DW Dance

Surprisingly, both groups typed at the same speed. Researchers explained the results by pointing out that the assumptions about dexterity and response time were correct, but that the older typists had made clever, efficient adjustments, such as making fewer finger movements and to read ahead in the text, to compensate for their deficiency in those areas.

Fifty seems to be a crucial age in determining the brain’s pattern of aging. Once a person has passed that age, brain functioning and mental ability are thought to be determined by essentially three factors: mental habits, chronic disease, and the mind’s flexibility.

The elderly populations of many Western countries are the fastest growing segment of the population. In the United States, it is estimated that by the year 2030 there will be 50 million persons over age 65. Among the elderly, the fastest growing population is people over 85. Such demographic data will continue to focus attention on the process of aging and the psychological problems faced by the elderly. Perhaps the most common psychological disorder often associated with aging is depression.

Taken from : The Gale Encyclopedia Of Psychology 2ND Edition - Bonnie Strickland

Recent studies, however, have begun to cast doubt on these assumptions. One area where current research has disproved a long-held belief about the aging of the mind is in the death of neurons, formally thought to necessarily lead to diminished mental functioning. It is now known that the brain has far more neurons than it could ever use, and that as they die their functions are taken
over by nearby neurons.

Scientists have recently proven that while abilities like short-term memory and performing certain specific tasks within a time constraint often deteriorate after mid-life, other areas of mental activity, such as wisdom and judgment, become more acute and powerful. Still other studies have shown that brains in older subjects are capable of performing many tasks as quickly and efficiently as brains in younger subjects, although the tasks are performed using different areas of the brain. For instance, research conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology studied typing speeds in accomplished typists of college age and another group in their sixties. Common sense suggests that the older typists would perform less well because of decreased handeye coordination and slower reaction time.

Taken from : The Gale Encyclopedia Of Psychology 2ND Edition - Bonnie Strickland

The process by which the human body changes and matures over time, especially the means by which dying cells are not replaced in sufficient numbers to maintain current levels of function; the process by which human behavior alters with time.

Psychological studies of aging populations began in earnest in the late nineteenth century when psychologists found that mental abilities deteriorated with age. These abilities included memory and the types of mental performance measured in IQ tests. In some individuals, verbal abilities were shown to deteriorate with advanced age,
although at a slower rate than other skills; with others, verbal abilities, especially vocabulary, may increase with age. Such data have often been corroborated in tests with chimpanzees, where younger animals perform better in tests of memory and other such areas of mental functioning. For decades, then, it was assumed that the physical deterioration of the body, so evident in the elderly, was
surely matched by a similar decline in the mind.

Taken from : The Gale Encyclopedia Of Psychology 2ND Edition - Bonnie Strickland

Researchers have attempted to learn whether certain childhood characteristics are predictors of aggression in adults. Traits found to have connections with aggressive behavior in adulthood include maternal deprivation, lack of identification with one’s father, pyromania, cruelty to animals, and parental abuse. A 22-year longitudinal study found patterns of aggression to be established by
the age of eight—the aggressive behavior of both boys and girls at this age was a strong predictor of their future aggression as adults. Other factors cited in the same study include the father’s upward social mobility, the child’s degree of identification with parents, and preference for violent television programs.
See also Television and aggression

Further Reading
Aggression and Peacefulness in Humans and Other Primates. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Aggressive Behavior: Current Perspectives. New York: Plenum Press, 1994.
Bandura, Albert. Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1973. Of Mice and Women: Aspects of Female Aggression. New York: Academic Press, 1992.

Taken from : The Gale Encyclopedia Of Psychology 2ND Edition - Bonnie Strickland

The findings of social learning theory address not only the acquisition, but also the instigation, of aggression. Once one has learned aggressive behavior, what environmental circumstances will activate it? The most obvious are adverse events, including not only frustration
of desires but also verbal and physical assaults. Modeling, which is important in the learning of aggression, can play a role in instigating it as well. Seeing other people act in an aggressive manner, especially if they are not punished for it, can remove inhibitions against acting aggressively oneself. If the modeled behavior is rewarded, the reward can act vicariously as an incentive for aggression in the observer. In addition, modeled aggression may serve as a source of emotional arousal.

Some aggression is motivated by reward: aggressive behavior can be a means of obtaining what one wants. Another motive for aggression is, paradoxically, obedience. People have committed many violent acts at the idding of another, in both military and civilian life. Other possible motivating factors include stressors in one’s physical environment, such as crowding, noise, and temperature, and the delusions resulting from mental illness. In addition to the acquisition and instigation of aggression, various types of reinforcement, both direct and vicarious, help determine whether aggression is maintained or discontinued.

