Bandura

Question 1

key theme

Answer 1

external influences in shaping children’s behaviour

Question 2

the behaviourist perspective

Answer 2

The behaviourist perspective was a dominant approach in psychology for first half of 20th century, has left psychology with useful techniques.

Question 3

main assumption of behaviourist perspective

Answer 3

that all behaviour is learned and shaped by the environment. It assumes we are born as a blank slate

Question 4

behaviourist perspective argues

Answer 4

in order for psychology to be scientific it should focus on observable behaviour which can be objectively measured rather than on things like cognitive processes, which can only be inferred.

Question 5

classical conditioning

Answer 5

learning through ASSOCIATION.
-Ivan pavlov used dogs as test of this.
To condition means to mould someone or something to a certain way of behaving/thinking.
Learning to associate a stimulus that already triggers a response (unconditioned response) with another stimulus (neutral stimulus) so that the latter comes to trigger the same response.

Question 6

Operant conditioning

Answer 6

Learning through CONSEQUENCE.
-Burrhus Fredrick Skinner
Other side of behaviourism, it works on assumption of learning through reward & punishment.
-Through operant conditioning, an association is made between behaviour and consequence for the behaviour.

Question 7

positive reinforcement
(operant conditioning)

Answer 7

when we perform a behaviour and this has good consequences, we become more likely to repeat this behaviour.

Question 8

Social learning theory (SLT)

Answer 8

People learn by watching (observing) and copying (imitating) others, this is known as modelling process.

Question 9

whether behaviour is imitated depends on…

Answer 9

the model and the consequences of observed behaviour, therefore, thinking is involved which was not considered classical or operant conditioning.
Behaviour may not immediately be imitated, but stored in memory until required, therefore involving cognition.

Question 10

what is aggression?

Answer 10

refers to a range of behaviours that can result in both physical and psychological harm to oneself, others or objects in environment.
The expression for aggression can occur in many ways; verbally, mentally, physically, emotionally.

Question 11

big question for psychologists…

Answer 11

Are we born aggressive by nature or does the way we are brought up (nurture) affect our behaviour?

Question 12

according to social learning theorists…

Answer 12

they support the claim that aggression is a result of observational learning and imitation of models.

Question 13

nature or nurture?

Answer 13

they take nurture view suggesting children are inherently peaceful and any aggression is due to affect society has on them.

Question 14

links to debates: nature/nurture

Answer 14

influence of the environment on behaviour

Question 15

links to debates: free will/determinism

Answer 15

if children exposed to aggressive role models, how much is their behaviour determined and therefore outside of their control, and how much free will do they have over whether they behave in certain way?

Question 16

links to debates: usefulness

Answer 16

where can we see the concepts of the social learning theory used in society?

Question 17

Aim

Answer 17

to demonstrate if children were to witness an aggressive display by an adult they would imitate this aggressive behaviour when given the opportunity.
This is the essence of imitative learning (social learning theory)

Question 18

Hypotheses

Answer 18

1) observing an aggressive model will lead to a subject to reproduce aggressive acts similar to their models
2) observing an aggressive model will lead a participant to behave in a more aggressive manner.
3) participants with imitate the behaviour of the same gender model more compared to opposite sex model.
4) boys will imitate more aggression than girls because aggression is a masculine behaviour.

Question 19

Sample

Answer 19

72ps, 36 boys, 36 girls (all from stanford, USA)
3 to 5 1/2 years old (37 to 69 months)
Sample collected from Stanford University nursery. (opportunity sample)
Role models=one male adult, one female adult

Question 20

Method

Answer 20

lab experiment

Question 21

children were matched on…

Answer 21

the basis of their pre-existing aggressiveness.

Question 22

how was their pre-existing aggressiveness measured?

Answer 22

They did this by observing the children in the nursery and judged their aggressive behaviour on four 5-point rating scales.

Question 23

children matched in each group

Answer 23

so they had similar levels of aggression in their everyday behaviour.

Question 24

experimental design

Answer 24

matched pairs design

Question 25

group 1:

Answer 25

observed aggressive model

Question 26

group 2:

Answer 26

observed non-aggressive model

Question 27

group 3:

Answer 27

observed NO models (control)

Question 28

IV’s

Answer 28

-behaviour of model (aggressively, non aggressively)
-gender of model (male or female)
-gender of ps (girl or boy)

Question 29

DV

Answer 29

The behavioural response of the children.
Would the children imitate when given the opportunity?

