Psya3: Aggression: Social Learning Theory

Front 1

Who came up with it?

Back 1

Bandura and Walters

Front 2

When did they come up with it?

Back 2

1963

Front 3

What have the studies been called?

Back 3

Bobo Doll Studies

Front 4

The first conducted by who and when?

Back 4

Bandura et al (1961)

Front 5

Sample?

Back 5

36 Male and 36 female children aged 3-5

Front 6

Basic outline?

Back 6

Half exposed to model being aggressive with inflatable Bobo doll, and half exposed to non-aggressive model

Front 7

Further details of the first level of the IV:

Back 7

Aggressive model was distinctively physically aggressive - striking it on the head and kicking it about. They were also verbally aggressive, such as saying 'pow'

Front 8

What happened after this first section?

Back 8

Children were purposely frustrated by being shown attractive toys and then told that the were not allowed to play with them. They were then moved into the room with a bobo doll

Front 9

Findings?

Back 9

Children in the aggressive condition reproduced physical and verbal aggression. Those in non-aggressive exposure group showed virtually no aggression.

Front 10

Further findings (this includes a statistic):

Back 10

Approx 1/3 of children in aggressive group repeated model's verbal responses - none in the non-aggression group

Front 11

Gender findings:

Back 11

Boys more imitative of physical aggression, but no difference in verbal aggression between gender

Front 12

Conclusion for study:

Back 12

Children do pick up aggressive behaviours without the need for direct reinforcement, only exposure.

Front 13

Later variation: date?

Back 13

Bandura and Walters (1963)

Front 14

Brief outline:

Back 14

Children exposed to model being rewarded with candle or punished for aggressive acts

Front 15

Results (3 results):

Back 15

Those who saw reward for aggression showed high levels of aggression.
Those in punishment group showed low aggression levels.
Those who saw neither were somewhere in between the two.

Front 16

What is this concept called?

Back 16

Vicarious learning

Front 17

OBSERVATION: a) What was this theory a change from/ different to?

Back 17

Opposed Skinner's theory of Operant Conditioning, which claims that learning takes place through direct reinforcement.

Front 18

OBSERVATION: b) What was suggested instead? (hint: who does it?)

Back 18

Bandura suggested that children learn by observing role models with whom they identify, and then imitating behaviour conducted.

Front 19

OBSERVATION: c) Expand further the concept explored by the later Bobo Doll study.

Back 19

Vicarious learning: by observing the consequences for those who use an action, children can learn whether something is appropriate, and whether it is worth repeating.

Front 20

MENTAL REPRESENTATION: a) When was this discussed?

Back 20

Bandura, 1986

Front 21

MENTAL REPRESENTATION: b) Social learning requires more than just observations of behaviour. What else is required?

Back 21

In order for social learning to take place, the individual must form mental representations of events in different social environments.

Front 22

MENTAL REPRESENTATION: c) Elaboration (vicarious learning link).

Back 22

The child must also represent possible rewards and punishments for their behaviour in terms of expectancies of future outcomes. When appropriate opportunities come up, the individual will display the learned behaviour if the expectation of a reward is greater than the expectation of punishment.

Front 23

AO2: a) (+) (research) Application (i) Who and when?

Back 23

Phillips et al (1963)

Front 24

AO2: a) (+) (research) Application (ii) What was the study?

Back 24

Daily homicide rates in the US almost always increased in week following a major boxing match as opposed to Superbowl

Front 25

AO2: a) (+) (research) Application (iii) What does this show?

Back 25

SLT is applicable to adults, not just children. Phillips' study showed that indirect reinforcement has an effect on adult behaviour and violence, as the violent media influenced them to increase homicide rates.

Front 26

AO2: b) (-) (writer) Demand Characteristics (i) Who and when?

Back 26

Noble, 1975

Front 27

AO2: b) (-) (writer) Demand Characteristics (ii) What did they find?

Back 27

Noble noted one child arriving at the lab who said 'Look mummy, there's the doll we have to hit'.

Front 28

AO2: b) (-) (writer) Demand Characteristics (iii) What does this mean?

Back 28

Children understand what is required of them in the study. If they understand what is expected of them, this might affect the results, making them invalid.

Front 29

AO2: c) (-) Ecological validity (i) Explain.

Back 29

Bobo Doll study criticised as children had to attack a clearly inanimate object. This does not mean that they will learn by indirect reinforcement to hurt other people in real life.

Front 30

AO2: c) (-) Ecological validity (ii) (-) What was the criticism of this?

Back 30

Bandura did repeat the experiment with a video of a woman beating up a live, actual clown. They found that the children did beat up a real live clown when exposed to one later in that study.

Front 31

AO2: d) (-) issues doing research - discuss

Back 31

Ethical issues make it difficult to test SLT, especially into aggression, with ethical guidelines nowadays.

Front 32

AO2: e) (+) basic evaluation; absence of something - explain

Back 32

It explains aggression in absence of direct reinforcement. Although children were exposed to violence and then reproduced it, they were never directly rewarded. Vicarious learning is required to explain this.