Social Learning Theory Explanantion

Question 1

What is the social learning theory for aggression

Answer 1

Children acquire aggressive behaviours through observing aggressive models and the consequences of their behaviour- aggressive acts carried out by a role model will be internalised by an individual and reproduced in the future

Question 2

What role do te mediational processes play in aggression

Answer 2

Children form mental representations of events in social situations and they will develop expectations of future outcomes and these influence whether aggressive behaviour is imitated or not

Question 3

Explain how vicarious reinforcement relates to aggressive behaviour

Answer 3

If a model’s aggressive behaviour is rewarded (or not punished) then the child learns the aggression can be effective in getting what they want, which makes it more likely that the observing child will imitate the model’s aggressive behaviour