Aggression: Biological Models

1. The challenge of defining aggression

2. Traditional: The role of instincts and drives

A. Psychodynamic model
B. Ethological model
C. Frustration-aggression hypothesis

3. Contemporary: Cognitive-neoassociationist model: the role of negative affect


Berkowitz's model of impulsive aggression (Source: Kenrick, Neuberg, & Cialdini, 2002)

4. Much of the current research on the biology of aggression focuses on identifying the physiological substrate to violence.

A. Brain structures (amygdala and prefrontal cortex)


(Source: Driesen, 2002)

B. Testosterone (Discussion of Sapolsky article)