Lesson 4.3.8.4

4.3.8.4 Institutional aggression and media influences on aggression Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 3

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 4.3.8.4, Institutional aggression and media influences on aggression: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Psychology (7182), Unit 3: Issues and options in Psychology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is a dispositional explanation of institutional aggression in prisons?

    • Aggression is explained by the prison staff's personal interest in punishing prisoners
    • Aggression is explained by the characteristics prisoners bring with them into the institution
    • Aggression is explained by the prisoners' exposure to media images of violence after release
    • Aggression is explained by the harsh physical conditions and loss of autonomy within the prison

  2. What is a situational explanation of institutional aggression?

    • Aggression is explained by the conditions of the prison environment, such as deprivation and loss of autonomy
    • Aggression is explained by genetic differences between prisoners and staff members
    • Aggression is explained by the personality traits prisoners had before entering the prison
    • Aggression is explained by a fixed action pattern that prisoners inherited from ancestors

  3. Which model is linked to the situational explanation of prison violence?

    • The frustration-aggression model of social learning
    • The deprivation model
    • The importation model
    • The fixed action model

  4. Which model is linked to the dispositional explanation of prison violence?

    • The disinhibition model of computer games
    • The priming model
    • The importation model
    • The deprivation model

  5. Which study is associated with the situational explanation of prison behaviour and includes staff taking on abusive roles?

    • Holmes and Rahe's life change study
    • Caspi's study of MAOA and maltreatment
    • Zimbardo's prison simulation study
    • Dollard's frustration-aggression study

  6. What is a limitation of Zimbardo's prison simulation as evidence for situational explanations?

    • Participants were all trained professionals who knew the aims of the study in full, so their behaviour could not reflect ordinary people in prison
    • The study used a large representative sample of prisoners across several countries, so its findings can be applied to every prison system in the world
    • The study found that all participants were unaffected by their role in the simulation, which means that role has no influence on behaviour at all
    • Participants were not real prisoners and the study has been criticised for demand characteristics and weak controls

  7. Which media effect involves a reduction in emotional response to violence after repeated exposure?

    • Cognitive priming
    • De-individuation
    • Disinhibition
    • Desensitisation

  8. Which media effect involves a lowering of the restraints that normally stop aggression?

    • Desensitisation
    • Disinhibition
    • Frustration
    • Cognitive priming

  9. Which media effect involves aggressive thoughts being made more accessible in memory after exposure to violence?

    • Disinhibition
    • Cognitive priming
    • Desensitisation
    • Anonymity

  10. Which evaluation point applies to research on video games and aggression?

    • Video game research has proved conclusively that games always cause violent crime, so no further research is needed on this topic at all
    • Video game research has only been carried out using animals in laboratory conditions, so its findings cannot be applied to humans in any way
    • Video game research shows that games have no effect on any aspect of behaviour, so parents do not need to consider game content at all
    • Correlational studies cannot show whether games cause aggression or whether aggressive people choose violent games

  11. A prisoner has a history of violence before entering prison and continues to be violent inside. Which model best explains this?

    • The fixed action model, since the prisoner has inherited a species-typical behaviour
    • The importation model, since pre-existing characteristics are carried into the prison
    • The priming model, since the prisoner has seen violence only in the media
    • The deprivation model, since the prison conditions alone explain all violence

  12. Which combination best describes explanations of institutional aggression?

    • Dispositional explanations focus on prisoners' traits, and situational explanations focus on prison conditions
    • Both explanations focus only on hormones and have no link to traits or conditions
    • Dispositional explanations focus on prison conditions, and situational explanations focus on prisoners' traits
    • Both explanations focus only on the media and have no link to prison conditions

  13. Which evaluation point applies to the media influence on aggression research?

    • Media effects may be small and mediated by other factors, so they should not be treated as the sole cause
    • Media effects are caused entirely by genetic factors that have no link to viewing
    • Media effects always produce extreme violence in every viewer regardless of other factors
    • Media effects have been shown to be absent in every study ever carried out with children

  14. A researcher argues that repeated exposure to violent games makes players less shocked by real violence. Which concept does this describe?

    • Frustration-aggression
    • Cognitive priming
    • Innate releasing mechanism
    • Desensitisation

  15. Which statement best describes a deprivation explanation for prison violence?

    • Prisoners are born with a fixed pattern of violence that the prison environment cannot change
    • Prison violence has no link to the conditions of confinement in any form
    • Prison violence is caused entirely by the presence of female staff members in the wing
    • Loss of autonomy, privacy and relationships generates frustration and tension that can lead to aggression

  16. Which study would best test the effect of violent games on immediate aggressive behaviour?

    • A case study of one player's history of gaming over several decades, with detailed interviews about how the games affected their life
    • A questionnaire that asks players what they think about violence in the news, and how often they play violent games each week
    • An experiment randomly assigning participants to violent or non-violent games and measuring aggressive behaviour afterwards
    • A correlation between screen size and the number of games owned by a participant, collected through a questionnaire completed at home

  17. Which effect of violent media is best described as making violent ideas come to mind more readily?

    • Cognitive priming
    • Disinhibition
    • Institutional deprivation
    • Desensitisation

  18. A study finds that prisoners who experienced abuse as children are more violent inside prison. Which explanation does this best support?

    • A dispositional explanation, since prisoners' earlier experiences predict their behaviour
    • A fixed action pattern explanation, since abuse triggers innate releasing mechanisms
    • A cognitive priming explanation, since prisoners watch violence on television
    • A situational explanation alone, since prison conditions are the only cause of violence

  19. Which best summarises the media influences on aggression?

    • Exposure to violent media is unrelated to aggression because media content has no psychological effects
    • Exposure to violent media only affects aggression through changes in the heart rate of the viewer
    • Exposure to violent media may increase aggression through desensitisation, disinhibition and cognitive priming
    • Exposure to violent media always reduces aggression through catharsis in every viewer

  20. A study shows that prison violence is higher in units with overcrowding and few activities. Which explanation does this best support?

    • A dispositional explanation, since the prisoners in those units were all born with violent genes
    • A situational, deprivation-based explanation, since conditions within the institution appear to drive violence
    • A cognitive priming explanation, since the prisoners watch violent films in the common room
    • A fixed action pattern explanation, since the overcrowding releases an innate aggressive response

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