1. Psychology 3260: Personality & Social Development
Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
Psychology 3260: Personality & Social Development
Don Hartmann
Spring 2006
Lecture 23a: Aggression: General
Add to this lecture by going into some detail with Dodge’s social information theory as applied to aggression.
References
Check the film ABC News Special; 06/03/02, S : The In Crowd and Social Cruelty. Into the film about 11 minutes begins the portion on Bullying.

2. Quiz 2 Performance Max. Possible: 100%: Score f Grade Range: Mean:
Median:
SD:
Reliability:
Score f Grade

3. Other Administration

4. Overview: Aggression Text Overlap: Pp. 270-287 Lecture: Introduction
Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
Overview: Aggression
Text Overlap: Pp
Lecture:
Introduction
Definition
Theories
Developmental Trends in Aggression
Next: Lect. #20: Bullying

5. Definitions Definition Finesses to skirt intentionality…and
Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
Definitions
Definition
Example from the Yale group who brought you the Frustration-aggression hypothesis (Miller, Dollard, et al.)
Problem of Intent
Finesses to skirt
intentionality…and
their problems:
Buss
Baron
Bandura—subjective social labeling

6. Aggression?

7. Theories: Instinct Instinct Theories: Freud & Lorenz
Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
Theories: Instinct
Instinct Theories: Freud & Lorenz
Kuo’s study of kittens who were raised alone, with their rat-killing moms, or with rats. Which cats are killing rats? Those raised
alone: 45%
with rat-killing moms: 85%
with rats: 17%
Instinct Theories

8. Theories: Learning “Learning” Theories
Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
Theories: Learning
“Learning” Theories
Frustration‑Aggression Theory (Dollard et al.)
FrustrationAggression
Berkowitz's revised F‑A Theory
Importance of anger arousal (e.g., stemming from frustration) as well as aggressive cues
Patterson’s Coercion Theory

9. “Learning” Theories (continued)
Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
“Learning” Theories (continued)
Patterson’s Coercion Theory
Patterson: emphasizes the importance of negative reinforcement in the development and maintenance of aggression.
A particularly important construct is that of coercion—where individuals (particularly family members) use negative means to control one another.
Reid, J. G., Patterson, G. R., & Snyder, J. (2002). Antisocial behavior in children and adolescents: A developmental analysis and model for intervention. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

10. Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General

11. “Coercion” Illustrating Negative Reinforcement
Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
“Coercion” Illustrating Negative Reinforcement
(1) A girl teasing her older brother, who makes her stop teasing by yelling at her. [♀ teasing is reduced (punished) by ♂ yelling; ♂ yelling is strengthened (negatively reinforced) as it terminates ♀ teasing.]
(2) A few minutes later, the girl calls her brother a nasty name. The boy then chases and hits her—and ♀ stops calling him nasty names as ♂ chasing and hitting serve as punishments for ♀ name calling. [♂ Chasing and hitting are negatively reinforced by the termination of ♀ name-calling.]
(3)She then whimpers and hits him back, and he withdraws. [♂ withdrawal negatively reinforces ♀ hits; ♀ hits serve as punishment for ♂ chasing and hitting.]

12. Cognitive?

13. Theories: Cognitive Bandura
Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
Theories: Cognitive
Bandura
Acquisition: Imitation & reinforcement of aggressive acts
Cognitive processes including
Denigration of victim
Evaluating aggression positively
Self-reinforcing aggressive responding
Dodge’s Information Processing Theory

14. The Dodge Model Diagrammatically
Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
The Dodge Model Diagrammatically

15. Reactive Aggressors Respond aggressively.
Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
Reactive Aggressors
Have history of bickering with peers.
Have hostile attribution bias.
More likely to become angry.
Short circuit search.
Respond aggressively.

16. Even Plants Do It!

17. Developmental Trends in Aggression (1)
Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
Developmental Trends in Aggression (1)
Aggression in toddlers?
In 21 month infants, 1 conflict/hr.
Typically involved contested objects
What then? Decrease or increase?
Difficult to determine because of developmental transformations
In general, however, there appears to be decreases in physical aggression and increases in verbal aggression for preschool children

18. Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
Stability r
While different forms of aggression are changing in rate (so forms are unstable across time), are children stable (consistent in rank order in some group)?
Modest to substantial stability from elementary school through young adult, particularly for boys (3.< r < .6).

19. Why Developmental Trends in Aggression?
Psychology 3260 (Hartmann): Autumn '02: Lecture 23a: Aggression--General
Why Developmental Trends in Aggression?
Changes in children’s skills:
Increasing verbal skills
Greater empathy
More planful & less impulsive
Changes in parental values & discipline
Preparing child for broader social encounters
Intolerant of unsubtle forms of aggression & the infliction of physical pain
Changes in social contexts: Greater control exercised by
Peers
Teachers and other extra-familial socializing agents

20. Summary of: Aggression--General
Introduction
Definition
Theories
Developmental Trends in Aggression
Next: Lecture #20: Bullying