Social learning theory Flashcards
(8 cards)
What processes are involved with SLT?
Observation and vicarious reinforcement
What are mental representations?
Mental representations of events in their social context - also represented possible rewards and punishments for their aggressive behaviour in terms of expectancies of future outcomes - when appropriate opportunities arise in the future the child will displayed the learned behaviour is reward is greater than the expectation of punishment
Cognitive schema - the script - children learn rules of conduct from those around them -these become internalised
Why is behaviour reproduced?
Maintenance through direct experience (if a child receives an awards e.g. praise they are likely to repeat behaviour)
Self-efficacy expectancies (children develop confidence in their abilities to carry out aggressive behaviour - children have been less successful= low self-efficacy)
What was the procedure of Bandura et al study?
Male and female children ranging from 3-5
Half exposed to adults models interacting aggressively with a life-sized Bobo doll - half exposed to non-aggressive adults
Aggressive model displayed - distinctive physically aggressive acts towards doll, e.g. striking it on head with mallet + kicking it, verbal aggression
Created frustration in children by showing them attractive toys they were not allowed to play with
What were the findings of Bandura et al study?
Children in aggression condone reproduced physically and verbally aggressive behaviour resembling that of the model
- 1/3 repeated models verbal responses
- Boys produced more imitative physical aggression than girls but did not differ in verbal condition
Children in non-aggressive condition exhibited virtually no aggression towards doll
Why is lack of realism an issue with this research?
Relied heavily in Bobo doll study
Doll is not a living person and does not retaliate when hit - raises questions about whether these studies tell us much about the imitation of aggression towards other people
HOWEVER, he did another study where children watched a film of an adult model hitting a live clown - children imitated such behaviours
Why is explaining inconsistencies a strength of this research?
Young males may aggressive with friends but not respond in the same way at work - SLT would explain this in terms of the consequences
Friends = status, encouragement
Work = get in trouble
Expectations of consequences determines aggression
Can help us predict aggression in a situation
How are cultural differences a strength of SLT?
Among !Kung San of the Kalahari Desert - aggression is rare
Due to child-rearing practices, when children fight parents neither reward nor punish them but physically separate + distract them
Do not use physical punishment and aggressive postures avoided by adults/devalued by society as a whole
Consequently the lack of reinforcement and absence of aggressive role models demonstrates aggression is learnt
