Deck 9: Aggression and Antisocial Conduct

Question 1

Aggressive acts that serve no purpose other than to harm another individual are classified as

A) instrumental aggression
B) retaliatory aggression
C) hostile aggression
D) cathartic aggression

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Aggressive acts that are performed for purposes of achieving some objective other than harmdoing are likely to be classified as

A) instrumental aggression
B) hostile aggression
C) displaced aggression
D) reactive aggression

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Ethologists such as Lorenz would agree with Freud that _____ .

A) human beings are characterized by a death instinct
B) humans lack instinctual controls over their aggressive instinct and must learn to channel aggressive urges into socially acceptable pursuits
C) both of these
D) none of these

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In contrast to Freud's view that all humans are born with _____ that underlie(s) all aggressive acts, contemporary psychoanalysts believe that aggression _____ .

A) a death instinct; is best described as an acquired drive
B) a death instinct; is instinctual, but promotes life rather than self-destruction
C) aggressive reflexes; is learned
D) none of these

Question 5

The "social judgment" perspective on aggression

A) would classify all harmful acts as aggressive
B) is completely incompatible with an "intentional" perspective on aggression
C) expects people to differ in their classification of harmful acts as aggressive or nonaggressive
D) is completely incompatible with an "intentional" perspective on aggression and expects people to differ in their classification of harmful acts as aggressive or nonaggressive
E) all of these

Question 6

Kuo's (1930) experiment with cats that were raised with rats is important because it clearly demonstrates that

A) rat-killing by cats is an instinctive pattern of behavior
B) social-learning experiences, such as exposure to a rat-killing mother, have little effect on kittens' tendencies to kill rats
C) prior social experiences have dramatic effects on kittens' tendencies to-kill rats
D) rat-killing by cats is an instinctive pattern of behavior and social-learning experiences, such as exposure to a rat-killing mother, have little effect on kittens' tendencies to kill rats
E) none of these

Question 7

Josh slugs Ismail, hoping to make him cry. _____ would classify this act as a clear example of aggression.

A) The "behavioral" perspective on aggression
B) The "intentional" perspective on aggression
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 8

Many developmentalists are critical of ethologists' presumption that humans lack biologically-based inhibitions against harmdoing, often citing _____ as such an inhibition.

A) a capacity for empathy
B) inborn nurturing instincts
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 9

Sigmund Freud believed that aggression was best described as

A) an acquired drive
B) an instinct or class of instincts
C) a set of habits that have instrumental value
D) a class of behavior designed to promote the survival of the individual and the species

Question 10

The original version of the frustration-aggression hypothesis specified that

A) frustration always produces some kind of aggression
B) aggression is always caused by some kind of frustration
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 11

Ethologists can agree with _____ that aggression stems from instinctual impulses and often qualifies as _____ .

A) Freud; an adaptive response
B) contemporary psychoanalysts; a self-destructive response
C) Freud; a self-destructive response
D) contemporary psychoanalysts; an adaptive response

Question 12

One valid criticism of both Freud's psychoanalytic theory and Lorenz's ethological theory of aggression is that

A) there is no evidence that the human body accumulates aggressive energy
B) there are cultures in which people display little if any intraspecies aggression
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 13

Berkowitz's revised frustration-aggression hypothesis views aggressive behavior as stemming from a combination of

A) internal forces such as anger and external, aggressive cues
B) instincts and aggressive cues
C) anger and instincts
D) instincts and aggressive cues

Question 14

Scuffles between a pair of children are more likely to be viewed as "aggressive" acts if the youngsters are females rather than males. The _____ definition of aggression best accounts for this finding.

A) instinctual
B) behavioral
C) intentional
D) social judgment

Question 15

A mugger who attacks a victim in order to obtain the victim's money is engaging in

A) subliminal aggression
B) hostile aggression
C) instrumental aggression
D) vicarious hostility

Question 16

Studies of dominance hierarchies in children's play groups suggest that

A) dominant youngsters have more pent up aggressive energy than their nondominant playmates
B) these group structures tend to minimize rather than encourage aggressive exchanges
C) even preschool children are proficient at resolving many disputes before they escalate into aggressive confrontations
D) these group structures tend to minimize rather than encourage aggressive exchanges and even preschool children are proficient at resolving many disputes before they escalate into aggressive confrontations
E) none of these

Question 17

You are entering a store when a Salvation Army solicitor hits you hard on the head with his bell as he solicits donations. A strict behaviorist such as Arnold Buss (1961) would say that

