Effectiveness of social reinforcement following social and sensory deprivation.

Prior to the presentation of a simple operant task, 72 boys and girls of CA 5-7 were placed in 1 of 3 deprivation conditions: (a) social and sensory, (b) social, (c) nondeprivation. The conditions differed according to the presence or absence of E and the presence or absence of interesting visual stimulation (viewing a colored, abstract film). During the 7 minutes of the experimental task Ss were socially reinforced by supportive comments twice each minute after the 1st, base-line minute. In the analysis of changes in performance following the 1st minute, significant effects were found for (a) deprivation condition (C), (b) sex of S (S), (c) age of S (A), (d) minutes (M) X S X C, and (e) M X C X A. It was concluded that isolation has differential effects on performance as a function of age and sex of S, and that the effects of isolation were related more to the sensory components of the situation than to the social components. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of nicotine deprivation and irritability on physical aggression in male smokers.

Thirty-five continuing male smokers were randomly assigned to either a deprived or a nondeprived condition. On the basis of self-reported irritability, participants were then assigned to 1 of 4 groups: deprived–high irritable, deprived–low irritable, nondeprived–high irritable, and nondeprived–low irritable. Aggression was measured with a modified version of the Taylor aggression paradigm. Self-reported smoking urge was assessed throughout the reaction time competition. Results indicated that the deprived—high irritable group displayed the highest levels of aggressive behavior. Positive associations between urge ratings and aggression indexes were detected only in the deprived—high irritable group. Results support the existence of an interactive effect of nicotine deprivation and trait irritability on physical aggression and highlight the role of smoking urge as an important factor in the deprivation-aggression link. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of domestically violent men's aggression toward children: A prospective study.

This research examines predictors of domestically violent men's aggression toward children after the children and their mothers sought help at an emergency shelter for domestic violence victims. Participants were 62 women who had sought refuge at a domestic violence shelter and who had at least one child between 4 and 9 years old. During their shelter stay, women provided data on partner–child aggression that occurred before shelter entry. After leaving the shelter, they also provided data on postshelter partner–mother intimate partner violence (IPV), children's postshelter contacts with their mothers' partners, and postshelter partner–child aggression on 5 occasions after their shelter departure (4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 months postshelter). Consistent with our hypotheses, the level of partner–child aggression before the family entered the shelter, the level of partner–mother IPV after shelter departure, and the frequency of children's contacts with the partners after shelter departure each predicted postshelter partner–child aggression. Clinical and policy implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring the strength of the effect of violent media on aggression.

Responds to comments made by Block and Crain (see record 2007-04834-015) to the current author's original article (see record 2001-17729-001). In their critique of our article, Block and Crain claimed, "There is no data transformation that converts an odds ratio or relative risk into a correlation". They further stated that our transformation method is "wrong" and "faulty". They are incorrect. In fact, there are many different methods for transforming an odds ratio or relative risk into a correlation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commitment to social deprivation and verbal conditioning.

Control Ss who experienced high prior deprivation of a reinforcing stimulus (approval) responded more with a reinforced response in a verbal conditioning situation than Ss less deprived. Other Ss committed themselves to undergoing postexperimental deprivation of social reinforcement after the same high prior social deprivation. A model suggested by dissonance theory predicted that such Ss who committed themselves for lower rewards would experience greater dissonance; the greater the dissonance, the more could Ss justify their decisions and reduce dissonance by reducing their motive for social reinforcement, consequently behaving in the conditioning situation as Ss who had low motivation for social reinforcement. As expected, experimental Ss in the High Dissonance condition who committed themselves for low reward ($1.00) responded less to social reinforcement, i.e., they showed a smaller increase in response strength of emission of verbal behavior than Control Ss or Low Dissonance Ss who committed themselves for high reward ($5.00). (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of brief social deprivation on behaviors for a social reinforcer.

Method used, variables observed, and results are outlined and discussed. Adult approval was found to have definite reinforcing value; the effectiveness may be enhanced by an operation of deprivation. 22 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interparental conflict, children's social cognitions, and child aggression: A test of a mediational model.

Although correlations between interparental conflict and child maladjustment are well-established, the processes connecting these 2 phenomena are less understood. The present study tested whether an aggressogenic cognitive style mediates the relationship between interparental conflict and child aggression. A multiethnic sample of 115 families with a child between the ages of 7 and 13 years participated. Questionnaires were used to assess parents' and children's perceptions of interparental conflict, children's social problem-solving strategies and beliefs about aggression, and parent and teacher reports of child aggression. Support was found for the mediating effect of aggressogenic cognitions on children's school aggression but not on children's aggression at home. Implications for understanding the associations among interparental conflict, children's social cognitions, and child aggression in different environmental contexts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Workplace aggression in teenage part-time employees.

