1. Methodology of Aggression

2. How to study Aggression? Real-world Advantages Naturally occurring No experimenter bias Disadvantages Dangerous Unethical No cause-and-effect Laboratory Advantages – flip side of above Disadvantages – flip side of above

3. Can we ask about aggression? Archival Advantage Bias free - experimenter Disadvantage Bias – original purpose/coder Not collected for researchers purpose Verbal (self, other, personality, state, trait) Advantage Bias free (subject) if unaware, no social desirability Measuring what is inappropriate, culturally discouraged Disadvantage Bias from respondent can occur

4. Can we observe aggression? Naturalistic Observations Advantages Actual aggression Naturally occurring context Disadvantages Not very common Need to eliminate research bias Difficult to code Naturalistic INTERACTIONS Advantages Same as above Disadvantages No longer same as above But now… Ethical?

5. Do we need causation? Causation? Laboratory Observations Behavior Verbal Pain – five senses

6. Experiment

7. Correlation v. Causation Depressed MoodImpaired Sleep Depressed MoodImpaired Sleep Family Conflict Depressed MoodImpaired Sleep Cause?

8. Third Variable? Finding: Women who have a baby after age 40 are more likely to live past 100. Finding: The greater the quantity of ice cream sold, the greater the number of murders. Finding: The greater the number of Churches, the greater the amount of crime. Finding: The more a person weighs, the larger his/her vocabulary.

9. Apply what we have learned Does watching violent TV make children aggressive? How would you conduct a correlational study testing this research question? How would you conduct an experimental study testing this research questions?

10. Correlational? or Causational? A newspaper headline reads, Heavy Drinkers Get Lower College Grades. Your psychology textbook states that some people remember concrete words better than abstract words. People who were abused as children are more likely than others to become child abusers A health magazine reports that depressed people who continue medication for at least six months are less likely to relapse than people who take medication for less than six months

11. Do we need causation? Causation? Laboratory Observations Behavior Verbal Pain – five senses