DEFINING, MEASURING, AND PREDICTING IMPULSIVE AGGRESSION - A HEURISTIC MODEL

Aggression research does not lack data-it lacks a model for integratin g data. One of the problems confronting aggression researchers is the extensive body of multidisciplinary data that is difficult to synthesi ze to generate new directions in research. This paper proposes one sol ution that starts by asking ''what is the minimal number of categories of concepts and measurements which are necessary to describe a person ?''. The answer is four categories of concepts: biological; cognitive; behavioral; environmental (physical and social). One way of many for integrating these four categories of concepts is a proposed discipline neutral heuristic model that is used herein to compare two different research approaches to the study of impulsive aggression. This compari son identifies clearly the differences in the two approaches with rega rd to different emphases among the four categories of constructs for e ach program. Using the model an example of common ground between the t wo approaches is sought as a basis for extending aggression research. The main conclusion of one of the research programs was that central n ervous arousal is related to impulsive aggression. This program demons trated that phenytoin will reduce impulsive aggressive acts and has an effect on CNS arousal. The other research program on impulsive aggres sion has been at the forefront in demonstrating the well established i nverse relationship between serotonin levels and aggression. The compa rison resulted in the suggestion that both serotonin and phenytoin may relate to a common neurochemical substrate which interacts in part to control CNS arousal, especially at the cortical level. The proposed h euristic model made obvious the need to use synthesizing concepts (e.g . information processing or language) which can interrelate multidisci plinary concepts and data from different research programs within the four categories of constructs when comparing interdisciplinary researc h. This paper also discusses a two step procedure for classifying aggr essive acts as impulsive or premeditated. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.