Aggression

What Aggression covers

Aggression is an optional topic for Paper 3. It covers the biological basis of aggressive behaviour in the brain, hormones and genes, ethological and evolutionary accounts, social psychological explanations, and aggression in two specific settings: prisons and the media.

The 6 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggressionThe brain structures linking emotion to aggression, the role of serotonin, the influence of testosterone, and the limits of these explanations.Open →
• Genetic factors in aggressionThe MAOA gene and its low-activity variant, the Brunner and Caspi findings, twin and adoption evidence on heritability, and the evaluation of genetic explanations.Open →
• Ethological and evolutionary explanations of aggressionInnate releasing mechanisms and fixed action patterns, Lorenz's hydraulic model, ritualised aggression and appeasement, and evolutionary accounts of human aggression.Open →
• Social psychological explanations of human aggressionThe frustration-aggression hypothesis and Berkowitz's revision, social learning theory, de-individuation, and the SIDE model's challenge to it.Open →
• Institutional aggression in prisonsThe importation and deprivation models as dispositional and situational explanations of prison aggression, and the evidence for each.Open →
• Media influences on aggressionDesensitisation, disinhibition and cognitive priming as routes from media violence to aggression, and why interactive games may differ from passive viewing.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Aggression further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Innate releasing mechanism vs Fixed action pattern

  Innate releasing mechanism: the neural network that detects a sign stimulus and triggers a response. Fixed action pattern: the stereotyped behaviour sequence that runs to completion once it starts.

• Catharsis vs Displacement

  Catharsis: acting aggressively discharges the arousal built up by being blocked. Displacement: aggression redirected onto a safer target than its real source.

• Vicarious reinforcement vs Vicarious punishment

  Vicarious reinforcement: seeing a model rewarded, which makes imitation more likely. Vicarious punishment: seeing a model penalised, which makes imitation less likely.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is the limbic system's role in relation to aggression?

   Model answer

   The limbic system is a collection of brain structures involved in emotional responses, including aggression.

2. 2

   Which two structures within the limbic system are particularly important for aggressive behaviour?

   Model answer

   The amygdala and the hypothalamus.

3. 3

   What is the function of the amygdala in relation to aggression?

   Model answer

   The amygdala is involved in processing emotional responses, particularly fear and aggression, and plays a key role in evaluating threats and triggering aggressive reactions.

4. 4

   How is the hypothalamus involved in aggressive behaviour?

   Model answer

   The hypothalamus is involved in regulating the body's response to perceived threats, coordinating the physiological aspects of aggression such as activating the fight-or-flight response.

5. 5

   What would you expect to happen to aggressive behaviour if the amygdala were damaged or removed?

   Model answer

   Damage to or removal of the amygdala typically results in reduced aggression and fear responses, as the individual can no longer properly evaluate threats.

6. 6

   Explain why stimulation of the hypothalamus might lead to aggressive behaviour.

   Model answer

   Stimulation of the hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system and triggers physiological arousal associated with the fight-or-flight response, which can manifest as aggressive behaviour.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Aggression revision questions

What does Aggression cover in AQA A-Level Psychology?

6 subtopics: neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggression, genetic factors in aggression, ethological and evolutionary explanations of aggression, social psychological explanations of human aggression, institutional aggression in prisons and media influences on aggression. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Aggression organised?

By the AQA 7182 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.