Biological factors to Agression
- Created by: Hannah Jeffery
- Created on: 18-12-14 10:42
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- Biological Model to explain Aggression
- Genetic influences
- Brunner et al
- Studied the defect of the MAOA gene
- Supported by a Dutch family
- they had a violent and aggressive manner
- large proportion involved in serious crime eg **** and arson
- found to have abnormally low levels of MAOA
- case study cant be generalised
- Sandberg 1961
- Identified the 47XYY karyotype
- Court-brown 1965-1967
- found that in a sample of 314 patients those with XYY would have an increased likelihood of aggressive behaviour
- longitudinal study
- Deterministic
- generalises inmates behaviour to the general public
- people with a predisposition can seek treatment
- Theilgaard concluded that xyy males may seen more aggressive but this doesn't mean that they're likely to perform more violent acts
- Gene- environment interaction
- Caspi et al
- studied 500 children
- those with low levels of MAOA were more likely to show aggressive behaviour if they had been mistreated as a child
- ignores free will
- If they'd had a nurturing childhood then they would channel their aggression into entrepreneurialism
- by being deterministic we can predict the children's behaviour
- Caspi et al
- Twin studies
- Coccaro studied monozygotic twins
- 50% concordance
- strong but since they are genetically identical if there isn't a 95% concordance they're must be more than biological factors
- 50% concordance
- Coccaro studied monozygotic twins
- Brunner et al
- The idea that Aggression is simply the by-product of complex internal physiological processes
- Biochemical Factors
- Low levels of serotonin are associated with aggressive behaviour
- Mann et al
- Drugs that deplete serotonin have been shown to increase likelihood of aggression
- gender bias, all male sample
- Putman And Larson
- violent criminals had remarkably lower levels of serotonin
- deterministic, free will not taken into consideration
- Vervet reduced serotonin levels in monkeys and found increase in aggression
- difficult to generalise findings to a different species
- Brain structure
- variations in the brain structure can influence aggression
- in particular the hypothalamus and amygdala
- Brad and Mountcastle
- detached the higher and lower brain though lesioning in cats
- due to the hypothalamus being affected aggression increased
- difficult to generalise animal studies
- detached the higher and lower brain though lesioning in cats
- Phineas Gage
- Brain damage after a tamping iron went through his head
- before he had a shroud quite, hard working personality
- after he became a negative and aggression individual
- detailed rich data that cant be generalised
- reductionist
- could be due to increase of headaches or decrease of memory frustrating him
- variations in the brain structure can influence aggression
- Genetic influences
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