SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY Flashcards
WHO ACKNOWLEDGED THAT AGGRESSION CAN BE LEARNED DIRECTLY, THROUGH MECHANISMS OF OPERANT CONDITIONING, INVOLVING POSITIVE/NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT AND PUNISHMENT? AND GIVE AN EXAMPLE.
Albert Bandura.
Therefore, ie if a child who angrily snatches a toy off another child, they are likely to learn that aggressive behaviour brings results.
WHAT DOES THIS DIRECT REINFORCEMENT MEAN?
This direct reinforcement makes it more likely that the child will do this again in a similar situation.
WHY DID BANDURA ALSO OFFER THE INDIRECT MECHANISM OF OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING?
Bandura also realised that aggressive behaviour often cannot be explained by such direct forms of learning, especially in humans. So he argued that an indirect mechanism - observational learning - accounts for social learning of most aggressive behaviours.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING AND VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT?
Children (and adults to an extent) acquire specific, aggressive behaviours through observing aggressive models, such as siblings, parents, peers and characters in the media. In this way, the child works out how an aggressive behaviour is formed, but this does not mean they will behave aggressively themselves. Children also observe the consequences of behaviour. If the models aggressive behaviour is rewarded (or at least not punished) = child learns aggression can be effective in getting what they want (vicarious reinforcement) it makes it more likely that the observing child will imitate the aggressive behaviour.
WHAT IS THE PARALLEL FOR OF VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT?
Vicarious punishment is the parallel form of vicarious reinforcement. If a model’s use of aggression to achieve their goal is punished, an observing child is less likely to imitate that specific behaviour.
WHAT ARE THE 4 COGNITIVE CONDITIONS THAT ARE NEEDED FOR OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING TO TAKE PLACE THAT BANDURA IDENTIFIED?
- Attention - the observer must pay attention to the models aggressive actions
- Retention - the observer needs to remember the models aggressive actions to for a symbolic mental representation of how the behaviour is performed.
- Reproduction - the person must be able to transform the model’s aggressive behaviour into actual physical action. This involves the person mentally appraising his or her ability ability to do this.
- Motivation - the individual needs a reason to imitate the behaviour, which will depend on his or her expectations that behaving aggressively in a specific way in a specific situation will be rewarding.
WHAT IS SELF-EFFICACY?
Self-efficacy = the extent to which we believe our actions will achieve a desired goal. A child’s confidence in their ability to be aggressive grows as they learn that aggression can bring rewards.
GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF SELF-EFFICACY
Ie, in terms of a child who regularly hits other children to get hold of a toy, they learn that they have the motor skills necessary to force another child to hand over the toy, and that this ability comes easily to them. The child’s self-efficacy develops with each successful outcome. He/she is confident that because their aggression has worked in the past, it will continue to be in the future.n They learn that aggression is works and that they are good at it.
DESCRIBE THE PROCEDURE OF BANDURA’S FAMOUS BOBO STUDY INTO SOCIAL LEARNING OF AGGRESSION
Young children individually observed an adult model assaulting an inflatable plastic toy called a ‘Bobo Doll’. The aggressive behaviours included throwing, kicking, hitting with a mallet and was accompanied by violent outbursts such as “sock him in the nose!” There followed a short period where the kids were not allowed to play with the attractive toys, which created a degree of frustration. They were then taken to a room where the bobo doll was, plus some other toys including the toys the adults used.
DESCRIBE THE FINDINGS OF BANDURA’S FAMOUS BOBO STUDY INTO SOCIAL LEARNING OF AGGRESSION
Without being instructed to do so, many of these children imitated the behaviour they had seen performed by the model, physically and verbally. The closeness of imitation was remarkable in some cases, virtually a direct copy of what the children had observed, including the use of specific phrases and objects. The other group of children who had observed an adult interacting non-aggressively barely acted aggressively against the bobo doll.
WHAT IS A STRENGTH OF SLT (AGGRESSION)?
F - Boivin et al applied a social learning analysis to aggressive behaviour in boys aged between 9-12. They found that the most aggressive boys formed relationships with other aggressive boys. The researcher described such cliques as ‘training grounds’ for antisocial behaviour. These friendships were lasting, stable and mutually reinforcing of aggression. The boys used their alliances with each other to gain resources through aggressive behaviour - usually successfully. This means that they were exposed frequently to aggressive models (ie themselves) and to the positive consequences of it. They also gained reinforcement through rewarding approval from the rest of the ‘gang’. These are precisely the conditions in which slt predicts that aggressive behaviour would occur.
WHAT IS A WEAKNESS OF SLT (AGGRESSION)
There are 2 broad categories of aggression recognised by researchers: reactive (hot-blooded, angry) and proactive (cold-blooded, calculated). Children who are experienced in using proactive aggression have high levels of self-efficacy - they are confident that their aggressive behaviour will bring benefits. This type of aggression is well explained by the slt. However, reactive aggressive children use aggression to retaliate in the heat of the moment. They tend to be hostile, suspicious of other and do not use aggression to achieve anything but retribution. This behaviour is less explicable from a slt perspective and may be better explained by Berkowitz, negative affect theory.
WHAT ARE THE REAL LIFE APPLICATIONS OF THE SLT\?
Eron et al argue that medias portrayals of aggressive behaviour can be powerful influences on a child in regards to aggression. This is especially true if an aggressive character is rewarded for being aggressive, and if the child is able to identify with the character in some way ie they have appealing traits such as a good sense of humour. Under these conditions, vicarious reinforcement experienced by children observing violent media characters may be just as influential as encouraging imitation as it is in real life.
