SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY INTO AGGRESSION

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  • Created by: Laura B
  • Created on: 02-06-15 16:46

BASIC PREMISE AO1

This theory proposes that aggression can be learnt through either direct experiences or vicarious experiences 

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TRADITIONAL LEARNING THEORY (DIRECT EXPERIENCES) A

  • This theory is based on the principles of operant conditioning 
  • It suggests that if agg behaviour is positively reinforced, then an individual is more likely to replicate this behaviour in the future
  • An example of this good be a successful bully 
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VICARIOUS EXPERIENCES AO1

  • It's believed children are likely to pick up agg behaviour from people around them, espically those they admire 
  • If they see someone who is being positively reinforced for their agg behaviour, the child is more likely to imitate similiar behaviours in the future 
  • This theory also suggests that children with high self-efficacy are more likely to use agg, if they are confident of the rewards they will gain from doing so
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BANDURA AO1

  • Suggested for the social learning theory to take place individuals must be able to create a mental representation of the agg used
  • If a similiar situation occurs in the future, the individual will be morelikely to produce similar agg behaviour 

EXPERIMENT 1 - BOBO DOLL

  • Wanted to see if children would imitate the same behaviour when exposed to wither a non-agg or an agg adult model
  • The children were split into 2 conditions 
  • CONDITION 1: children were exposed to an adult model acting agg to a bobo doll
  • CONDTION 2: children were shown an adult model not acting agg to a bobo doll
  • They found that children in condition 1 showed higher levels of agg where as children in condition 2 showed virtually no signs of any agg behaviour 
  • Therefore demonstrating that agg can be learnt through social learning 

AO3 -LAB - EXPERIEMENT - LOW MUNDANE REALISM - NOT REAL LIFE 

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BANDURA EXPERIMENT 2 - AO2

  • All children were exposed to a video of an adult behaving agg to a bobo doll
  • The children were split into 3 groups
  • GROUP 1: the adult model was neither punish or rewarded for their behaviour 
  • GROUP 2: the adult model was rewarded for their behaviour
  • GROUP 3: the adult model was punished for their behaviour 
  • They found that the highest amounts of agg replicated were the children in G2 and the lowest levels of agg found were in G3
  • We can assume this is because only the children in G2 were motivated to reproduce agg behaviour agaist the Bobo doll
  • Therefore, supporting that children can learn agg through vicarious reinforcement 
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IDA - LACK OF REALISM

  • Bandura can be critiqued as unrealistic 
  • Here, the Bobo doll isn't a living person and therefore cannot retaliate agaisnt the adult model 
  • therefore this questions the validity of the experiement as if the doll could retaliate results of the experiemrnt may have been very differant 
  • Therefore, as the Bobo doll isn't a real person we cannot apply these results to real-life
  • Therefore questioning the effects social-learning actually has on agg behaviour 
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AO3 -DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS

  • Many believe that the agg seen the children may have been more of a product of motivation 
  • Children may have been aware of the behaviour expected of them and therefore may have only replicated it as it was seen to be only appropriate for the context of the situation 
  • Therefore this experiment has low internal validity as the children'sviolence may only have been a product of demand characteristics 
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IDA - REDUCTIONIST

  • This theory can be perceived as reductionist as the theory only looks at one component that can affect agg 
  • Where as other factors may also contribute towards agg such as the biological influence of dopamine
  • Instead the theory should take a more holistic viewpoint and consider that other factors may also influence agg and not just social learning 
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