The Effects of Two or More Environmental Stressors on Aggressive Behaviour

This experiment was put through to show how prisoners act within a prison environment while being isolated within the cell and being forbidden from contact with people outside the jail. The prisoners were arrested in their homes and taken to the police station. The normal procedures for a convicted criminal were given, and the prisoners were then transferred to the basement of the psychology department. The basement was designed to replicate an average prison. Standard rules such as forbidden prisoner to guard eye contact were given. Guards were not allowed to address the prisoners by anything besides their uniform number. Although just an experiment, the subjects were quickly adapting to their roles. Prison guards began to harass the inmates, and the inmates began to verbally abuse each other to extreme levels. Guards also started using major brutality. Due to the drastic escalation of the physical and verbal abuse, the experiment was terminated early (McLeod). This suggests that when isolated, people can start to act more cruel than they would in

After viewing Origins of Human Aggression (The Nature of Things), I learned a lot about origins of human aggression. In the first part of the video, it focused on 2 year old children and how aggression is derived. The video states a study shows that signs of aggression start within the first couple months of a newborn’s life (Maher, Origins of Human Aggression (The Nature of Things). This study within the video I believe is accurate. I was told by my parents that as I grew I began to be more aggressive. The older I got, I began to do things such as: throw objects, hit people, and throw a tantrum if I could not get my way. One time I cried for an hour just so my mother would buy me a pair of shoes. Throwing that tantrum got me my way, but

The general aggression model (GAM) is the most contemporary theory of aggression as of 2015. The GAM, as discussed by Anderson and Bushman (2002), focuses on addressing and discovering the biological, environmental, psychological, and social factors that influence aggression. This aggression model “accounts for both short- and long-term effects of an extensive range of variables of aggression (Warburton & Anderson, 2015, p.375)” due to its biosocial-cognitive approach. Benjamin (2016) describes the opportunity for appraisal presented within this theory. GAM articulates the influences on a person’s immediate appraisal of the situation. “This immediate appraisal occurs automatically, and includes an interpretation of the situation and an

According to Raine, there are documented biological factors associated with violent behavior, however, “biology is not destiny, and it’s more than biology” (Gross, 2013). One area of increasing scientific research is focused on the role of environmental factors. An interesting connection between behavior and environmental toxins is the possible link between lead exposure in children and later violent crime. Raine hypothesizes that environmental lead exposure of young children in the 50s, 60s and 70s corresponds to a later rise in violence in the 70s, 80s and 90s; a similar correlative decrease in both environmental lead and later violence suggests a causal relationship (Gross,

There are two main biological explanations to aggression, neural and hormonal. The neural explanation is the serotonin and dopamine neurotransmitters and how they affect our aggression; the hormonal mechanisms are the testosterone and cortisol chemicals.

There are several sources that have recognized a two-way association between alcohol consumption and violent or aggressive behavior. Not only may alcohol consumption promote aggressiveness, but victimization may lead to excessive alcohol consumption. Violence may be defined as behavior that intentionally inflicts, or attempts to inflict, physical harm. Violence falls within the broader category of aggression, which also includes behaviors that are threatening, hostile, or damaging in a nonphysical way.

In 1971 Philip Zimbardo and his collages Craig Haney, Curtis Banks, David Jaffe, and ex-convict consultant, Carlo Prescott formulated a social experiment that addressed the underlying and basic physical mechanisms of human aggression (Henry, Banks, and Zimbardo, 1973). The experiment was planned to last two weeks and consist of male college students. The study was based upon the dynamic of the authority of prison guards and submissive behavior of the prisons inmates. Therefore, the experiment required for a mock prison to be built.

Aggression is a natural part of human behavior, and can even be adaptive in certain situations. However, when aggression manifests itself in violent behaviors, it becomes problematic. Patterns of aggression change throughout childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, and these changes usually differ between males and females (Loeber, 1997). Physical aggression is typically greatest early in life and decreases during adolescence, whereas more serious violence tends to increase with age, particularly during adolescence (Loeber, 1997). Despite the changes that occur in aggressive tendencies throughout childhood and adolescence, aggression is seen as a very stable trait, almost as stable as

During our lifetime every one of us feels anger and aggression occasionally, some more than others, maybe as a child in the play ground or later as an adult when somebody cuts you up when you are driving along. But what causes anger and aggression and why do we all suffer from it? Well there are lots of different theories to what causes aggression and where aggressive behaviour comes from. So throughout this essay I will examine the different concepts and theories from different psychologist and develop and show an understanding of Aggression

To discover this, McClosky et al (2008), conducted an experiment to test if the core aggression of people with

The Robber’s Cave field experiment (1961) involved a group of 11-12 year old boys at a summer camp. Dividing them into two teams, a series of competitive events were organised. Hostile behaviour such as fighting and refusing to eat with members of the other group ensued. (Gross, p.25). Although field experiments are rewarded for high ecological validity, this study was criticised for being artificial and not necessary representing real life. For example, middle class boys randomly allocated into separate groups does not equal rival football supporters or rival gangs. Additionally, as it only included white middle class males we cannot generalise the results. (McLeod, S. A, 2008). Ethical considerations were not taken into account. There was no experimental consent, no right to withdraw and parental visits we disallowed. (

This is not to deny, however, that there is a relationship between aggression and biological influences. Complex neural systems in the brain when stimulated electrically or chemically can promote aggressive behaviors. Similar effects are noted with certain types of head injuries. Head injury victims may react with rage distinct from ordinary anger (Rosenbaum, Hoge, Adelman, Warnken, Fletcher, & Kane, 1994). Their rage may

Lavinia et. al. (2010) describes a study that calculated physiology factors on a person’s predisposition to aggression in intimate relationships. The study looked at physiological reactivity, which is defined as changes to a person’s body brought about by a stimulus. The study found that individuals that are antisocial and violent are

A range of studies assert that causes of violent behavior are complex at the level of environmental influence and compare other learning, modelling and disinhibiting factors. This is an area where opposition to the hypothesis is more common. Two longitudinal studies assessing levels of violence pre-and post the introduction of television found a positive correlation, however

Is how aggressive an individual is determined only by his or her genes? Whether psychological and behavioral traits are purely determined by genetics, solely influenced by socialization, or a combination of both has been a highly debated topic within the field of psychology known as the “nature-nurture issue.” Today, although still disputed, a good number of psychologists and other scientists concur that genetics and the environment mutually influence and intermingle with one another (Myers, 2015). We can partially credit this fizzling-out of the nature-nurture debate to the discoveries made in twin studies. Twin studies are used to help delineate the genetic components of behavior and the socially and culturally influenced components (Myers, 2015). This type of study enables researchers to examine the extent to which genetics and environment have an effect on the development of traits and behavior. For example, in lecture, we learned that a common and natural experiment used in twin studies is to examine a set of twins who grew up in the same household and a set twins who grew up in separate households (K.W. Brown, personal communication, August 29, 2017).