Biological Explanations for Aggression

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  • Created by: Amy
  • Created on: 14-01-13 14:44
What happened with Charles Whitman?
He was a worried man and had a terrible compulsion to do something appalling. His self control snapped and killed his wife and mother to spare them shame and went on a shooting spree on the white tower of the Uni of Texas
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What did Davdson, Putnam and Larson believe about the neurotransmitter serotonin?
That it inhibits aggression
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What does this mean?
High levels of serotonin makes us less aggressive, whereas low levels make us more aggressive
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What is tryptophan?
An amino acid that has found to be essential for the production of serotonin
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What does this mean?
High levels of tryptophan -> high levels of serotonin -> low levels of aggression
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What did David, Putnam and Larson find in violent and non-violent prisoners?
Levels of serotonin were markedly lower in violent prisoners
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What does reducing the levels of serotonin in Vervet monkeys do?
Increase aggression
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What has been given to juvenile delinquents to successfully reduce their aggression?
Tryptophan (Morand et al)
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What animals have been tamed by humans for pets in Russia?
Silver foxes
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Research has shown they have higher than normal levels of what?
Serotonin and tryptophan
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What does this lead in lower levels of?
Monoamine oxidase (MAO) an enzyme
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What does MAO do?
removes serotonin from the synapse between neurons
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What does this show?
Low levels of MAO = high levels of serotonin = low levels of aggression
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What is a weakness of this?
Low serotonin levels could be an effect rather than a cause of aggression
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What is a weakness of this point?
Deliberately increasing serotonin levels in animals does cause aggression
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What does animal research suggest when researching the link between brain structure and aggression?
The hypothalamus and amygdala initiate aggression
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What is closely connected to the functioning of the hypothalamus in terms of inhibiting aggression?
The prefrontal cortex
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What is damage of the prefrontal cortex associated with?
Impulsiveness, irritability and easily provoked
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What does electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus produce in cats?
Attack behaviour (Flynn)
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What does lesioning the amygdala do?
Produces a taming effect
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What did Charles Whitman's autopsy reveal?
He had a tumour pressing against is amygdala
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What does amydalectomy show in animals and humans?
It reduces violent behaviour
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What happened to Phineas Gage in 1884?
He sustained prefrontal cortex damage when a tamping iron was blasted through his head. He survived 11 years but his personality changed: impulsive and heightened aggressive behaviour
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What are the weaknesses of the brain structure approach?
Animal research(may not be able to generalise, ethics); deterministic (brain damage will cause aggressive behaviour, ignores free will)
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What are male sex hormones (androgens) linked to?
Aggression
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What produces androgens?
Leydig cells in the male testes
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What does the basal model of testosterone suggest?
Increased testosterone makes a male more competitive and dominant - which means they're more likely to engage in aggressive behaviour
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What does the reciprocal model of testosterone state?
That testosterone levels are an affect of the male's dominance
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In women, what has been successfully used to reduce murder charges to manslaughter?
PMT (high androgen levels)
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What did Nelson find in male and female prisoners?
A positive correlation between androgen levels and aggression
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What did Wagner find in mice?
If they are castrated, overall levels of aggression tend to reduce. If it received testosterone, aggression levels increase
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What did Harrison et al note after giving 56 men testosterone and a frustration-inducing video game?
Agressive responses increased. However, the effect was not the same for the entire sample, changes were largely psychological
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What did Pillay find in 94 male and female athletes?
Testosterone levels were linked to the aggressiveness of the sport they played (higher in wrestling than swimming)
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What could the positive aspects of testosterone be in sport?
Increased competitiveness, so not always aggressive
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Evaluation of hormones?
Deterministic, focus on nature, reductionist, gender bias
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What did Sandburg first identify?
The 47 XYY karotype
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What does this mean?
It is possible for some males to have an additional Y chromosome
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What did Court-Brown believe about XYY males?
They should be hospitalised due to an increased risk of aggression
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What did Milunsky find in opposition to this?
XYY people are on average taller than the population, there is no evidence of aggression
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What did Ratliffe find?
In XYY males, there are no higher than average testosterone levels
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What did Theilgard find with Thematic Apperception Testing?
XYY males have more aggressive interpreations.
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What is a weakness of Theilgard's study?
It's an artificial task, low external validity, will not reflect real life
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What did Rutter et al find in a meta-analysis of twin studies?
DZ twins have a concordance rate of 13-22%, whereas MZ twins have a concordance rate of 26-51%
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How does this support the genetic explanation?
MZ twins have higher concordance rates as they have 100% of the same genetic makeup.
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What is a weakness of this?
It is not 100% therefore there must be environmental factors playing some role. Moreover, not all criminal acts involve aggression
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What did Cairns find in animals?
Selective breeding can lead to more aggressive animals; he created a highly aggressive strain of mice using selective breeding.
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What does this suggest?
There is a genetic transmission of aggression
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What is a weakness of this?
It is difficult to reflect this to humans
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What is an alternative explanation for the explanation of aggression?
SLT
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What are the issues and debates of the biological theory?
Reductionist, determinist, psychology as a science - you can test this empircially
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What did Davdson, Putnam and Larson believe about the neurotransmitter serotonin?

Back

That it inhibits aggression

Card 3

Front

What does this mean?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What is tryptophan?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What does this mean?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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