EXPERIMENTAL-MODELS FOR AGGRESSION AND INVENTORIES FOR THE ASSESSMENTOF AGGRESSIVE AND AUTOAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

This paper reviews principles realized in questionnaires for the asses sment of aggression as well as in experimental models suitable for ind ucing aggression for the validation of questionnaire scales and for pr oviding experimental models for testing aggression-reducing drug effec ts. Existing self-rating scales based on factor analysis were shown to measure certain parameters of reactions concerning modes of expressio n of aggression and its objects. In observer rating scales situations are usually also specified. This paper presents a newly developed ques tionnaire which combines reactions and situations in order to test spe cificity. A final scale containing 9 situations and 17 reactions group ed into seven factors is presented. It could be shown to differentiate between certain types of aggression provoking situations. Furthermore , models suitable for eliciting aggression were developed in three dif ferent departments of psychology. They are based on frustration by blo ckade of goals and critique or subtraction of positive reinforcers ('' Tower of Hanoi'' and ''Superball Game'' in Wurzburg, ''Unsolvable Maze Computer Task'' in Berlin) and by a competitive condition combined wi th application of aversive stimuli by a coplayer (''Modified Buss Mach ine'' in Giessen). All experimental conditions were suitable for induc ing anger and emotional arousal, negative ratings of confederates or e xperimenters, and partly also physiological changes. The results seem promising enough to test the relationship between artificially induced aggression and pathological aggression in further research.