Zweite Studienarbeit Hochschule für Angewandte Psychologie Zürich, 2005.

Zweite Studienarbeit Hochschule für Angewandte Psychologie Zürich, 2005.

University, Diss., 2001--München.

The aim of this thesis was to explore the relationship between anger and aggression, insecure attachment, paranoia and social cognition in psychosis. It is presented as three separate papers: 1) a systematic review examining the relationship between paranoia and aggression in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, 2) an empirical study investigating predictors and mediators of trait anger across the psychosis continuum: the role of insecure attachment, paranoia and social cognition and 3) a critical reflection of the research process. Paper one provides a systematic review of the relationship between paranoia and aggression in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. A comprehensive search of the published literature identified fifteen eligible studies. The quality of the included articles is critically appraised during the synthesis of the findings. Methodological limitations, clinical implications and recommendations for future research are considered. Paper two provides an examination of predictors and mediators of trait anger across the psychosis continuum, considering the role of insecure attachment, paranoia and social cognition. Tests of theory of mind and measures of attachment, hostile attribution bias, paranoia and anger were administered to 174 participants (14 ultra-high risk of psychosis, 20 first-episode psychosis, 20 established psychosis and 120 non-clinical). Multiple regression analysis found attachment avoidance, paranoia and hostile attribution bias were significantly related to trait anger. Mediation analysis revealed paranoia mediated the relationship between attachment avoidance and trait anger. The results are discussed with consideration to previous research and limitations of the study. Clinical implications and recommendations for future research are also offered. Paper three provides a critical reflection of papers one and two, with reference to their design, implementation and interpretation. Personal reflections of the research process as a whole are also provided.

L'auteur n'a pas fourni de résumé en français. / Key to alleviating the terrible costs of human violence and aggression are identifying and understanding key pharmacological moderators of human aggression. Two primary pharmacological candidates known to influence aggression are alcohol, the intoxicating ingredient of many popular beverages, and serotonin, a class of neurotransmitters important in behavioral regulation. I present four complementary investigations into these two pharmacological targets, examining respectively: (1) the interaction between aggressive personality features and alcohol intoxication, (2) alcohol’s influence on moral reasoning in the face of moral dilemmas involving the use of aggression, (3) the size and strength of the relationship between central serotonin activity and various measures of human aggression, and finally, (4) the ability of Omega-3 supplementation to attenuate aggression via its impact on serotonergic functioning.

Healthy social interactions are critical for children’s development and academic and life success. Relevant research is found in two key disciplines with different emphases: Developmental psychology focuses on individual thoughts, motivations and traits; and behavioral economics and game theory focuses on behavioral tasks. This project integrated these approaches by validating a game-theoretic task for children, the Repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma (RPD), and demonstrated how it can be used to elucidate the mechanisms underlying children’s social interactions. I developed a novel RPD with fixed-strategy partners in order to test specific hypotheses based on developmental theories of social interaction. Children between 9 and 11 years of age (N = 167) were tested on the RPD followed by questions about how they played and interpreted the task. Parents completed a questionnaire assessing their child’s reactive and proactive aggressive traits, a basis for predicting decisions in the RPD. Children also completed a Social Information Processing (SIP) task with novel positive scenarios in addition to standard negative ones. I hypothesized that: 1) children would interpret the RPD as a real social interaction and engage in strategic forms of play according to game theory; 2) children with different levels of reactive and proactive aggression would show different patterns of RPD play based on theories of aggression; 3) the SIP responses would predict different levels of cooperation in the RPD, and the positive scenarios would generate responses consistent with the general SIP theory. Results showed support for the first hypothesis with classes of motivations (interpersonal and strategic self-interest) predicting RPD behavior. The second hypothesis was partially confirmed: Children rated high on reactive aggression showed reactive responses in the RPD. This analysis also revealed an important novel finding that high-reactive children followed a game-theoretic strategy known as “Grim” – they did not return to cooperation after partner defection. The third hypothesis was partially confirmed: Responses for the positive scenarios were consistent with the SIP model but did not predict RPD play. These findings demonstrate the value of integrating theoretical and methodological approaches from developmental psychology and game theory in order to study the mechanisms of social interaction.

