This is more likely if the behaviour is positively reinforced. The other way is through indirect experience; this is when an individual learns behaviour to imitate, which is based on reinforcements that they see others receiving. An example of this would be if we see someone being punished for aggression we are not likely to copy it. If we see someone praised we may be more likely to imitate them. This theory acknowledges that there are some cognitive elements to being able to observe and imitate behaviours.
Outline and evaluate two social psychological theories of aggression. (24 marks) Bandura believed that the potential for aggression may be biological, but the expression of aggression is learned. The social-learning theory (SLT) states that learning occurs through observation of a model. Imitation of an observed behaviour is more likely if the model is someone we aspire to or identify with or if they are rewarded. This is vicarious reinforcement.
Some evidence for this theory is by Bandura, who found that children imitated very precisely role models who displayed aggressive behaviour towards a Bobo Doll. Furthermore, he found that children were more likely to imitate the same sex role model. However, there were some methodological limitations with the way in which this was investigated such as the possibility of the children who took part in the study not behaving in the same way that they would have in a real life situation. So, while the research provides some evidence for the theory, it is not conclusive that aggressive behaviour is always learned vicariously. This theory is also reductionist as there may be other viable explanations for aggression such as biological causes.
The theory stated that an individual's behavior was shaped and that reinforcement (negative and positive) and punishment determined the likelihood that the behavior, once exhibited, would continue (Burgess Akers, 1966). Negative reinforcement could entail such negative events as being ostracized by one’s friends or the group. An example of a positive reinforcement would be acceptance by the group or elevation in status. Punishment could include being caught by authorities and incarcerated or fined. Akers (1977) modified the differential association-reinforcement theory and called the new theory “social learning,” emphasizing the synergy between sociology and psychology.
Aggression is an action or series of actions where the aim is to cause harm to another person or object. Social learning theory states that aggressive behaviour is learned directly (operant conditioning) and indirectly (vicarious). For example, if someone gets something they want when they’re aggressive the action will be reinforced therefore likely to be repeated. And if a person sees their role model rewarded for an aggressive action the observer is likely to imitate that model. The model is most likely to be imitated if: the model is similar to the observer, the model is admired and/or the observer as low self-esteem.
Aggression refers to behaviours that can result in both physical and psychological harm to one self, others or objects in the environment. It can be socially explained using the Social Learning Theory, which suggest that we learn behaviours, including aggression, by imitating successful role models. Therefore it is possible to learn aggression through Operant or Classical conditioning. The theory also suggests that observational learning can also take place, and that this is reinforced vicariously. Vicarious learning or reinforcement occurs when one sees another person rewards for certain actions.
Turley argued that violent toys offer advantages because they aid children in channelling their aggression and seen as a valuable vehicle to process violence. However he failed to address how this could help convince zero-tolerance parents who viewed violent toys as an encouragement of aggressive behaviours and violent attitude. Despite putting in reasonable effort in his claim of having a healthy dose of violence, the result would as undesirable if violence had been misinterpreted or mishandled such as in the case of the 1999 Columbine High School shootings. Turley should therefore be educating parents on guiding their children when playing with such violent toys and not exposing to children directly. While Turley provides sufficient amount of evidence from various professionals, the essence of the author’s original argument that violent toys should be seen as beneficial was lost in the midst of quoting the many opinions and research of other individuals.
Therefore the primary deviance of the speech defect was not that important, it was the effect of the worried parents, labelling the child, causing the nervousness, leading to the secondary deviance of stuttering. Thus showing that if people are labelled in a certain way and treated accordingly it has greater consequences than the original deviance. Labelling can be said to be variable with the application of a label varying with diverse factors such as place, gender and age. This helps in our understanding of crime and deviance because the way people react to or see criminal or deviant acts may vary, for example homosexuality can be considered deviant too one person but normal to another. Labelling theorist explain that some people may have the power to reject a negative label, while others are unable to gain enough resources to deny the negative label and must accept it, causing harsh consequences in later life as they may live up to their label and be
Children develop self-efficacy, which is confidence in their ability to successful carry out a behaviour. If aggressive behaviour is unsuccessful for a child, they will have a lower sense of self-efficacy so are less likely to behave this way in future. There is strong empirical evidence to support the SLT. For example, Bandura’s Bobo doll studies found that children who observed a model behaving aggressively to the Bobo doll behaved more aggressively than those who observed a non-aggressive
An example of this is Bandura's bobo doll study of aggression with children. This theory is also useful when treating phobias. But as everything this theory also has disadvantages for example, the fact that it focuses too much on the 'nurture' side of the nature/nurture debate. It suggests that all behaviour is learned but cognitive and biological elements have been proved to affect behaviour an example of this is the assumption that people learn behaviour by observing others getting rewarded for certain actions. It’s also difficult to use this theory with adults, as it is more difficult to manipulate them with punishments and rewards unlike