Contingencies for Aggression in the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm

Aggression can be seen as a behavior that arranges conditions that functions as aversive for other organisms. The Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP) is a laboratory task designed to measure this phenomenon with human participants. Different versions of the PSAP program contingencies that m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Psychological record 2023-12, Vol.73 (4), p.599-610
Main Authors: Soares, Pedro Felipe dos Reis, Terhoch, Gabriel Bueno, Condurú Melo, Elisama Almeida, de Carvalho Neto, Marcus Bentes
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggression
Aggressiveness
Aggressiveness (Psychology)
Aversive
Behavior
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Contingencies
Measurement
Negative reinforcement
Paradigms
Psychological research
Psychology
Reinforcement
Subtraction
Theoretical Article
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Summary:Aggression can be seen as a behavior that arranges conditions that functions as aversive for other organisms. The Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP) is a laboratory task designed to measure this phenomenon with human participants. Different versions of the PSAP program contingencies that may differentially interfere in the measurement of aggressive behavior. This article aims to identify the contingencies embedded in these versions and to suggest areas for future investigations. The literature was systematically searched, and six PSAP versions were identified. Three of these versions have added contingencies to the aggression task that may have confounded the measure of aggression with other positive and negative reinforcement processes. The PSAP versions may be organized into one or two aggressive response options, presence or absence of control response for the responding measured as aggressive, and availability of an independent escape response. These settings potentially establish various overlapping behavioral processes. Empirical solutions are suggested to improve the analysis of aggressive and other behaviors in the task.
ISSN:0033-2933
2163-3452
DOI:10.1007/s40732-023-00562-0