Question 30

aggressive condition

Answer 30

24 children observed an adult being aggressive to a bobo doll

Question 31

non aggressive condition

Answer 31

24 children observed an adult playing and ignoring bobo doll

Question 32

control group

Answer 32

24 ps

Question 33

Children in aggressive and non aggressive conditions were further subdivided…

Answer 33

by sex and sex of role model they were exposed to

Question 34

non aggressive condition (24ps)

Answer 34

6 boys same sex model
6 boys opposite sex model

6 girls same sex model
6 girls opposite sex model

Question 35

aggressive condition (24ps)

Answer 35

6 boys same sex model
6 boys opposite sex model

6 girls same sex model
6 girls opposite sex model

Question 36

problem with sample size:

Answer 36

we are generalising results from a sample size of only 6 children in each condition.

Question 37

PHASE 1: modelling

Answer 37

Child taken to experimental room and sat at small table in corner of room.
3 conditions: non aggressive, aggressive, (report did not state what treatment control group had)
*children entered room individually, model was invited to join them.
*room contained materials to make pictures, potato prints, stickers etc…
*experimenter settled child and encouraged them to make picture.
*model was escorted to another corner of room containing tinker toy set, mallet and bobo doll.
*NON aggressive condition: model ignored bobo and assembled tinker toy set quietly.
*Aggressive condition: model standardised aggression towards bobo, distinctive, easy to imitate and identify actions( model put doll on its side, struck with mallet, threw in air, kicked around room) This sequence was repeated 3x.
*Model also used standardised aggressive phrases(verbal) and non aggressive phrases like “pow”.
*After 10 mins, experimenter re entered the room and informed child they were to go to another room (room2=phase2)

Question 38

PHASE 2: aggression arousal

Answer 38

every child experienced this phase.
*child was subjected to ‘mild aggression arousal’.
*were taken to room with attractive toys
*as soon as child started to play (2 mins) experimenter told child these were experimenters best toys and had decided to reserve them for other children.
*experimenter and child moved to another adjourning room
*it was presumed this intervention frustrated children-would greater the likelihood of becoming aggressive.

Question 39

PHASE 3: test for delayed imitation

Answer 39

*Room contained mix of aggressive and non aggressive toys: dart gun, crayon & paper, plastic animals, bobo doll
*observer observed ps for 20 mins through one way mirror(non-ps observation), recorded behaviour every 5 seconds (time sampling)
*A behavioural checklist was used
*3 measures of imitation were obtained, observer looked for responses from child similar to displayed by adult model.
*They also recorded other types of physical and verbal aggressive behaviours that were NOT complete imitations of adult model.

Question 40

3 measures of imitation

Answer 40

1. imitation of physical aggression (ie punching doll on nose)
2. imitative verbal aggression ( repeating phrases ie “pow”)
3. imitative non-aggressive verbal responses (ie child repeats “he keeps coming back for more”)

Question 41

Results enabled researchers to consider:

Answer 41

a) which children imitate models
b) which models the children imitate
c) whether the children showed a general increase in aggressive behaviour or specific imitation of adult behaviours.

Question 42

type of data collected

Answer 42

Quantitative data

Question 43

Inter rater reliability

Answer 43

Observations were recorded independently and inter rater reliability for aggressive behaviour was very high (0.9) suggesting observers were extremely accurate in their agreement of aggressive behaviours.

Question 44

RESULTS

Answer 44

1. children in aggressive model condition made MORE aggressive responses, in particular, imitative aggressive responses, than the children in non aggressive/ control condition groups.
2. children in non-aggressive condition spent more time playing NON-aggressively with dolls than children in other groups.
3. There were important gender differences when came to same sex or opposite sex model observed. Boys observing adult male behaving violently were MORE INFLUENCED than those who observed female model behaving aggressively.
4. Interestingly, experimenters found in same-sex aggressive groups, boys were MORE likely to imitate PHYSICAL acts of violence while girls were more likely to imitate VERBAL aggression.

Question 45

Conclusions

Answer 45

*findings support Bandura’s social learning theory; children learn social behaviour (ie aggression) through process of observation learning through watching behaviour of another person and imitating it at a later date.