PSYC 351 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Genetic Predisposition, Reinforcement, Operant Conditioning
Ch 10 Aggression
What is aggression?
• Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt another person who does not want to be
hurt.
− Related concepts
• Anger: Emotion
• Hostility: Attitude
Is this aggression?
❖ Accidentally injuring someone
❖ Working tenaciously to try to sell a product to a customer
❖ Biting someone on the neck
❖ Swinging a stick at someone but missing
❖ Hurling insults at someone
❖ Deliberately failing to prevent harm
❖ Murdering for money
❖ Hiring someone to break a competitor's kneecaps
❖ Hitting others while in a rage
Two types of aggression
▪ Hostile Aggression
Comes from anger
The means and the ends coincide.
Eg: Murder
▪ Instrumental Aggression
Inflicting harm to obtain something of value.
A means to and end.
Eg: Terrorism
Theories of Aggression
❖ Instincts
❖ Evolution
❖ Neural Influences
❖ Genetics
find more resources at oneclass.com
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❖ Biochemical
❖ Social Learning
❖ Ideas that die hard (instinct)
o Overlapping such as genetics and neural chemistry etc
Freud’s 2 cents:
▪ Catharsis
▪ Release of energy and strong emotional experience, release of anger is a healthy thing
to do
▪ discharge of repressed emotions that results in the alleviation of symptoms or the
permanent relief of the condition
− Consider this story…
▪ NPR story of “smash shack” creator
▪ Catharsis should release the anger, but it does not she continues to want more and more
release
Listen - Does getting angry make you angrier? NPR
▪ What is the main message here?
▪ Sense of immediate improvement,
Theories of Aggression
▪ Evolutionary theory:
❖ Aggression is adaptive
❖ Competing for limited resources
❖ Genetic survival
▪ Children 70-100 times more likely to be murdered by stepparent versus
biological parent
❖ Men: Obtain higher status
❖ Women: Protecting offspring and self, investment of time and energy towards
having the child must act aggressively to ensure survival
Theories of Aggression
❖ Genetic predisposition
▪ Evidence mixed
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Ch 10 aggression: physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt another person who does not want to be hurt. Related concepts: anger: emotion, hostility: attitude. Working tenaciously to try to sell a product to a customer. Swinging a stick at someone but missing. Hiring someone to break a competitor"s kneecaps. Ideas that die hard (instinct: overlapping such as genetics and neural chemistry etc. Freud"s 2 cents: catharsis, release of energy and strong emotional experience, release of anger is a healthy thing to do, discharge of repressed emotions that results in the alleviation of symptoms or the permanent relief of the condition. Consider this story : npr story of smash shack creator, catharsis should release the anger, but it does not she continues to want more and more release. Npr: what is the main message here, sense of immediate improvement, Genetic survival: children 70-100 times more likely to be murdered by stepparent versus biological parent.
