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Learning - Bandura (1965) (vicarious reinforcement) - Coggle Diagram
Learning - Bandura (1965) (vicarious reinforcement)
Aims
To consider whether reinforcement and punishment of an aggressive model would influence the aggression displayed by observers (children) in response to frustration
Conclusions
Vicarious punishment reduces imitated aggression
However, the promise of reinforcement is a more powerful influence on aggression
Procedure
Step 1 - The children observed whatever they were supposed to based on their group
Step 2 - Step 2 - The kids were taken into a new room and were shown shiny new toys but were told that these are for other kids in order to frustrate them. (They need the urge to be aggressive later.)
Step 3 - They were taken into a new playroom with a range of toys and the Bobo doll. Their behaviour was then observed through a one way mirror by a male model. A second observer was present for half of the participants to ensure inter-rater reliability
Their behaviours were categorised as one of these 3
Partially imitative - Using the mallet on other toys, not Bobo
Non imitative aggression - Punching the Bobo doll, saying hostile things that the model didn't say
Imitative aggression - Behaving aggressively, saying ‘pow’ (actions of the model)
HOWEVER
This time, all the kids were then offered attractive rewards to be aggressive towards Bobo
DV - The level of aggression the children displayed
Sample
66 children, 33 boys and 33 girls aged 42-71 months from the Stanford uni nursery in California
The kids were randomly placed in one of the 3 groups, where they observed an adult be aggressive towards Bobo:
Model punished condition - The adult gets scolded and spanked with a magazine by another adult
No consequence condition - The model is neither reinforced or punished
Model rewarded condition - The adult being praised for aggression by another adult and given a drink and chocolate
IV - the observed consequence for the model (whether the model was reinforced or punished)
Findings
Children in the condition where the model was punished were less aggressive than the other 2 groups.
However since all groups were offered rewards, this wiped out the difference and all the groups’ aggression scores increased significantly
Evaluation
Aggression was controlled by ensuring that each of the 4 groups had equally aggressive children. This was done by rating the aggression of the children by an experimenter and also the children's teacher (2 raters, inter-rater reliability)
It’s very applicable as it can be used to explain peer pressure. Individuals imitate the behaviours of people who are ‘accepted’ in a certain setting in order to fit in.
It doesn’t accurately explain why we learn or don’t learn every behavior. For example, just because we’ve had experiences of violence doesn’t mean we’ll reproduce such behaviour
It’s too reductionist as it suggests that our environment is the chief influencer of our behaviours, meaning that it sits on the nurture side of the nature v nurture debate. This means that it ignores the effect of biological factors on behaviour, such as genetics and hormones