Cognitive Antecedents of Violence and Aggression

Abstract

Explores the role of impaired or altered cognition in the genesis of aggressive behavior: What might be contributing to or causing these deficits, and how do these limitations influence behavior? Special emphasis is given to the frontal lobes and executive functioning, as well as putative brain disease and a number of environmental factors that contribute directly and indirectly to aggression. While impaired cognition may not account for all the variance, it seems to represent an important piece of the aggression puzzle. Specifically, it is hypothesized that cognitive deficits, especially impulsivity, poor planning ability, mental inflexibility, low verbal intelligence, and impaired attention, limit an individual's ability to cope with other biological and environmental vulnerabilities; these limitations, in turn, lead to feelings of frustration and anxiety and, ultimately, to difficulty with regulation of emotion and increased aggressive behavior. Some consideration will be given to the notion of resilience and other factors that might protect an at-risk individual from developing behavior problems, such as aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)