The Social Learning Theory of Aggression

Mrs Jan

Aggression• Discuss– What can cause children to behave aggressively?

Social Learning Theory (SLT)

• Social learning is learning through observation, imitation and modelling or another person or role model.

• Created by Albert Bandura– It is behaviourist, but does take into account thought processes– Therefore it is also cognitive

• Who do you look up to? Who is your role model? Have you ever observed a behaviour that you have then copied?

Social Learning Theory

• According the Bandura, there are 4 processes involved with Social Learning

• Attention (notice)• Retention (remember)• Reproduction (copy)• Motivation

Process of Modelling• ATTENTION.• RETENTION• REPRODUCTION• MOTIVATION.

• Remember ARRM.

Example

• Jane dyes her hair pink because her favourite celebrity has done so. – First Jane paid attention to what the celebrity had

done– Jane then retained this information– Jane was capable of reproducing the behaviour of

dying her hair– Jane was motivated to dye her hair pink and did

so

Social Learning Theory

• Using the four processes involved in social learning as outlined by Bandura (1977), complete the description, and explain why a young girl may imitate her mother putting on makeup.

Characteristics of the model

•An individual is more likely to imitate someone who is judged to have status and power, or be of the same gender.

Factors involved in SLT• The more similar the role model is to

the observer, the more likely that the behaviour will be imitated– Same gender– Same age or older

• Also, if the role model is seen in a positive light– High status– Likeable

•For the case of the little girl on the previous page, which of these factors might have made her more likely to copy her mother’s behaviour?

Vicarious Learning

• Bandura stated that were are also influenced by observing the consequences of another person’s behaviour.

• TASK– Come up with an example for each of the following:

• Vicarious reinforcement• Vicarious punishment• Vicarious extinction

Applying Social Learning Theory to Aggression

• TASK– Using the three aspects of SLT (ARRM, factors

involved in SLT and vicarious learning) explain how children might become aggressive. Think about which models children might learn this behaviour from.

• Children observe and learn from role models– At home (family)– At school (other children)– The media (TV, films, games)

Applying Social Learning Theory to Aggression

•They learn which behaviours are worth repeating

•They have a mental representation of events they observe, and can anticipate reward and punishment.

• Explain how operant conditioning can maintain an aggressive behaviour that has been learned through social learning. Give an example to demonstrate your point.

• Evidence for SLT of aggressionBandura’s experiments on children such as the Bobo doll experiment

• Watch the video, and briefly describe what behaviour the children showed. Does this support or contradict the social learning theory of aggression?

Applying Social Learning Theory to Aggression

Applying Social Learning Theory to Aggression

• A later experiment (Bandura and Walters 1963) showed children consequences of the adult’s behaviour– The model was rewarded for their behaviour– The model was punished for their behaviour– The model received neither punishment or reward

• TASK• Fill in the blanks with the following words

“vicarious punishment”, “vicarious reinforcement”.

IDA: Cultural differences in aggression explained

The Kuhn San:Aggression is rareWHY?Aggression is not valuedChildren not punishedTHEREFORE: direct and

vicarious reinforcement minimized. Children do not acquire aggressive behaviours

IDA

• Ethical issues:

• Difficult to test experimentally as studies such as the Bobo dolls would no longer be allowed to take place because…….

Homework

• TASK (Exam Focus: Essay Structure pg. 5)

– Using the scaffolding above (as well as the “How to answer exam questions” hand-out), complete an answer to the following question.

– 1b: Describe the social learning theory of aggression (8)