Among adult employees, interpersonal injustice and abusive supervision predict aggression toward supervisors at work. The aim of this study was to assess whether similar relationships exist among teenage employees and, further, whether teenagers' reasons for working moderate these relationships. Multiple regression analyses on data from 119 teenage employees showed that financial and personal fulfillment reasons for working moderate the impact of interpersonal injustice and abusive supervision on aggression directed at workplace supervisors. These findings contribute to the understanding of workplace aggression by demonstrating that (a) teenagers engage in this workplace behavior, (b) the predictors are similar to those of adult aggression, and (c) reasons for working play a moderating role among this particular cohort. The possible long-term consequences of teenagers' use of aggression at work are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of sleep deprivation on performance in a simulated communication task.

"Twenty Ss were tested for their ability to receive and send complex instructions in a simulated communication situation following 55 and 70 hr. without sleep. The ability to receive showed a significant decrement, but the ability to send did not. The time required to send instructions and the number of errors corrected spontaneously increased significantly. In the case of sending, high-intelligence Ss showed greater decrement than low-intelligence Ss." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nailing the coffin shut on doubts that violent video games stimulate aggression: Comment on Anderson et al. (2010).

Over the past half century the mass media, including video games, have become important socializers of children. Observational learning theory has evolved into social–cognitive information processing models that explain that what a child observes in any venue has both short-term and long-term influences on the child’s behaviors and cognitions. C. A. Anderson et al.’s (2010) extensive meta-analysis of the effects of violent video games confirms what these theories predict and what prior research about other violent mass media has found: that violent video games stimulate aggression in the players in the short run and increase the risk for aggressive behaviors by the players later in life. The effects occur for males and females and for children growing up in Eastern or Western cultures. The effects are strongest for the best studies. Contrary to some critics’ assertions, the meta-analysis of C. A. Anderson et al. is methodologically sound and comprehensive. Yet the results of meta-analyses are unlikely to change the critics’ views or the public’s perception that the issue is undecided because some studies have yielded null effects, because many people are concerned that the implications of the research threaten freedom of expression, and because many people have their identities or self-interests closely tied to violent video games. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Book review: Media violence and its effects on aggression: Assessing the scientific evidence.

Review of book: Media violence and its effects on aggression: Assessing the scientific evidence, by Jonathan L. Freedman. Toronto: ON: University of Toronto Press, 2002, 227 pp. Hardcover. ISBN 0-8020-3553-1. Reviewed by Claire Crooks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of change in physical aggression and marital satisfaction.

Physical aggression and marital satisfaction were assessed in 172 newlywed couples annually over the first 4 years of marriage to examine (a) stability of aggression over time and (b) the degree to which fluctuations in aggression precede versus follow fluctuations in marital satisfaction. The stability of aggression varied as a function of initial levels of severity; spouses who were most aggressive early in marriage had greater fluctuations in aggression. Rates of change in aggression predicted changes in satisfaction more than dissatisfaction predicted aggression. Husbands' physical aggression predicted marital discord, whereas wives' aggression predicted marital dissolution. By indicating that aggression (a) is a precursor to adverse marital outcomes and (b) varies across spouses in initial levels and in patterns of temporal change, the present findings highlight the need to understand the contextual factors that govern within-person and within-couple fluctuations in intimate violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal relations between children's exposure to TV violence and their aggressive and violent behavior in young adulthood: 1977-1992.

Although the relation between TV-violence viewing and aggression in childhood has been clearly demonstrated, only a few studies have examined this relation from childhood to adulthood, and these studies of children growing up in the 1960s reported significant relations only for boys. The current study examines the longitudinal relations between TV-violence viewing at ages 6 to 10 and adult aggressive behavior about 15 years later for a sample growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. Follow-up archival data (N=450) and interview data (N=329) reveal that childhood exposure to media violence predicts young adult aggressive behavior for both males and females. Identification with aggressive TV characters and perceived realism of TV violence also predict later aggression. These relations persist even when the effects of socioeconomic status, intellectual ability, and a variety of parenting factors are controlled. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Relative deprivation and social comparison: The Ontario Symposium, Volume 4.

Reviews the book, Relative deprivation and social comparison: The Ontario Symposium, Volume 4 edited by James M. Olson, C. Peter Herman, and Mark P. Zanna (1986). This volume addresses two very important and interrelated topics in social psychology through a collection of relatively independent papers. Following an introductory chapter, the authors of chapters 2 through 5 discuss various theoretical approaches to the determinants of resentment engendered by relative deprivation and recent research designed to address this theorizing. Then, chapters 6 through 8 discuss recent work on social comparison processes. Finally, chapters 9 through 12 use the concepts of relative deprivation and social comparison to suggest ways to understand four important social issues: minority-majority relations, dissatisfaction in organizational settings, social protest, and tolerance of injustice. All in all, the reviewer highly recommends this book to anyone wishing to update themselves on current research trends in this area. Two of the three sections are excellent and third is of uneven rather than poor quality. Further, the regrettable focus on egotistical rather than fraternal relative deprivation in the social psychology literature is not as prevalent in this book as the reviewer feared it might be. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impaired nitric oxide synthase signaling dissociates social investigation and aggression.