A) an aggressive act has been committed
B) no aggressive act has been committed because the solicitor did not intend to hurt you
C) the act is aggressive only if the solicitor knew that you are an atheist
D) it is impossible to tell if this is an act of aggression

Question 18

Hostile aggression

A) refers to harm done as a means to a nonaggressive end
B) refers to aggressive acts in which the perpetrator's primary objective is to harm or injure the victim
C) is rarely seen among children older than 5 or 6
D) refers to harm done as a means to a nonaggressive end and is rarely seen among children older than 5 or 6
E) refers to aggressive acts in which the perpetrator's primary objective is to harm or injure the victim and is rarely seen among children older than 5 or 6

Question 19

The study by Feshbach (1956) in which children played with aggressive or nonaggressive toys demonstrates the importance of _____ in promoting aggressive interactions.

A) frustration
B) aggressive cues
C) attack
D) dominance hierarchies

Question 20

According to Berkowitz's revision of the frustration-aggression hypothesis

A) frustration produces anger or a readiness to aggress
B) not all aggression can be traced directly to frustration
C) aggressive cues will evoke aggressive responses from a person who is "primed" for aggression
D) frustration produces anger or a readiness to aggress and aggressive cues will evoke aggressive responses from a person who is "primed" for aggression
E) all of these

Question 21

Compared with nonaggressive children, reactive aggressors are more likely to

A) believe that they can enhance their self-esteem by dominating other children
B) have high levels of self-confidence
C) believe that other people are adversaries and, thus, are quick to attribute hostile intent to them
D) all of these

Question 22

The child's earliest aggressive acts are best described as

A) instinctional aggression
B) hostile aggression
C) instrumental aggression
D) verbal taunts

Question 23

Dodge has identified a hostile attributional bias that reactive aggressors display. In accord with the hostile attributional bias, reactive aggressors are likely to _____ hostile intent to a harmdoer when _____ .

A) overattribute; the harmdoer's intent is ambiguous
B) underattribute; the harmdoer's intent is benign
C) overattribute; the harmdoer's intent is hostile
D) none of these

Question 24

Dodge's social information-processing theory of aggression has been criticized for

A) failing to specify the information-processing biases that underlie proactive and reactive aggression
B) failing to specify how children might develop biases in processing social information
C) paying little attention to the role of emotions in aggressive behavior
D) failing to specify the information-processing biases that underlie proactive and reactive aggression and paying little attention to the role of emotions in aggressive behavior
E) failing to specify how children might develop biases in processing social information and paying little attention to the role of emotions in aggressive behavior

Question 25

Evidence for Bandura's proposition that cognitive processes contribute to human aggression can be seen in

A) the confidence that aggressive children have that their aggressive acts will "pay off"
B) the fact that aggressive children attach more value to the outcomes of aggression than nonaggressive children do
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 26

Research on the origins of aggression suggests that acts classified as _____ first appear at about age _____ , and that prior to that time children treat their adversaries as inanimate obstacles.

A) instinctual aggression; 6 months
B) instrumental aggression; 12 months
C) instrumental aggression; 24 months
D) hostile aggression; 12 months
E) hostile aggression; 24 months

Question 27

Bandura's social-learning theory was the first model to stress the role of _____ in promoting human aggression.

A) anger
B) instincts
C) aggressive cues
D) cognitive processes

Question 28

Children begin to treat other children as adversaries and to fight over control of toys

A) as early as age 6 months
B) by the end of the first year
C) once they achieve self-recognition
D) by the time they achieve a basic gender identity

Question 29

A clear strength of Dodge's social information-processing theory of aggression is _____ .

A) its specification of information-processing biases that underlie both hostile and instrumental aggression
B) its explanation of how children develop the biases that promote hostile and instrumental aggression
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 30

Bandura's contention that virtually all highly aggressive children are aggressive because they value aggression as an effective instrumental strategy for attaining other objectives does not easily explain the behavior of

A) proactive aggressors
B) reactive aggressors
C) late-onset aggressors
D) typical classroom bullies

Question 31

Joe is a hot-head who is inclined to lash out whenever peers criticize him. Developmentalists would probably classify Joe as _____ .

