Psy 100 Spring 2003 Madigan
Aggressive Behavior
1. Three Views
2. Aggression in non-human species
Aggression as an adaptation predation, defense
Iintraspecies aggression
Response to pain, loss, frustration
3. Sex Differences
4. Brain mechanisms
Hormonal influences
Genetics and individual differences
5. Aggression as Learned Behavior
Aggression as an instrumental response
Frustration-aggression hypothesis
Social leaning and imitation
Three Views of Aggression
“No human being has ever been born with aggressive or hostile impulses, and no one becomes
aggressive without learning to do so.” (Ashley Montagu, anthropologist)
“There carmot be any doubt, in the opinion of any biologically minded scientist, that intraspecific aggression is, in man, just as much a spontaneous instinctive drive as in most other
higher vertebrates.” (Konrad Lorenz, ethologist)
“Aggression is a biological mechanism shaped by natural selection into an adaptive force which
helps to establish and maintain primate societies.” (Bernstein & Gordon, primate researchers).
Skinner: Aggression as Instrumental Behavior
Aggressive behavior can be acquired and maintained because of its consequences just like any
other behavior. Which reactions have been punished in the past? Which reactions have been
reinforced?
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Frustration Aggression Hypothesis
Frustration = reaction to blockage of goal-directed behavior.
Original version:Frustration is a sufficient condition for aggression.
Frustration effects in operant conditioning: failure to obtain an expected or “deserved” reinforcer
leads to intensification of behavior emotional arousal, aggressive acts.
Psy 100 Spring 2003 Madigan
Social Learning (Modified Frustration-Aggression Theory)
Social learning theory: what is the learning experience of the individual? Which reactions have
been punished? Which reactions have been reinforced? What stimuli / cues are present? What
associations do they activate? How is the situation construed / interpreted?
The “traits” complication: stable, possibly biologically-based individual differences in
characteristic reactions. Examples: heritable traits, including social avoidance; hormone levels
Partial reinforcement, disappointment & frustration are facts of ljfe How do you deal with
them?