A combination of social withdrawal and increased aggression is characteristic of several mental disorders. Most previous studies have investigated the neurochemical bases of social behavior and aggression independently, as opposed to how these behaviors are regulated in concert. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) produces gaseous nitric oxide, which functions as a neurotransmitter and is known to affect several types of behavior including mating and aggression. Compared with wild-type mice, we observed that nNOS knockout mice showed reduced behavioral responses to an intruder behind a wire barrier. Similar results were observed in mice treated with the selective nNOS inhibitor 3-bromo-7-nitroindazole (3BrN). In habituation-dishabituation tests, treatment with 3BrN did not block recognition of male urine but did attenuate investigation time compared with oil-treated animals. Finally, nNOS knockout mice and 3BrN treated mice were significantly more aggressive than wild-type and oil-treated males, respectively. In general, these behavioral effects are less pronounced in pair-housed males compared with singly-housed males. Thus, nNOS inhibition results in a phenotype that displays reduced social investigation and increased aggression. These data suggest that further study of nNOS signaling is warranted in mental disorders characterized by social withdrawal and increased aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dopaminergic activity modulation via aggression, status, and a visual social signal.

Social interaction may elicit aggression, establish social rank, and be influenced by changes in central dopaminergic activity. In the lizard Anolis carolinensis, a sign stimulus (darkening of postorbital skin or eyespots) inhibits aggressive response from opponents, in part because it forms more rapidly in dominant males. The authors report that artificially hiding or darkening eyespots influences central dopaminergic activity, social status, and aggression during dyadic social interaction. All males that viewed an opponent with eyespots painted black became subordinate and exhibited elevated dopamine in raphe, lateral amygdala, and medial amygdala but decreased dopamine in septum and locus ceruleus. In contrast, males that viewed opponents with hidden eyespots (painted green) became dominant and had increased dopamine in striatum, nucleus accumbens, hypothalamus, and combined substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The social communication model of pain.

Everybody is an expert on pain, by virtue of biological preparedness and personal experience. Unfortunately, this expertise fails large numbers of people, and we must improve our understanding through theoretical and research advances. A vast research-based literature on the nature and management of pain is now available, and there have been dramatic advances in our understanding and management of pain. Nevertheless, there continue to be major problems in the management of severe acute pain and chronic pain. It is argued that a formulation of pain that explicitly focuses upon social factors would more readily address human needs than models that focus upon biophysical and/or psychological factors alone (intrapersonal processes). Although ancient protective biological systems provide for escape and avoidance of pain, evolution of human capacities for cognitive processing and social adaptation necessitate a model of pain incorporating these capabilities (interpersonal processes). The more inclusive and comprehensive social communication model of pain is described and illustrated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Externalizing psychopathology in adulthood: A dimensional-spectrum conceptualization and its implications for DSM-V.

Mental disorders involving antisocial behavior and substance use are genetically linked and vary continuously. The authors present a review and integrative conceptualization of these observations in terms of a dimensional and hierarchically organized externalizing spectrum. As a foundation for this conceptualization, the authors introduce a quantitative, model-based approach to comparing categorical and continuous conceptions of psychopathology and apply this approach in an empirical study of patterns of comorbidity among externalizing disorders as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The authors present evidence that comorbidity among externalizing disorders is best modeled by an underlying normally distributed continuum of risk for multiple disorders within the externalizing spectrum. The authors conclude by discussing implications of the externalizing spectrum conceptualization for classification of disorders in the upcoming 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of justification for aggression and communication with the victim on postaggression dissonance.

College Ss opposed to using electric shock voluntarily delivered shock to another person (the victim). 4 independent variables (justification for aggressing, shock intensity, opportunity for communication with the victim, and sex) were related to dependent measures of obligation (to shock), guilt, estimate of injury, attraction (willingness to give shocks again), and feeling of being qualified. Content of S's communication to the victim was also examined. Results were: (a) obligation, guilt, estimate of injury, and unwillingness to repeat experiment, were greater when there was no justification or communication and when shock was high; (b) there were sex differences in both main effects and interactions; and (c) communication to the victim varied with shock intensity, justification, and sex of S. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimentally induced anxiety attenuates alcohol-related aggression in men.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that state anxiety operates as moderator of the alcohol-aggression relation. Participants were 80 healthy male social drinkers between 21 and 33 years of age. They were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: (a) alcohol + anxiety induction (n = 20), (b) placebo + anxiety induction (n = 20), (c) alcohol + no anxiety induction (n = 20), and (d) placebo + no anxiety induction (n = 20). Anxiety was induced by informing participants that they had to deliver a speech about what they liked and disliked about their body in front of a video camera. A modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (S. Taylor, 1967) was then used to measure aggressive behavior in a situation where electric shocks were administered to, and received from, a fictitious opponent under the guise of a competitive reaction time task. Results indicated that the anxiety induction was successful in suppressing aggression for participants who received alcohol equal to levels seen in placebo controls. Findings are discussed within the context of a number of theories of alcohol's anxiolytic effects in relation to intoxicated aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)