LEARNING APPROACH- Bandura (AGGRESSION) Flashcards
What is the psychology being studied
The social learning theory- this believes we learn behaviour through imitation and observation. That people tend to learn behaviour in these steps:
1)Attention
2)Retention
3)Reproduction
4)Motivation- vicarious punishment (rewards)
Aggression- an act of hostility with the intention of harming someone.
mention the 2 aims of the study
-overall to investigate observational learning of aggression
-To see whether a child would imitate aggressive behaviour if they witnessed such a behaviour from an adult
What were the 4 predictions in the study that the aim was testing
> subjects exposed to the aggressive model would have higher aggressive behaviour than the latter group and control group
> subjects exposed to the N- aggressive model would be inhibited in their aggressive behaviour in comparison to the latter group
> tendency of same sex modelling each others behaviour
> boys should become more physically aggressive than girls
give 4 features of the sample and the sampling method used
-opportunity sampling
-72 children
-ages ranged from 3 years to 5 years
-were all selected from nursery school of Stanford University
- mean age was 52 months
What were the 3 IVs made
-Aggressive/ Non aggressive
-the sex of the children
-same/ different sex models
before the experiment started participants were rated based on
the extent to which the subjects displayed physical and verbal aggression towards inanimate objects as well as aggression inhibition. this was rated by teachers on a scale of 0-5 who were familiar to the children
They recorded high inter rater reliability of +0.89
How was the precision of treatment comparisons increased
subjects were matched individually based on the ratings given of their aggressive behaviour and social interactions
how were the groups divided based on the gender of the model
there were 12 boys and girls and 12 girls and boys
AGGRESSIVE CONDITION:
-6 boys and girls saw female model
-6 girls and boys saw male model
NON AGGRESSIVE CONDITION:
-6 boys and girls saw female model
-6 girls and boys saw male model
Describe how a matched pairs design was used in the study
- 51 children were matched based on their pre existing levels of aggression. With children with a similar level of aggression being matched in 3s
- one of them was placed in the control group, one was in the N-aggressive condition and the other child was Aggressive condition
what are weaknesses for matched pairs design
~time consuming
~lack of generalisability as subjects are more confined to their characteristics
~individual or confounding variables may play role
describe what took place in Phase 1
1-Each child was brought in individually and in this room they stayed for 10 mins. They would play with the potato stickers at a corner. The adult sized bobo doll wand mallet were present
2-the first two conditions were introduced. The aggressive model would demonstrate aggressive behaviour to the bob doll while the N- aggressive model assembled toys
3- the control group was not exposed to a model
what did the N-aggressive model do in the 1st room
-They arranged a tinker set in a quiet manner and ignored the bobo doll
what did the Aggressive model do in the 1st room
-they assembled the tinker set and after 1 min elapsed, they started being aggressive
Distinct behaviours were
>laying the bobo doll on its side
>they sat on bobo and punched it repeatedly on the nose
>they raised bobo and struck it on the head with a mallet
>they would throw bobo up in the air and kick it
mention FOUR imitative verbal aggressive & 2 N- aggressive comments used by the aggressive model
AGGRESSIVE
“Sock him in the nose”
“throw him in the air”
“Kick him”
“POW”
N-AGGRESSIVE
“He sure is a tough fella”
“He keeps coming back for more”
how was this proved to be a lab experiment for the children
Most children were under the impression that they were no longer in the school nursery grounds
How did the researcher arouse aggression to the children in Room 2
- There were several attractive toys and the researcher waited until they got involved with the toys for 2 minutes
- they then said that:
“these are the very best toys and that they are for the other kids”
and they should go play with the other toys in the next room
list 4 attractive toys in room 2
-locomotive
-jet fighter plane
-complete doll set
-baby crib
list three aggressive toys in room 3 &
list 3 non aggressive toys
AGGRESSIVE
- 3ft Bobo doll
-mallet
-2 dart guns
-tether ball with a painted face
N-AGGRESSIVE
-Tea set
-crayons
-2 dolls
-colouring paper
-plastic farm animals
how was the time split for each child in observations
They all stayed for 20 mins and in those 20 mins there were 5 second intervals through an electrical interval timer and in those intervals they observed a fixed behaviour
what technique was used by researchers in the observation room to improve validity
Single blind technique
How was inter Rater Reliability achieved
2 independent observers were used and data was compared to assess their inter rater reliability and it showed a correlation of 0.90
what were the three measures of imitation
-imitative verbal
-imitative physical
-imitative non aggressive verbal
mention any partial imitative behaviour shown
-Having the mallet strike other object other than the bobo doll
-sitting on the bobo doll but showing no aggression towards it
Mention any non imitative verbal behaviour shown
“Shoot the bobo”
“Stupid ball”
“Horses fighting, biting”
state 6 results shown
-Boys showed more imitative physical aggression than girls as well as more gun play
-no significant difference between boys and girls in verbal aggression however when model was female, girls showed more verbal aggression
-exposure to an aggressive model increases the probability of aggressive behaviour shown
-partial imitative aggression was shown more by the aggressive group in comparison to the other groups
-male model exerted a greater influence than the female model in Room 3
-No significant difference between N-aggressive and control group when exposed to the female model
mention strengths shown in the study
-Standardised procedure hence test for reliability
-high controls e.g time watching model hence increases validity
-quantitative data was collected enabling clear comparisons
- the use of single blind technique
how did the study show standardisation
+amount of time participants watched a model i.e 9 mins of aggression
+the layout of the room
+exposed to the same type of toys
how was data collected
- Through observations by a one way mirror by 2 covert observers
- they were non-participants
- they used a behavioural category list
mention 2 conclusions given by Bandura
-behaviour can be learned purely from imitation without any reinforcement and can be carried out in a different setting with the absense of the model
-bandura concluded the gender differences in results was due to culture expectations
- Aggressive behaviour from males are more likely to be imitated than aggression from females
mention weaknesses shown in the study
-Quantitative data is reductionist
-the setup was artificial and lacked ecological validity e.g children were unfamiliar to the rooms
-lack of generalisability as children were selected from the same nursery
mention a point for nurture
> Gender roles and expectations - girls played with dolls and boys played with the guns
mention a point for nature
Boys should show more aggression than girls and this can. be due to hormone development and biological tendencies for males to be more physical than females
How can this study be applied to everyday life
> > avoid certain television shows that may be aggressive to children and they should be watched at a certain age
by teaching desirable behaviours to children in the classroom with the use of positive reinforcement by modelling
mention a point for both individual and situational explanation
individual- The children from the non aggressive condtion and contorl groups still showed aggressive behaviours and that could have been due to personality traits 2
Situational- the gender of the model was part of the situation as well as what type of model was present in the situation
what is a strength for the use of children in the study
+children have been exposed to less violence than adults hence, there may be less extraneous variables affecting their aggression levels
+children are naive participants hence less likely to identify the aim at hand
what were the ethical weaknesses of the study
-No informed consent
-No right to withdraw
-psychological/physical harm
- their school nursery was revealed
For the background, what are 2 ways previous studies differed with Bandura
- modelling the behaviour when the model is absent
- presented delayed modelling instead of immediate imitation
What are the quantitaitve results for physical imitative aggression
male model:
25.8- boys
7.2- girls
Female model:
12.4- boys
5.5- girls
What are the quantitative results for verbal imitative aggression
Male model:
12.7-boys
2.3- girls
Female model:
2.0-boys
13.7- girls
what refers to Aggressive gun play
- shooting darts or aiming a gun and firing imaginary shots at objects
what refers to Mallet aggression
- Hitting the bobo doll aggressively with the mallet
