SLT Explanation of Aggression Flashcards
What 2 AO1 points are there in this essay?
1) What is aggression?
2) Banduras Bobo Doll Study, Vicarious Reinforcement and Mental Representation
What 5 AO2 points are there in this essay?
1) Support from the role of punishment
2) Research on children - biased sample
3) Demand characteristics but responded to with live clown
4) Concept of vicarious learning
5) Cultural variations - Kalahari Desert
What is aggression?
Behaviour with the immediate intent to harm someone, oneself or objects in ones environment
What forms can aggression take?
Physical, verbal, mental and emotional
Are biological factors ignored in this theory?
No - considered as a contributing factor in an individuals potential for aggressive behaviour
Why is Bandura’s bobo doll study of great significance?
Clearly illustrates the role of the social learning theory
What participants were used in Banduras study?
Male and female 3 to 5 year olds
What happened in Banduras study?
Participants split into two groups, one exposed to adult model acting aggressively towards doll, one exposed to adult model acting affectionately
What were the results of Bandura’s study?
Children in the aggressive condition reproduced both physical and verbal aggression, whereas children in the non-aggressive group did not
What does Bandura’s study show?
It clearly showed SLT taking place as children had observed and imitated the behaviour of the adult
What is vicarious reinforcement?
The consequences of aggressive behaviour through watching others be reinforced or punished
What do children gradually learn by vicarious reinforcement?
What behaviours are considered appropriate and worth replicating
Why do children form a representation of events alongside possible rewards and punishments?
This creates expectancies of future outcomes, and this behaviour will be displayed in the future provided the expected reward is greater than punishment
How does the role of mental representation link with the cognitive approach?
Links to cognitive approach in that children are using thought processes and images to form mental representations of future outcomes
Considerable research support for the SLT explanation of aggression comes from the role of punishment…
The motives for replication of aggressive behaviour in the absence of the model were questioned, leading to Bandura modifying and repeating the study
What happened in Bandura’s modified/repeated study?
3 groups of children, all saw different film ending (reward, punishment, no consequence).
What were the findings in Bandura’s modified/repeated study?
Each group performed a similar number of imitative acts - vicarious learning as children had learnt about the consequences and adjusted their behaviour accordingly
Showing the children had learnt about the likely consequences of aggressive behaviour and adjusted their subsequent behaviour accordingly…
This therefore provides evidence to support vicarious learning and the role of punishment, consequently giving support to SLT as an explanation of aggression
A negative criticism of such research, however, is that the studies were carried out on children..
- Biased sample, so could lack generalisability
- We cannot conclude from studies that SLT can explain adult behaviour too
(Children studies - biased), On the other hand, one study found…
- US homicide rates usually increase in the week following major boxing match
- Suggests viewers may have been imitating the behaviour they watched
Suggesting that viewers may have been imitating the behaviour they watched…
giving credit to the role of SLT as an explanation for aggressive behaviour, as evidence comes from both children and adults
A further methodological flaw is that children may have guessed the true aim of the study prior to physical exposure…
- Poses problem of demand characteristics
- Plastic doll lacks mundane realism, lowering the validity
Why does the use of a plastic doll lower the validity?
- Not generally encountered
- Sheer novelty value may account for some of the aggressive behaviour
How did Bandura respond to the criticism that the use of a plastic doll lacks mundane realism?
Using a live clown rather than a plastic clown, finding children still acted aggressively
Bandura responded to the criticism by using a live clown in place of a plastic doll, finding children still acted aggressively towards the clown…
- Therefore demonstrates that a controlled experiment such as Bandura’s could still be applied to everyday life
- Supporting SLT as an explanation of aggressive behaviour and increasing the validity
Another strength of the SLT approach is the role of vicarious learning…
- Can explain aggressive behaviour in the absence of direct reinforcement
- Children still replicated behaviour but were at no point directly rewarded
- Concept is necessary to explain these findings
A further strength of the SLT explanation is that it can be used to explain cultural variations…
- Kalahari desert, different childrearing practices so aggression is rarer
- Children are neither rewarded or punished when undesirable behaviour is shown, but separated
- Little motivation for aggressive behaviour to be acquired as this is devalued by society
There is little motivation for children to acquire aggressive behaviour, as it is devalued by society…
- Therefore illustrates the role of SLT by it’s absence in this culture
- Just how people learn by observation, they will not learn it by the absence of it
