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Aggression Levels (aggression + level)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Psychology	50%

Selected Abstracts

Preliminary investigations into a potential ant invader in Kruger National Park, South Africa

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2010
Hendrik Sithole
Abstract The super-abundance of Lepisiota incisa (Forel) in settlement areas of Kruger National Park, South Africa has raised concerns that it might be exotic and could negatively impact on natural ecosystems. We documented the current distribution of this ant species around the main settlement in Kruger, assessed how ant diversity varies across habitats, and investigated potential mechanisms facilitating dominance by L. incisa. Around the main camp of Skukuza, pitfall traps were set in five habitats differing in anthropogenic influence. Baiting trails were conducted to determine whether L. incisa and native ants differed in numerical and behavioural dominance. Aggression assays were performed on L. incisa to provide information on colony structure. Although L. incisa was found in all habitats, it had a significantly higher abundance in gardens and appears confined to human-disturbed areas. It was numerically dominant recruiting more workers to food baits than all other ant species combined. Aggression levels were low between most nests of L. incisa indicating a potential supercolony structure. More information is urgently needed on the genetics, physiology and origins of L. incisa, and monitoring of its current distribution is recommended. This species warrants attention because there may be significant potential for overseas invasion. Résumé La surabondance de Lepisiota incisa (Forel) dans des zones d'installations du Parc National Kruger, en Afrique du Sud, a suscité des inquiétudes quant au fait que cette espèce pourrait être exotique et avoir un impact négatif sur des écosystèmes naturels. Nous avons documenté la distribution actuelle de cette espèce de fourmi autour de la principale installation dans le Kruger, évalué comment la diversité des fourmis varie selon les habitats et étudié les mécanismes éventuels qui pourraient faciliter la dominance de L. incisa. On a installé des pièges autour du camp principal de Skukuza, dans cinq habitats où l'influence anthropogénique diffère. On a réalisé des pistes appâts pour déterminer si L. incisa et les fourmis indigènes différaient en matière de dominance numérique et comportementale. Nous avons fait des essais d'agression sur L. incisa pour donner des informations sur la structure de la colonie. Bien que l'on ait trouvéL. incisa dans tous les habitats, elle était beaucoup plus abondante dans les jardins et elle semble se confiner aux endroits perturbés par les hommes. Elle était numériquement dominante, recrutant plus d'ouvrières pour les appâts que toutes les autres espèces mises ensemble. Le niveau d'agression entre la plupart des nids de L. incisaétait bas, ce qui indique peut-être une structure de super-colonie. Il faut obtenir d'urgence d'autres informations sur la génétique, la physiologie et les origines de L. incisa et l'on recommande de faire le suivi de sa distribution actuelle. Cette espèce mérite l'attention parce qu'elle peut certainement être une espèce invasive outre-mer. [source]

Cognitive load, trigger salience, and the facilitation of triggered displaced aggression

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2009
Eduardo Antonio Vasquez
Researchers hypothesize that a state of limited cognitive processing capacity increases aggression. In the context of the triggered displaced aggression (TDA) paradigm, a 2 (Salience of triggering event: high/low),×,2 (Cognitive load at trigger: yes/no),×,2 (Cognitive load at aggression: yes/no) between participants experiment tested this hypothesis. Results showed that inducing cognitive load in previously provoked participants while they received a triggering provocation augmented aggression toward the target when the latter was highly salient. Affective reactions to the trigger partially mediated this effect. In contrast to expectation, however, inducing cognitive load while participants aggressed against their target did not affect aggression levels. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Chronic passive exposure to aggression escalates aggressiveness of rat observers

AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 1 2010
Hideo Suzuki
Abstract Previous studies have documented that exposure to aggression increases aggressiveness of human witnesses. However, the question of whether passive exposure to aggression can exclusively cause a risk of aggressive inclination for observers through a learning process, rather than mimicry effect, has not been readily addressed in the clinical literature. This study aimed to investigate this question by using a simple animal model to test the behavioral effect of chronic passive exposure to aggression. Our results indicate that observer rats that had been passively exposed to aggression for 10,min per day for 23 consecutive days exhibited more aggressive behavior than controls or those groups undergoing a single exposure to passive aggression. Furthermore, aggression levels in the group of 23-day chronic exposure to aggression lasted 16 days after the recovery from exposure to aggression. These data suggest that the development of aggression in this model occurred through a learning process because only chronic exposure to aggression resulted in this behavioral outcome in the long run. Aggr. Behav. 36:54,66, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Treating acute mental illness in rural general hospitals: Necessity or choice?

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2006
Catherine Hungerford
Abstract Objective:,To identify reasons why rural general practitioners (GPs) treat a large proportion of patients with a primary psychiatric diagnosis in general beds of their local hospitals, and the barriers encountered when providing this treatment. Design:,A postal questionnaire was developed and distributed to a sample of rural GPs, asking about the treatment of patients with an acute mental illness in their local hospital. Results:,The majority of GPs agreed that they treat the acutely mentally ill in general beds of their local hospital due to lack of availability of, and inability to gain access to, mental health beds in the larger centres; and also to enable ongoing family involvement and continuity of care. Distance factors were identified as least significant. Barriers to providing care to this group of patients included a perceived lack of support by consultant psychiatrists, confidentiality issues, lack of community mental health workers to provide assistance, aggression levels of patients, inappropriate local hospital setting, and lack of confidence of GPs and general hospital nursing staff. Conclusion:,Addressing these barriers is necessary if rural Australians are to receive a quality of care that is equal to that received by those located in metropolitan Australia. Continuing research in this area is crucial. [source]