Taken from : The Gale Encyclopedia Of Psychology 2ND Edition - Bonnie Strickland

Quantitative studies have found that network television averages 10
violent acts per hour, while on-screen deaths in movies such as Robocop and Die Hard range from 80 to 264. Some have argued that this type of violence does not cause violence in society and may even have a beneficial cathartic effect. However, correlations have been found between the viewing of violence and increased interpersonal
aggression, both in childhood and, later, in adolescence. In addition to its modeling function, viewing vioviolence can elicit aggressive behavior by increasing the viewer’s arousal, desensitizing viewers to violence, reducing restraints on aggressive behavior, and distorting
views about conflict resolution.

As Bandura’s research demonstrates, what is crucial in the modeling of violence—both live and on screen—is seeing not only that aggressive behavior occurs, but also that it works. If the violent parent, playmate, or superhero is rewarded rather than punished for violent behavior, that behavior is much more likely to serve as a positive model: a child will more readily imitate a model who is being rewarded for an act than one who is being punished. In this way, the child can learn without actually being rewarded or punished himself—a concept known as vicarious learning.

Taken from : The Gale Encyclopedia Of Psychology 2ND Edition - Bonnie Strickland

Contributions to frustration-aggression research in the 1960s by Leonard Berkowitz further established that an environmental stimulus must produce not just frustration but anger in order for aggression to follow, and that the anger can be the result of stimuli other than frustrating situations (such as verbal abuse).

In contrast to instinct theories, social learning theory focuses on aggression as a learned behavior. This approach stresses the roles that social influences, such as
models and reinforcement, play in the acquisition of aggressive behavior. The work of Albert Bandura, a
prominent researcher in the area of social learning, has demonstrated that aggressive behavior is learned through a combination of modeling and reinforcement. Children are influenced by observing aggressive behavior in their parents and peers, and in cultural forms such as movies, television, and comic books. While research has shown
that the behavior of live models has a more powerful effect than that of characters on screen, film and television are still pervasive influences on behavior.

Taken from : The Gale Encyclopedia Of Psychology 2ND Edition - Bonnie Strickland

Biological theories of aggression have also been advanced by ethologists, researchers who study the behavior of animals in their natural environments. Several have advanced views about aggression in humans based on their observations of animal behavior. The view of aggression as an innate instinct common to both humans
and animals was popularized in three widely read books of the 1960s—On Aggression by Konrad Lorenz, The Territorial Imperative by Robert Ardrey, and The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris. Like Freud’s Thanatos, the aggressive instinct postulated by these authors builds up
spontaneously—with or without outside provocation— until it is likely to be discharged with minimal or no provocation from outside stimuli.

Today, instinct theories of aggression are largely discredited in favor of other explanations. One is the frustration-aggression hypothesis first set forth in the 1930s by John Dollard, Neal Miller, and several colleagues. This theory proposes that aggression, rather than occurring spontaneously for no reason, is a response to the frustration of some goal-directed behavior by an outside source. Goals may include such basic needs as food, water, sleep, sex, love, and recognition.

Taken from : The Gale Encyclopedia Of Psychology 2ND Edition - Bonnie Strickland

Aggression
Any act that is intended to cause pain, suffering, or damage to another person.

Aggressive behavior is often used to claim status, precedent, or access to an object or territory. While aggression is primarily thought of as physical, verbal attacks aimed at causing psychological harm also constitute aggression. In addition, fantasies involving hurting others can also be considered aggressive. The key component in aggression is that it is deliberate—accidental injuries are not forms of aggression.

Theories about the nature and causes of aggression vary widely in their emphases. Those with a biological orientation are based on the idea that aggression is an innate human instinct or drive. Sigmund Freud explained
aggression in terms of a death wish or instinct (Thanatos) that is turned outward toward others in a process called displacement. Aggressive impulses that are not channeled toward a specific person or group may be expressed indirectly through safe, socially acceptable activities such as sports, a process referred to in psychoanalytic theory as catharsis.

Taken from : The Gale Encyclopedia Of Psychology 2ND Edition - Bonnie Strickland

The need for affiliation (referred to as “n Aff”) is scored when a test-taker’s response to one of the pictures demonstrates concern over “establishing, maintaining, or restoring a positive affective relationship with another person.” In the hierarchy of needs outlined by Abraham Maslow, the need for affiliation (or “belongingness”) appears midway between the most basic physical needs and the highest-level need for self-actualization.

Anxiety has been observed to strengthen one’s need for affiliation. In addition, females generally show a higher need for affiliation than males. Traditionally, affiliation has been negatively correlated with achievement. While achievement centers on one’s personal self-improvement, affiliation focuses on concern for others, even to the extent of deliberately suppressing competitive tendencies or accomplishments that may make others less comfortable.

Further Reading
Harvey, Terri L., Ann L. Orbuch, and John H. Weber, eds. Attributions, Accounts, and Close Relationships. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1992.
Meinhold, Patricia. Child Psychology: Development and Behavior Analysis. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1993.

Taken from : The Gale Encyclopedia Of Psychology 2ND Edition - Bonnie Strickland