor skills
         • They were told this to avoid any correct or incorrect preconceptions
         • Participants sat in a cubicle to play one of the games for 15 minutes
         • They were then engaged in another game involving a reaction test against an opponent in another cubicle
         • The person who pressed the button fastest would be able to give their opponent a blast of loud noise
         • They could choose the volume and duration of the noise they inflicted
     • Results
       • Anderson & Dill found that the loudest and longest blasts of noise were give from participants who played Wolfenstien
         • Interestingly women gave greater punishment than men
     • conclusion
       • Playing violent video games such as Wolfenstien increased levels of aggression particularly women
   • Charlton et al (2000)
     • Aim
       • To investigate the effects of introducing TV on children's behaviour
     • Participants
       • The population of St Helena an isolated island in the pacific
         • Charlton et al were interested in St Helena as it had no TV access till 1995 and they wanted to measure the effect is had on children
     • Natural experiment
       • This was a natural experiment as they didn't have any control over confounding variables also the children were in their natural environment
     • IV
       • Before TV's intro
       • After TV's introduction
     • DV
       • The behaviour of the children on the island