A) a retaliatory aggressor
B) a proactive aggressor
C) a reactive aggressor
D) a member of a deviant peer clique

Question 32

Dodge believes that reactive aggressors are apt to remain highly aggressive because

A) they overattribute hostile intentions to their peers when harmed under ambiguous circumstances
B) by virtue of their own hostile inclinations, they are likely to be attacked by peers
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 33

Dexter takes pride (not to mention gaining resources) in his use of force to convince peers to submit to him. Dexter sounds very much like _____ .

A) a retaliatory aggressor
B) a proactive aggressor
C) a reactive aggressor
D) a member of a deviant peer clique

Question 34

Compared to nonaggressive children and reactive aggressors, proactive aggressors are more likely to engage in

A) retaliatory aggression
B) instrumental aggression
C) hostile aggression
D) relational aggression

Question 35

One day at school, Josh gets up real quick from the table and spills paint all over Frank's art project. Frank thinks to himself, "I'll teach that little creep to be more careful" and he consciously plans an aggressive means of getting back at Josh for his carelessness. From the perspective of Dodge's social information-processing theory of aggression, Frank would be classified as

A) a reactive aggressor
B) a relational aggressor
C) a passive aggressor
D) a proactive aggressor

Question 36

According to Bandura's social-learning theory, aggressive habits may persist over time if they

A) help aggressors to achieve their objectives
B) are useful at terminating others' noxious behaviors
C) are socially sanctioned by aggressive peers
D) all of these

Question 37

According to Dodge's social information-processing theory of aggression, children progress through six cognitive "steps" or processes when deciding how they might react to frustration, anger, or an apparent provocation. The sequencing of these cognitive processes is

A) cue encoding, cue interpretation, goal formulation, strategy generation, response enactment, strategy evaluation
B) cue encoding, cue interpretation, goal formulation, strategy generation, strategy evaluation, response enactment
C) cue interpretation, goal formulation, strategy generation, strategy evaluation, cue encoding, response enactment
D) cue interpretation, cue encoding, goal formulation, strategy generation, response enactment, strategy evaluation

Question 38

According to Bandura's social learning theory

A) internal arousal such as frustration or anger is not necessary for aggression to occur
B) many forms of arousal may increase the likelihood of an aggressive response in situations where aggressive cues are present
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 39

Berkowitz's revision of the frustration-aggression hypothesis and Dodge's social information-processing theory stress the importance of situational cues in promoting aggressive behavior. While Berkowitz contends that situational cues often _____ aggressive responses, Dodge claims that the effects of these cues depend on _____ .

A) evoke; how they are processed and interpreted
B) evoke; their reinforcement value
C) inhibit; how they are processed and interpreted
D) sustain; the degree of anger the child is experiencing

Question 40

Recent neuroimaging studies are consistent with Bandura's view that ____, showing that successful aggression activates pleasure centers in the brain.

A) can be self-reinforcing
B) is instinctual
C) any form of arousal instigates aggression
D) aggression serves to reduce anger or frustration

Question 41

Children who display the hostile attributional bias are at risk of becoming

A) habitual bullies
B) proactive aggressors
C) passive victims
D) provocative victims

Question 42

Physical aggression

A) increases throughout childhood and adolescence
B) increases until first grade and then stabilizes
C) is gradually replaced by verbal aggression during the preschool period
D) is rare after age 8

Question 43

Studies of habitual bullies reveal that these children tend to select _____ victims.

A) girls
B) primarily weak, socially isolated peers
C) primarily other aggressive peers
D) primarily those peers who accidentally did them harm

Question 44

Early conflicts among 2-year-olds over toys

A) are almost certain to end in a battle
B) are more often resolved by negotiation and sharing than through shows of force
C) occur less frequently than squabbles over toys among 1-year-olds
D) rarely occur

Question 45

Over the preschool period (ages 3 to 6)

A) physical aggression increases
B) verbal aggression decreases
C) unfocused temper tantrums become increasingly common
D) there is a decline in the overall frequency of aggressive interactions

Question 46

One reason that the frequency of aggression declines from age 3 to 6 years is that children

A) become better at regulating anger and negative emotions
B) begin to internalize adult-specified rules of conduct
C) acquire other strategies for settling disputes
D) all of these

Question 47

Hostile aggression increases during the elementary school years because

A) children are better able to infer a provocator's aggressive intent
B) retaliatory aggression is informally sanctioned by peers
C) both of these
D) none of these; hostile aggression declines during the elementary school years

Question 48

Elementary school children show more _____ aggression than preschool children because they are better able than preschoolers to _____.

