Psychology A2- January Exam

Hostile Aggression- Caused by being provoked or upset with the primary purpose being to harm someone

Instrumental Aggression- Primary goal is to gain some form of reward. Aggression is a means to an end and is not usually  provoked by emotion.

Pro-Social Aggression- Aggression performed to prevent greater harm (eg- a Police Officer who shoots a terrorist)

• SLT concerns the role of Observational learning in our behaviour development.
• SLT emphasises the importance of observing and modelling the behaviours of others.
• Aggression is primarily learned like most other social behaviours (Bandura 1973)
• Humans are not born as aggressive individuals.
• Aggressive behaviours are acquired through either Direct Experience or Vicarious Learning.
• Direct Experience- Behaviour that is rewarded will be repeated and learned, aggression that is associated with a reward is likely to be repeated and learned.
• Vicarious Learning- Individuals observe and imitate the behaviour of others.