PSYC 2310 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Facial Symmetry, Sukha, Physical Attractiveness

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2310
• Professor: Saba Safdar

Document Summary

Nature vs. nurture: aggression is our nature. We learn what is right: both are important for aggression. Aggression is inborn (early theories) instinct theories: aggressive instinct (mcdougall, 1908) 18 instincts: curiosity (need to learn), aggressive (destruction) Did not explain what an instinct is: death instinct thanatos : freud 1930. Thanatos: instinct to destroy oneself later to destroy others: hydraulic theory. Unexpressed emotions build up pressure which must be expressed to relieve that pressure. Studies on aggression: observation of and experimentation with species other than humans. Zing yang kuo"s (1961) experiment: raising a kitten in the same cage with a rat. Cat did not chase rat, even other rats. Therefore, no instinct, learned criticism: instinct can be controlled through early experience. The rat did attack the other rat, also shows same behaviour that other rats not raised in isolation. Criticism: for a behaviour to be instinct, should be spontaneous. Konard lorenz"s observation of the behaviours of cichlids, highly aggressive fish.