Unit 2 PT 2 Flashcards
(19 cards)
SOCIAL LEARNING FACTORS IN AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE
1) Human beings are very skillful at learning and maintaining behaviour patterns that have worked in the past (even occasionally)
2) This learning process begins in early childhood
3) Children develop many behaviours merely by watching their parents or significant others in their environment- ‘Modeling’ or ‘Imitation’
Conditions most favourable to the learning of aggression are those in which the child:
1)Has many opportunities to observe aggression
2)Is reinforced for the child’s own aggression
3)Is often the object of aggression
Modeling
1) When a child’s imitative behaviour is reinforced or rewarded by praise and encouragement from significant models- The probability that the behaviour will occur in the future is increased
Types of models
1) Primary
2) Secondary
3) Tertiary
Primary Model
1) Family members (parents or siblings)
2) Most powerful models
3) Example: An abusive father that is aggressive towards the mother creates an impact on the children
Secondary
1) Members of one’s subculture (peers)
2) Fear of those around you
Tertiary:
1) Mass media/social media
2) Symbolic models
3) Example: GTA presents violence towards women
2 major cognitive models
1) Cognitive scripts model
2)Hostile attribution model
Cognitive scripts model
1) Huesmann’s theory that social behaviour in general and aggressive behaviour in particular are controlled largely by cognitive scripts learned through daily experiences
A script suggests:
1) What events are to happen in the environment
2) How the person should behave in response to these events ?
3) What the likely outcome of those behaviours would be ?
Development of a script
1) Scripts may be learned by direct experience or by observing significant others
2) Once learned- The script is usually followed and difficult to change
3) Each script is different and unique to each person
4) Once established, it must be rehearsed from time to time
5) With practice the script will come encoded and maintained in memory
6) Will also be more easily retrieved and used when the individual faces a problem
7) (Scripts can be viewed as cognitive programs that have been acquired over time, are stored in a person’s memory, and used as guides for behaviour and social problem solving)
8)Individual’s evaluation of the appropriateness of a script play important role in determining which scripts are stored in memory, which scripts are retrieved and utilized, and which scripts continue to be utilized
Emotions play a role as they influence script selection and the evaluation of scripts
Hostile attribution model
1) A cognitive model of aggression developed by Dodge Highly
aggressive and violent youths often have a ‘hostile attribution bias’
Hostile attribution bias
1) The tendency to perceive hostile intent in others even when it is lacking
2) Youth (and adults) prone to toward violence are more likely to interpret ambiguous actions as hostile and threatening than they are
3) When a respondent assumes that an act was committed with hostile intent (hostile attribution), the probability the respondent will react aggressively is high
Arousal and its control
If arousal is moderate-
1) The individual with skills and well-integrated standards of prosocial values will pursue nonaggressive scripts (even if feeling angry or threatened initially)
If arousal is high:
1) Interferes with complex cognitive processes mediating consideration of internal codes of conduct and interferes with ability to assess intentions of others as well as the mitigating circumstances around the incident
General aggression model
1) GAM provides the only theoretical framework of aggression and violence that incorporates biological, personality development, social processes, basic cognitive processes, short-term and long-term processes, and decision processes
Aggression and violence depend on
1) How an individual perceives and interprets the social environment
2) Expectations about the likelihood of various outcomes
3) Knowledge and beliefs about how people usually respond in certain situations
4) Degree to which a person believes he/she has ability to respond effectively
I³ theory
1) New theory of aggression, it organizes and summarizes risk factors for aggression and considers instigating factors, impelling factors, and inhibiting factors (Selfregulation is the core emphasis of the theory)
Designed to provide an organized structure for understanding:
1) The process by which a given factor promotes aggression
2) How multiple risk factors interrelate to create or reduce aggression
