Laboratory and questionnaire measures of aggression among female parolees with violent or nonviolent histories

Abstract

Female parolees were recruited into a laboratory study to determine the relationship between their previous aggression history, questionnaire measures of aggression, and behavioral measures of aggressive responding using a laboratory methodology: the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP). Subjects were assigned to a violent or nonviolent group based on their criminal history. Subjects participated in sessions in which they were given three response options: (1) nonaggressive responding that earned money, (2) aggressive responding that ostensibly subtracted money from another fictitious person and was defined as aggressive since it resulted in the ostensible delivery of an aversive stimulus (subtraction of money) to another person, and (3) escape responding that protected the subject's earnings from periodic subtractions initiated by the fictitious other person. Results indicated that the violent female parolees emitted significantly more aggressive responses than subjects in the nonviolent group. This study provides additional external validity as well as evidence for convergent and discriminant validity for PSAP laboratory measurement of human aggressive responding and extends these findings to female parolees. Comparisons to previously published data with male parolees showed that gender differences were found among violent but not nonviolent parolees. Aggr. Behav. 26:291–307, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Changes in aggressive behavior during withdrawal from long-term marijuana use

“…The data support such an association. For example, subjects with histories of violent behavior respond significantly more aggressively on the PSAP than subjects without such a history (Cherek et al 1996(Cherek et al , 1997(Cherek et al , 1998 and the number of aggressive responses made by subjects on the PSAP significantly correlates with psychometric measures of aggression (Cherek et al 1997(Cherek et al , 1998. These findings suggest that the increases in aggressive behavior observed here in the laboratory probably reflect actual changes in aggressiveness experienced by the subjects undergoing marijuana withdrawal.…”

“…The external validity of this instrument has been demonstrated in a number of studies of male and female parolees with histories of violent behavior (Cherek et al 1996(Cherek et al , 1997(Cherek et al , 1998.…”

Testosterone dynamics and psychopathic personality traits independently predict antagonistic behavior towards the perceived loser of a competitive interaction

“…The Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP) is guised as a competitive, online computer game, and was designed and validated for use as a measure of reactive aggression (Cherek et al, 1997(Cherek et al, , 2000. In the PSAP, the participant is paired with a fictitious opponent of the same sex and is informed that the goal of the game is to earn points that are exchangeable for money; the participant presses a button 100 consecutive times to earn a point.…”

Evaluation of behavioral impulsivity and aggression tasks as endophenotypes for borderline personality disorder

“…In the PSAP, subjects are provoked by having money indirectly taken from them by a (unbeknownst to the subject) fictitious opponent during a money acquisition task (Cherek et al, 1992). The PSAP has been shown to discriminate between violent and non-violent groups, including criminals and drug abusers (Allen et al, 1997; Cherek et al, 2000, 1997). Furthermore, preliminary data from the authors suggest that aggressive responding on the PSAP is partially heritable.…”