social psychological explanation: social learning theory AO3

Question 1

evaluation of social learning theory - the kung san people (limitation)

Answer 1

• christianson et al studied these people and found that aggressive behaviour was very rare.
• the parents don’t use physical punishment and there is no value on aggressive behaviour. there are no cultural norms for aggression.
• despite this, they do still display aggression
• this is a limitation as the explanation cannot generalise to all cultures and that actually it is a limited explanation of explaining aggressive behaviour

Question 2

evaluation of social learning theory - real world application (strength)

Answer 2

• SLT can help reduce aggression
• children readily imitate models when they observe them being rewarded for any behaviour and especially when they identify with them. this applies to modelling aggressive behaviour.
• one way to reduce aggression is to provide rewarded non aggressive models. the same learning processes that can lead to aggressive behaviour can produce non-aggression. for instance, encouraging children to form friendships with children rewarded for non-aggression (and/or presenting them with media characters) gives them more opportunities to model non -aggressive behaviour.
• therefore, SLT offers practical steps to reduce the development of aggressive behaviour in children

Question 3

evaluation of social learning explanation - biological influences (limitation)

Answer 3

• it underestimates the influence of biological factors.
• bandura recognised the role of biology because he accepted that there is an urge to be aggressive that is instinctive in nature. but he was equally clear that the form aggression takes is primarily learned and is the outcome of ‘nurture’.
• however, it is well established that there are powerful genetic, evolutionary, neural and hormonal influences on aggression.
• SLT barely acknowledges these and certainly does not explain them.
• therefore, SLT is an incomplete explanation of aggression because it underplays the role of biological factors.