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Title: Hormonal mechanisms in aggression - A level
Description: A detailed description of the mechanisms in aggression, explanation of how serotonin/cortisol effect the body, evaluation and IDA's included.
Description: A detailed description of the mechanisms in aggression, explanation of how serotonin/cortisol effect the body, evaluation and IDA's included.
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Hormonal mechanisms in aggression
Testosterone and aggression:
Testosterone is an androgen hormone (produces male characteristics), this is why
aggression is seen as a male characteristic
...
Evidence for the testosterone and aggression link: the action of testosterone on brain
areas involved in controlling aggression makes it more likely that a particularly behaviour
will be displayed
...
Neurotransmitters are chemicals that allow impulses in one area of the
brain to be transmitted to another area
...
(introduction to an essay)
...
Serotonin
How does serotonin influence aggression?
However if there is less serotonin in these frontal areas of the brain there is less inhibition
of the amygdala ( a part of the brain that is stimulated by external events)
...
Support for the serotonin-aggression link
•
•
•
Metabolite levels, the major metabolite or serotonin tends to be low in the
cerebrospinal fluid of people who display aggressive behaviour, according to Brown
et al 1982
...
Dexfenfluramine, levels of serotonin have been manipulated in order to see whether
this results in changes to aggressive thoughts or behaviours
...
Aggression levels rose among males but not females
Scerbo and Raine conducted a meta-analysis of 29 studies that had examined
serotonin levels in anti-social children and adults
...
This was particularly the
case in individuals who had attempted suicide, this suggests that serotonin
depletion leads to impulsive behaviour, leading to impulsive behaviour, making
aggressive behaviour including suicide more likely
...
However sometimes it
flows back into the first
...
Luvox CR
helps even out serotonin levels by keeping serotonin from flowing back into the first nerv
cell
...
Dopamine
unlike serotonin which appears to have a causal link with aggressive behaviour, the link
with dopamine is less clear cut
...
How does dopamine influence aggression?
According to this view, whenever we perform an activity that we find rewarding, such as
eating, recreational drugs or sex, the brain releases higher levels of dopamine
...
Aggressive behaviour is linked to the effect of dopamine on
rewards in the brain
...
Evaluation of neural mechanisms in aggression
Serotonin: alternative explanations
Evidence for this comes from the finding that among suicide completer's, those with
increased numbers of serotonin receptors in the pre-frontal cortex had chosen more
violent methods of suicide, according to Mann et al 1966
...
So other
factors must play a part in the determination of aggressive behaviour
...
IDA's
Its reductionist, reductionist explanations of human aggression underestimate the
complexity of aggressive behaviour and are insufficient on their own to explain the many
different aspects of human aggressive behaviour
...
This would
increase the amount of serotonin available in the synapse
...
The challenge hypothesis (Wingfield 1990)
As humans are essentially monogamous we might expect male testosterone levels to rise
sharply in response to such challenges, particularly those which are considered threats to
reproductive success
...
According to this explanation competitive encounters
between young men would lead to a surge in testosterone levels
...
Explanations of the cortisol aggression link
an alternative explanation of this link is that low ANS arousal, and therefore low cortisol
levels is experienced as being aversive (unpleasant)
...
Evaluation
The evidence is inconsistent on the testosterone-aggression link
...
Self report techniques are advantageous when assessing aggression is that they're a
quick method and are easy to analyse
...
They are high in reliability,
because the questions are standardised
...
They could be a starting point for
hypothesis testing, however self reports also have disadvantages, the main one being the
lack of internal validity
...
There is
also the danger of social desirability when using self reports, this is where people could lie
or exaggerate, this could be especially problematic within a prison population because it
could lead to more violence and aggression among the inmates, also there is no way of
assessing whether the respondents are actually telling the truth
...
Aggression or dominance?
Aggression is more likely when the intent is to inflict injury on another human being,
whereas individuals display dominance behaviour if their intent is to achieve or maintain
status over the other individual
...
This might explain why some
studies find a positive association between testosterone and aggression, whereas others
don't
...
Research support for the cortisol-aggression link
McBurnett conducted a longitudinal study, this was helpful as it can help to identify who will
become an aggressive adult by assessing the levels of cortisol in children, which can help
to explain the nature-nurture debate
...
A problem with this method is that
different studies take samples at different times of the day, which may have influenced
results considerably because cortisol levels fluctuate naturally over a 24 hour period
...
There
are also issues with consent due to the fact that children are involved in this study,
therefore the researcher would need parental consent for their children to take part in the
study
...
Other research for example from
Baucom et al 1985 has found that women with high testosterone levels had higher
occupational status, this is possibly the result of being more assertive
...
Another IDA is the real-world application, the link between testosterone and aggression
has been used to inform the argument why the presence of guns in the environment may
increase aggression, the presence of certain stimuli such as guns and knives trigger
increases in testosterone which in turn may lead to aggressive behaviour
...
Eight male subjects received
gradually increasing doses of testosterone cypionate (150mg/week for two weeks, 300mg/
week for two weeks, and 600mg/week for two weeks) or placebo using a double-blind,
randomised, cross-over design
...
During the experimental session subjects could press a button to accumulate
points exchangeable for money (non-aggressive response) or press another button to
subtract points from a fictitious opponent (aggressive response)
...
Testosterone administration resulted in a significantly higher number of
aggressive responding compared to placebo
Title: Hormonal mechanisms in aggression - A level
Description: A detailed description of the mechanisms in aggression, explanation of how serotonin/cortisol effect the body, evaluation and IDA's included.
Description: A detailed description of the mechanisms in aggression, explanation of how serotonin/cortisol effect the body, evaluation and IDA's included.