A) hostile; infer the aggressive intentions of other people
B) hostile; determine when they have harmed a victim
C) instrumental; infer the aggressive intentions of other people
D) instrumental; devise aggressive strategies to achieve their objectives

Question 49

Compared to groups of 1-year-olds, 2-year-olds fight _____ with peers in conflicts over toys, particularly when _____.

A) more; they are boys
B) more; toys are in short supply
C) less; they are girls
D) less; adults intervene and suggest prosocial means of conflict resolution

Question 50

The increase in conflicts that infants display after their first birthday is thought by some developmentalists to reflect _____.

A) the origins of hostile aggression
B) infants' desire to assert their wills as they begin their quest for autonomy
C) a need to dominate their playmates
D) reactive, retaliatory aggression

Question 51

Jorge is sometimes physically abused by a parent and is often pushed around by his three older siblings. Given his home environment becoming

A) a provocative victim
B) a proactive aggressor
C) a passive victim
D) a habitual bully

Question 52

Studies of children's aggressive interactions in nursery school settings reveal that

A) aggression is usually hostile in character
B) aggression is usually instrumental in character
C) aggression is directed primarily at inanimate objects
D) older nursery schoolers are more physically aggressive than their younger classmates

Question 53

Some hot-headed, oppositional children are at risk of becoming ________, a class of kids that tends to be the most disliked of all.

A) bullies
B) passive victims
C) bully/victims
D) relational aggressors

Question 54

A clear majority of aggressive acts that occur in children's peer groups

A) involve highly aggressive youngsters and overvictimized targets
B) are clearly provoked by the victims
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 55

The fact that bullies pick on _____ and have seen aggression pay off for perpetrators at home implies that most bullies qualify as _____ aggressors.

A) girls; reactive
B) other aggressive children; reactive
C) physically weak targets; proactive
D) girls; proactive

Question 56

Compared to normal, nonvictimized classmates, most habitual victims of peer aggression _____ .

A) are disruptive braggarts who have unrealistically high self-esteem
B) are quick to defend themselves or their egos
C) rarely invite the hostilities they receive
D) are disruptive braggarts who have unrealistically high self-esteem and are quick to defend themselves or their egos
E) none of these

Question 57

Studies of children's aggression during the preschool period reveal that _____ .

A) unfocused temper tantrums become increasingly common after age 4
B) the incidence of forceful, oppositional and hence, aggressive behaviors peaks between ages 2 and 3 and very gradually declines thereafter
C) children's tendencies to retaliate after provocations declines dramatically after age 3
D) none of these

Question 58

Studies of conflicts among pairs of 1-year-olds and 2-year-olds (for example, Caplan et al., 1991) suggest that

A) 2-year-olds have fewer conflicts over toys than 1-year-olds do
B) conflicts among 2-year-olds are more likely to be resolved aggressively than are conflicts among 1-year-olds
C) early conflicts among peers are basically maladaptive, typically serving as instigators of aggression
D) all of these
E) none of these

Question 59

Research on the victims of aggression has shown that victims _____ .

A) are virtually always children who "ask for it" by engaging in provocative behavior and verbalizations
B) are virtually always children who are passive, weak, and nonprovocative
C) do not display any particular set of characteristics
D) include both passive and provocative individuals who are rejected by peers

Question 60

Recent research implies that _____ is very important at sustaining bullying activities

A) the popularity and social recognition that most bullies enjoy
B) the support of friends
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 61

Throughout childhood, Geraldo was no more or less aggressive than his peers. After a change in residence following his parents' divorce, he fell in with the wrong adolescent crowd, began to fight and to partake in mischevious antisocial conduct, which continued until he enlisted in the army at age 18. Geraldo displays a _____ trajectory for aggression.

A) chronic persistence
B) high-level desister
C) moderate-level desister
D) none of these

Question 62

Studies of sex differences in aggression reveal that

A) males are more physically aggressive than females
B) females are more verbally aggressive than males
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 63

The relationship between testosterone and aggression among males _____ .

