social leraning

• This was to investigate whether a child would learn aggression by observing a model and would reproduce this behaviour in the absence of the model, and whether the sex of the role model was important.
• Hypotheses


  • Observed aggressive behaviour will be imitated, so children seeing aggressive models will be more aggressive than those seeing a non-aggressive model or no model
  • Observed non-aggressive behaviour will be imitated, so children seeing non-aggressive models will be less aggressive than those seeing no model
  • Children are more likely to copy a same-sex model
  • Boys will be more likely to copy aggression than girls
• Children copy adult behaviour but more than this, it be believed that the observation of a behaviour could be reproduced independently (i.e., with no adult present). This is known as imitative learning.
• Behaviour that is copied could be either aggressive or non-aggressive.
• Children are also rewarded differently for their copying behaviour. In the recent past, boys were often punished fir inappropriate behaviour, e.g., acting feminine like cooking or cleaning. Whereas girls would have been rewarded and punished to discourage masculine behaviours.
• Bandura et al suggested that boys would be more likely to imitate same-sex models and are different in how they respond in readiness to copy aggression.
• Independent measures group experimental design

  • 3 IVs: Model type, Model gender, Learner gender
  • DV was the learning the child displayed, measured through controlled observation and recording of aggressive behaviour
• Prior to the experiment, the children were observed and rated on 4 scales measuring physical aggression, verbal aggression, aggression to inanimate objects, and aggression inhibition (anxiety). They were then assigned to groups ensuring matched aggression levels.
• The study had a high 'inter-rate reliability', showing a high correlation between the observers (r=0.89), i.e., they agreed on most of the ratings.
• Modelling


  1. Aggression arousal

  2. Test for delayed imitation
• The control group did not see a model.
• The important observation was how the children behaved after being exposed to one of the experimental conditions and then returned to a new setting.
• The children had been matched on the basis of their pre-existing aggressiveness, same toys were available, and models had standardised behaviours.
• This study suggests that new behaviours can be learnt by observing a model in one situation and then imitating these acts in another.
• Observing adult models acting aggressively has the effect of weakening aggressive inhibitors in children, therefore making aggressive behaviour more likely.
• The fact that boys were found to be more aggressive is probably a result of socialisation as in Western society, aggressive behaviour is often seen as masculine behaviour.
• Practical Links - how could this research influence

  • Parenting
  • Education
  • TV Censorship
• How to evaluate the core studies

  • Generalisability
  • Reliability
  • Application
  • Validity
  • Ethics
• Issues and Debates - how does this study link

  • Nature vs nurture
  • Ethical issues - use of children in psychological research
  • Application of psychology to everyday life