Aggression: Social Learning Theory Flashcards
What is Social Learning Theory
Social Learning Theory (SLT) suggests that children learn aggressive behaviour by observing others acting aggressively. They also learn under what situations people are likely to be rewarded for their aggressive behaviour (this is known as vicarious reinforcement) or punished. As a result, they learn how to perform aggressive acts when appropriate (i.e. when rewards will follow), and will learn not to perform aggressive acts when they will be punished for it.
Descibe Bandura’s explanation of mental representation
For social learning to take place, the child must form a mental representation of the behaviour as well as an expectancy of any future outcome of them performing that behaviour. If opportunities for aggressive behaviour arise in the future, the child may display that behaviour provided the expectation of reward is greater than the expectation of punishment.
What happens if a child is rewarded for his aggressive behaviour?
If a child is rewarded for aggressive behaviour (e.g. by acquiring status or being praised by others), they are more likely to repeat this action in similar situations in the future.
What happens once a child is successful when using aggressive behaviour
Kids who are successful when using aggressive behaviour develop self-efficacy: they will become more confident in their ability to use aggression to achieve what they desire. Children who are less successful in their use of this form of behaviour develop less self-efficacy relating to aggression and so turn to other forms of behaviour instead.
How did Bandura Support his theory?
The Bobo Doll Study
Describe what Bandura did and found in his Bobo Doll Studies
SLT is supported by Bandura et al., who found that children who observed a model behaving aggressively towards a Bobo doll were more likely to reproduce the same behaviours when they were later allowed to interact with the doll; the children even improvised their own aggressive actions towards the doll. This was particularly the case when they saw the adult rewarded for their aggressive behaviour, thus supporting the claim that the expectation of reward influences the likelihood of a behaviour being performed.
Name a study which supports evidence for the role of self-efficacy
Perry et al.
Describe Perry et al.’s study
There is research support for the idea of self-efficacy in the social learning of aggression. Perry et al. found that children who were described as highly aggressive by their peers also reported having greater confidence in their ability to use aggression to resolve conflicts than did children who were rated as less aggressive by their peers. This supports SLTs view that having self-efficacy relating to aggression increases the incidence of aggressive behaviour.
Describe real world application of SLT
SLT’s relevance can be demonstrated by its ability to explain aggression outside the context of the lab. by applying to adults. Phillips found that murder and assault rates in the US almost always increased in the week following a major televised boxing match, suggesting that viewers were imitating the aggressive behaviour they observed in the boxing, and that social learning is evident in adults as well as children.
What are the ethical issues with SLT?
Ethical issues can make SLT difficult to test experimentally, as it is considered unethical to expose children to aggressive behaviour with the knowledge that they may then imitate those acts in their own behaviour. Thus, many of the hypotheses that form a part of this theory of aggression cannot be subjected to experimental validation.
Describe a strength of SLT
A final strength of this theory of aggressive behaviour is that it can explain cultural differences in aggressive behaviour. For example, aggression among the !Kung San people of Southern Africa is rare. According to SLT, this is because parents neither provide models for aggression (resulting in a lack of opportunities for observational learning), nor do they reward aggressive behaviour in children (resulting in a lack of direct reinforcement). As a result, their is no motivation for children in this culture to act aggressively.
