Aggression: SLT applied to human aggression Flashcards
Direct + indirect learning
Bandura acknowledged that aggression can be learned directly, through mechanisms of operant conditioning including positive + negative reinforcement + punishment. So, a child who angrily snatches a toy off another child is likely to learn that aggressive behaviour brings results. The direct reinforcement makes it more likely that the child will do this again in a similar situation. Although, Bandura realised that aggressive behaviour often can’t 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.
Observational learning + vicarious reinforcement
Children (+ adults to a degree) acquire specific aggressive behaviours through observing aggressive models (siblings, parents, peers + characters in the media). The child works out how an aggressive behaviour is performed, but it doesn’t mean that they will behave aggressively themselves. They also observe the consequences of their behaviour. Model’s aggressive behaviour - rewarded - child learns that aggression can be effective in getting what they want.
This is known as vicarious reinforcement + it makes it more likely that the observing child will imitate model’s aggressive behaviour.
There is a parallel form of indirect learning called vicarious punishment - if a model’s use of aggression to achieve a goal is punished, an observing child is less likely to imitate that specific behaviour.
Cognitive control of aggressive behaviour
Bandura - 4 cognitive conditions (mediational processes) are needed for observational learning to take place:
Attention - a basic cognitive requirement is that observer must pay attention to model’s aggressive actions.
Retention - observer needs to be able to remember model’s aggressive actions to form a symbolic mental representation of how behaviour is performed.
Reproduction - individual must be able to transform mental representation of aggressive behaviour into actual physical action. This involves individual mentally appraising his/her ability to do this.
Motivation - individual needs a reason to imitate behaviour, which depends on his/her expectations that behaving aggressively in a specific way in a specific situation will be rewarding.
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 reward. Consider 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 give them the toy, and that this ability comes easily to them. The child’s sense of self-efficacy develops with each successful outcome. They are confident that because their aggression has been effective in the past, it will continue to in the future, they learn that aggression works + they are good at it.
Research into social learning of aggression
Bandura et al - Bobo doll illustrates many of the features of SLT:
Procedure - Young children individually observed an adult model assaulting an inflatable plastic doll (Bobo doll). Aggressive behaviours included throwing, kicking, hitting with a mallet + were accompanied with verbal outbursts (‘Sock him in the nose!). Short period after - children weren’t allowed to play with some attractive toys which created a degree of frustration. They were taken to another room where there was a Bobo doll + some other toys including ones the adult model had used.
Findings - Without being instructed, many of the children imitated behaviour they had seen performed by model, physically + verbally. Closeness of imitation was remarkable in some cases, virtually a direct copy of what the children had observed, including use of specific objects + verbal phrases. There was another group of children who observed an adult interacting non-aggressively with the doll. Aggressive behaviour towards Bobo doll by these children was almost non-existent.
AO3 - Supporting research
Strength - Support:
Poulin + Boivin - applied a social learning analysis to aggressive behaviour in boys aged between 9 + 12. They found that most aggressive boys formed friendships with other aggressive boys. The researchers describe such cliques as ‘training grounds’ for antisocial behaviour. The friendships were lasting, stable + mutually reinforcing of aggression. The boys used their alliances with each other to gain resources through aggressive behaviour, usually successfully. This means they were exposed frequently to models of physical aggression (each other) + to the positive consequences of it. They also gained reinforcement from the rewarding approval of the rest of the ‘gang’. These are precisely the conditions under which SLT predicts that aggressive behaviour would occur.
AO3 - Can’t explain all aggression
Limitation - Can’t explain all aggression
2 broad categories of aggression recognised by researchers - reactive (hot-blooded, angry) + proactive (cold-blooded, calculated). Children who are experienced in using proactive aggression have high levels of self-efficacy (confident that their aggressive behaviour will bring benefits, they use aggression as a way of achieving their goals).
Reactively aggressive children habitually use aggression to retaliate in the heat of the moment - tend to be hostile, suspicious of others, + don’t use aggression to achieve anything except retribution. This behaviour is less explicable from a social learning perspective, + may be better explained by Berkowitz’s negative affect theory.
AO3 - Benefits of non-aggressive models
Strengths - Benefits:
Practical applications of SLT. SLT argues that people aren’t passive recipients of reinforcement, whether direct/vicarious , but are active influencers of their own environments. People shape their own aggressive behaviour by selecting + creating their surroundings (reciprocal determinism).
There is a practical benefit to understanding this aspect of SLT. One way to reduce aggression is to break this cycle in which individuals become yet more aggressive by choosing situations which reward their behaviour. Encouraging aggressive children to form friendships with children who don’t habitually behave aggressively gives them more opportunities to model non-aggressive behaviour.
