Dominic, a professional equestrian, was recently involved in a serious fall during a competition where he suffered a traumatic head injury, specifically damaging his prefrontal cortex and the neural pathways connecting to his amygdala.
Since recovering physically, Dominic’s behavior has changed dramatically. He was recently arrested after a minor dispute over a parking space escalated into him shoving a supermarket security guard to the ground. His partner reports that he is now highly volatile, frequently shouting and throwing household items over minor inconveniences, such as misplaced keys. Furthermore, he has been suspended from his riding club after aggressively striking a horse that refused a fence—a stark contrast to his previous patient and gentle training methods.
Discuss how far brain injury can account for the aggression shown by Dominic. You must make reference to the context in your answer.
Practise Edexcel A Level Psychology Content with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 1,059 questions covering Bowlby's work on attachment, Ainsworth and the Strange Situation, Research into deprivation, Research into privation, Research into day care, Cross-cultural research into attachment, Autism, Individual differences, and Developmental psychology, matched to the Edexcel A Level Psychology (9PS0) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.
