social-psychological: slt

• direct/indirect learning:

  • aggression can be directly learned through operant conditioning
  • bandura - aggression cant be explained by direct forms of learning
  • indirect mechanism (observational learning) accounts for social learning of most aggressive behaviours
• observational learning + vicarious reinforcement:

  • acquire specific behaviours through observing models - work out how behaviour is performed + consequences
  • models behaviour rewarded, child more likely to imitate - vicarious reinforcement
  • models behaviour punished, less likely - vicarious punishment
• cognitive conditions for learning:

  • 4 cognitive conditions (mediational processes) needed for observational learning
  • attention, retention, motor reproduction, motivation
• self efficacy:

  • extent to which we believe our actions will achieve desired goal - childs sense of self efficacy develops with each successful outcome
  • confident that if past aggression was effective it will continue to be
• bandura study 1:

  • children observing adult assaulting bobo doll, children frustrated by being shown toys they couldnt play with
  • many imitated behaviour verbally + physically
  • another group shown non aggressive adult - no aggression
• bandura study 2:

  • rewarded - more likely to imitate
  • punished - less likely
  • control group
• EVALUATION: research support

  • poulin + boivin - aggressive behaviour of 9-12 year olds, most aggressive befriended other aggressive boys
  • mutually reinforced aggression, exposed to models + consequences + group approval
  • exact conditions under which theory predicts behaviour occurs
• EVALUATION: real world application

  • imitation happens when observed + rewarded, to decrease provide rewarded non aggressive models, learning processes can produce non aggression
  • encourage to make friends + media characters
  • offers steps to stop development of aggression
• EVALUATION: environmental reductionism

  • bandura - aggressive urge is instinctive but clear that aggression is primarily learned
  • small role of genetics, evolution etc, cant explain concordance rate
  • incomplete + reductionist, underplays biology