A) explains why males are more overtly aggressive than females
B) implicate testosterone as a direct cause of overt aggression
C) depends upon the type of relationship boys have established with their parents
D) explains why males are more overtly aggressive than females and implicate testosterone as a direct cause of overt aggression
E) all of these

Question 64

Jennifer wishes to get back at Pam, who has flirted shamelessly with Jennifer's boyfriend. Jennifer spreads the rumor that Pam associates with undesirable elements and then blackball's Pam's candidacy to join her sorority. Jennifer's actions are best described as

A) hostile aggression
B) relational aggression
C) instrumental aggression
D) reactive aggression

Question 65

From middle childhood through adolescence

A) the general incidence of physical aggression declines
B) arrests for assault and other serious violence increase
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 66

The fact that aggressive, domineering adolescents are often found to have higher androgen and/or testosterone levels than nonaggressive age mates do conclusively establishes that _____ .

A) higher concentrations of male sex hormones are one potent cause of aggression
B) males exceed females in aggression because of their higher concentrations of male sex hormones
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 67

From middle childhood through adolescence

A) overt aggression declines
B) covert forms of antisocial conduct increase
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 68

In their longitudinal study of aggression, Rowell Huesmann and associates (1984) found that the levels of aggression displayed by 8-year-olds were solid predictors of their _____ at age 30.

A) criminal conduct
B) spouse and child abuse
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 69

A major contributor to increases in midsconduct during adolescence is that

A) defiant and delinquent conduct become more acceptable to peers
B) defiant and delinquent conduct is a natural outgrowth of the increases in aggression that most adolescents display
C) adolescents turn to defiance and delinquency as substitutes for their declining levels of covert social ostracism and relational aggression
D) all of these

Question 70

Dana and David are twins. Their father finds that David is an active and occasionally an irritable infant who normally enjoys roughhousing but may become angered if pushed too far. By contrast, Dana is a docile child who would rather play quietly at games like pat-a-cake, so that Dad is less inclined to roughhouse while playing with her. David is more aggressive than Dana. These observations seem most consistent with the _____ view on sex differences in aggression.

A) biological
B) social
C) interactive
D) ethological

Question 71

_____ provides conclusive evidence that sex differences in aggression are biologically mediated.

A) males are the more aggressive sex in many species
B) males are the more aggressive sex in most cultures
C) sex differences in aggression occur too early in development for social forces to have shaped them
D) aggressive adolescents have higher concentrations of male sex hormones than nonaggressive adolescents do
E) none of these

Question 72

Sheila was a very aggressive toddler and preschooler who was identified early and received social skills training in the elementary-school years. By junior high, she was no more or less hostile and aggressive than a typical junior high girl. Sheila displays a _____ trajectory for aggression.

A) chronic persistence
B) high-level desister
C) moderate-level desister
D) no-problem

Question 73

Chronic victims are most likely to continue to be victimized over time when they

A) blame themselves for their victimization
B) have no friends to stick up for them
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 74

When 9- 12-year-olds are asked how boys and how girls will "get back at" or "be mean to" someone who makes them mad, they generally say that boys will _____ their adversaries whereas girls will _____.

A) hit or insult; insult
B) hit or insult; undermine the adversary's social standing
C) undermine the adversary's social standing; hit or insult
D) undermine the adversary's social standing; undermine the adversary's social standing

Question 75

Chronic victims may find it difficult to make friendships that might protect them from being victimized because

A) they lack social skills
B) other children may avoid them for fear of losing social status
C) other children may avoid them for fear of being victimized themselves
D) they lack social skills and other children may avoid them for fear of losing social status
E) all of these

Question 76

Children who are most at risk of becoming violent and displaying high levels of antisocial conduct later in life are those who have displayed a _____ trajectory for aggression.

A) chronic persistence
B) high-level desister
C) late-onset
D) moderate-level desister

Question 77

Sex differences in aggression may be overestimated by researchers who focus on _____ aggression and fail to consider _____ aggression, for which females are higher than males.

A) overt; relational
B) overt; verbal
C) physical; verbal
D) relational; verbal

Question 78

One argument against the notion that higher concentrations of male sex hormones cause people to be more aggressive is that

A) higher concentrations of male sex hormones may be the result of successful aggression
B) females exposed prenatally to testosterone actually become more passive and feminine
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 79

Youngsters who are bullied in instant messages or in online slam books

A) are not likely affected as negatively as they are by face-to-face bullying
B) are best advised to stick up for themselves by confronting electronic bullies
C) both of these
D) none of these

Question 80

The results of longitudinal studies suggest that

A) aggression is a reasonably stable attribute for males but not for females
B) one cannot predict how aggressive a 3-year-old will be as a 5-year-old unless that child is a male
C) aggression is a reasonably stable attribute for both males and females
D) none of these