According to social learning theory, aggression is the result of which of the following?
Does the violence that children observe in television programs, movies, and video games lead them to behave aggressively? This is a hot question today, but it was also of great interest in the 1960s when a psychologist led an experiment known as the Bobo doll experiment to determine how kids learn aggression through observation. Show
BackgroundAre aggression and violence learned behaviors? In a famous and influential experiment known as the Bobo doll experiment, Albert Bandura and his colleagues demonstrated one way that children learn aggression. According to Bandura's social learning theory, learning occurs through observations and interactions with other people. Essentially, people learn by watching others and then imitating these actions. Aggression lies at the root of many social ills ranging from interpersonal violence to war. It is little wonder then that the subject is one of the most studied topics within psychology. Social psychology is the subfield devoted to the study of human interaction and group behavior, and the scientists working in this field have provided much of the research on human aggression. The Bobo Doll ExperimentThe experiment involved exposing children to two different adult models; an aggressive model and a non-aggressive one. After witnessing the adult's behavior, the children would then be placed in a room without the model and were observed to see if they would imitate the behaviors they had witnessed earlier. PredictionsBandura made several key predictions about what would occur during the Bobo doll experiment.
MethodologyThe participants for the experiment were 36 boys and 36 girls enrolled at the Stanford University Nursery School. The children ranged in age between 3 and almost 6 years, and the average participant age was 4 years 4 months. There were a total of eight experimental groups. Out of these participants, 24 were assigned to a control group that would not be exposed to adult models. The rest of the children were then divided into two groups of 24 participants each. One of the experimental groups would be exposed to aggressive models, while the other 24 children would be exposed to non-aggressive models. These groups were divided again into groups of boys and girls. Each of these subgroups was then divided so that half of the participants would be exposed to a same-sex adult model and the other half would be exposed to an opposite-sex adult model. Before conducting the experiment, Bandura also assessed the children's existing levels of aggression. Groups were then matched equally so that they had average levels of aggression. ProceduresEach child was tested individually to ensure that behavior would not be influenced by other children. The child was first brought into a playroom where there were a number of different activities to explore.The experimenter then invited an adult model into the playroom and encouraged the model to sit at a table across the room from the child that had similar activities. Over a ten minute period, the adult models began to play with sets of tinker toys. In the non-aggressive condition, the adult model simply played with the toys and ignored the Bobo doll for the entire period. In the aggressive model condition, however, the adult models would violently attack the Bobo doll. "The model laid the Bobo on its side, sat on it, and punched it repeatedly in the nose. The model then raised the Bobo doll, picked up the mallet, and struck the doll in the head. Following the mallet aggression, the model tossed the doll up in the air aggressively and kicked it about the room. This sequence of physically aggressive acts was repeated three times, interspersed with verbally aggressive responses." In addition to physical aggression, the adult models also used verbally aggressive phrases such as "Kick him" and "Pow." The models also added two non-aggressive phrases: "He sure is a tough fella" and "He keeps coming back for more." After the ten-minute exposure to the adult model, each child was then taken to another room that contained a number of appealing toys including a doll set, fire engine, and toy airplane. The children were permitted to play for a brief two minutes, then told they were no longer allowed to play with any of these tempting toys. The purpose of this was to build up frustration levels among the young participants. Finally, each child was taken to the last experimental room. This room contained a number of "aggressive" toys including a mallet, a tether ball with a face painted on it, dart guns, and, of course, a Bobo doll. The room also included several "non-aggressive" toys including crayons, paper, dolls, plastic animals, and trucks. Each child was then allowed to play in this room for a period of 20 minutes. During this time raters observed the child's behavior from behind a one-way mirror and judged each child's levels of aggression. ResultsThe results of the experiment supported three of the four original predictions.
Impact and Follow-UpResults of the experiment supported Bandura's social learning theory. Bandura and his colleagues believed that the experiment demonstrates how specific behaviors can be learned through observation and imitation. The authors also suggested that "social imitation may hasten or short-cut the acquisition of new behaviors without the necessity of reinforcing successive approximations as suggested by Skinner." According to Bandura, the violent behavior of the adult models toward the dolls led children to believe that such actions were acceptable. He also suggested that as a result, children may be more inclined to respond to frustration with aggression in the future. In a follow-up study conducted in 1965, Bandura found that while children were more likely to imitate aggressive behavior if the adult model was rewarded for his or her actions, they were far less likely to imitate if they saw the adult model being punished or reprimanded for their hostile behavior. Comments and CriticismAs with any experiment, the Bobo doll study is not without criticisms:
A Word From VerywellBandura's experiment remains one of the most well-known studies in psychology. Today, social psychologists continue to study the impact of observed violence on children's behavior. In the decades since the Bobo doll experiment, there have been hundreds of studies on how observing violence impacts children's behavior. Today, researchers continue to ponder the question of whether the violence children witness on television, in the movies, or through video games translates to aggressive or violent behavior in the real world. By Kendra Cherry
Thanks for your feedback! What is the social learning theory of aggression?The social learning theory of aggression explains how aggressive patterns develop, what provokes people to behave aggressively, and what sustains such actions after they have been initiated. The value of particular aggressive acts derives from social labeling.
What causes aggression in social psychology?Aggression can happen as a natural response to stress, fear, or a sense of losing control. You might also respond with aggression when you feel frustrated, mistreated, or unheard — especially if you never learned how to manage your emotions effectively.
What is the social learning explanation of aggression give an example?The social learning theory is a concept that tries to explain human aggressive through direct observation and imitation for example if a child saw their parent act aggressively towards another person they would be more likely to imitate that behaviour themselves.
What does Bandura say about aggression?Bandura proposed that aggression can also be learnt by the indirect mechanism of observational learning. Social learning theory maintains that children learn through a process of imitation. Aggressive acts carried out by a role model will be internalised by an individual and reproduced in the future.
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