The present study measures the effect of ACT on 3 children with high functioning autism. In a multiple probe design, the 3 participants received 15-20 minute ACT sessions over 20 days. The children completed a variety of worksheets, games, and activities stretched across the main components of ACT (cognitive defusion, values, commitment to action, acceptance, self as context, and being present). The frequencies of maladaptive target behavior were tracked daily for each participant. The success of ACT sessions was also measured by the AAQ (K), AAQ-II, and ACT self-report. Results are discussed regarding the scores of the assessments, longevity of the ACT sessions, and the frequency of target behaviors. The discussion looks the limitations of the currents study as well as how research can be extended in the future.

The temperature-aggression hypothesis, negative affect escape hypothesis, and routine activities theory all contribute to understanding the relationship between temperature, aggression, and crime. Utilizing discussions from all three theories to develop the methodology to best answer questions about the interplay among temperature, aggression, and crime. This study evaluates the relationship between simple assaults and temperature and aggravated assaults and temperature. Using data from Charlotte-Mecklenburg county from 2006-2012, a multiple linear regression was run to determine these differences. Daily ambient temperature had a positive significant effect on the total assault rate, simple assault rate, and aggravated assault rate. The rate increase for simple assault was much larger than the rate increase for aggravated assault per degree Fahrenheit. These differences in the types of assault warrant further exploration of minor crimes in prediction models.

abstract: It is widely recognized that peer-directed aggression and victimization are pervasive social problems that impact school-aged children and adolescents. This study investigated the developmental course of aggression and victimization, and more specifically, addressed three primary aims. First, distinct subgroups of children were identified based on similarities and differences in their physical, verbal and relational aggression and victimization. Second, developmental stability (and instability) were assessed by examining the extent to which individuals remain (or change) subgroups throughout childhood and adolescence. Third, group classifications and transitions over time were assessed as a function of children’s individual characteristics and their relational and contextual experiences. The sample for this longitudinal study consisted of 482 children (50% females) who were followed over time from grades 1 to 11. Multiple-informant data on children’s physical, verbal and relational aggression and victimization (peer-reports), individual characteristics including emotion dysregulation, withdrawn behaviors (teacher-reports), and hostile and self-blaming attributions (self-reports), and their relational and contextual experiences including peer rejection, friendships, social hierarchy and classroom aggression (peer-reports) were assessed in grades 1, 5, 8, and 11. Data analyses primarily consisted of a series of person-centered methods including latent profile and latent transition analyses. Most of the identified subgroups (e.g., aggressors, victims and aggressive-victims) were distinguishable by their frequencies (i.e., levels) of aggression and victimization, rather than forms (physical, verbal and relational), with the exception of one group that appeared to be more form-specific (i.e., relational aggressive-victims). Among children in each group there was a modest degree of intra-individual stability, and findings elucidated how some groups appeared to be more stable than others as well as developmental differences. Although group stability was fairly common across all groups, and over time, patterns of instability also emerged. The combination of trends reflecting both stability and instability support the perspective that the development of aggression in childhood and adolescence is characterized by heterogeneity. In contrast to perspectives that highlight the individual stability of aggression (e.g., that it is a stable behavioral style or individual disposition), findings elucidate the individual, relational and contextual mechanisms by which developmental stability and instability were more pronounced. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Family and Human Development 2016

abstract: Police officers in America interact with civilians on a daily basis as function of their job, and the way people perceive police officers can either help or hurt officers in performance of their duties. I conducted an experiment to test whether people perceive a police officer’s use of force differently depending on the officer’s race and gender. First, when an officer uses force, I propose competing hypotheses that a female officer will be viewed as less favorable than a male officer; however, because female aggression is less expected, I also predict that they will be viewed as more favorable than male officers. Second, when an officer uses force, I predict that a Black officer will be viewed as more aggressive than a White Officer. Lastly, I predict that perceptions of the officer (i.e., perceived aggression and emotional reactivity) would mediate the relationship between officer gender and attitudes towards the officer. Using an experimental survey design with a video of a police-civilian interaction, I found support that female officers were viewed more favorably than male officers when force was used. I found no support that Black officers would be viewed as more aggressive than White officers. Lastly, I found partial support that perceptions of the officer mediated the relationship between officer gender and attitudes towards the officer. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2017