Can Social Learning Theory Socially Correct Behavior?

The article See Aggression...Do Aggression discusses aggression, which is the biggest social problem facing America and the entire world. The article delves deeper into the question of why people are aggressive. Psychologists have theoreticized that aggression may stem from genetics or pent up frustration, but the most common and accepted is the theory that aggression is learned. This final reason for aggression is what prompted Bandera, a founder of the “social learning theory” and his team, Dorothea and Sheila Ross, to conduct “the Bobo doll study.”

The fundamentals of the social learning theory significantly describe offenders and their criminal behavior which is learned based on observation and imitation. A researcher by the name of Albert Bandura along with coworkers tested the social learning theory with several experiments on children and their imitation of aggression based on what they saw and were exposed to. Bandura’s focus was to prove that human behavior such as aggression is learned through social imitations and copying the actions of others. Walters (1966) gives details about the Bobo doll experiment and explains its purpose related to learning a violent behavior based on observation. In the experiment, the tested subjects were children of both sexes, ranging from the ages of three to six years. Some of the children were exposed to a non-aggressive adult, while the other children were placed in a room with an aggressive adult who would both physically and verbally attack the Bobo doll. The control group in the experiment was not exposed to any adult. During the second phase of the experiment, the children were left in a room by themselves with the toys, and watched to see if they would demonstrate the aggressive behavior like that of which they observed adults doing earlier. Walter (1966) describes the results as “children who had been exposed to an aggressive model showed more imitative physical and verbal

One of the central tenants of Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, which is also called Social Cognitive Theory, is that “aggression in children is influenced by the reinforcement of family members, the media, and the environment” (Bandura, 1975, pp. 206-208). Evans (1989) suggested that the basis for Bandura’s theories came from work completed by researchers Miller and Dollard (1941) who suggested that human development is actively influenced by “response consequences” (Evans, 1989, p. 4), but regardless of the impetus for Bandura’s work, he is most known for his work regarding aggression in children. This paper will focus on why the principles of Bandura’s Social Learning Theory will benefit leaders in school environments as they

Social learning theory suggests that the mechanism underlying the continuity of violence is observational learning in which children who were abused learn to repeat abusive or neglectful modeled behavior (Begle, Dumas & Hanson, 2010). Observational learning, in the case of child

Social learning theory is described by different environmental factors that’s influence the behavioral response of a person (Bandura, 1965). For example, social learning theory assumes a person bases their responses through an actual environmental stimuli, such as violence. In addition, when applied to the domestic violence, social learning theory states the actual act of violence is learned, through role models, such as parents, siblings or relatives as a natural coping mechanism when conflict is present. As described in the book (I am not your Victim) the countless abuses that Sam did over Beth was a form coping mechanism for him to avoid the conflicts around. Sam’s initial reaction of violence could be actual result of their

Human behaviors are learned emotion through interaction with each other. A child’s brain is like a sponge. It absorbs the behavior of its surroundings. Serial killer’s treatment and view of other people is a learned behavior through interaction with others in society. The Bobo doll experiment conducted by Albert Bandura in 1961-1963 at Stanford University shows how children’s behavior depends on adults that are around them. In the experiment, adults acted aggressively to the Bobo doll and the study was on how the children will react to it after they saw the adults’ interaction with the doll. Bandura conducted the experiment on two models where one of the models contained children exposed to the aggressive act performed by the adult on the Bobo doll. The other model contained children who saw adults act in a pleasant way to the doll. The result of this experiment showed that children exposed to the aggressive model were more likely to act physically aggressive than those who were not (McLeod). This study proved the social learning theory which basically states that children learn behaviors from

Children need guidance and personal example from the adults around them to help them learn what is acceptable and what behaviour isn’t acceptable. Behaviour is greatly influenced by primary socialisation and children will react and take in how close family members act. Bandura developed the modelling idea where children would copy the adults around them. “There is much evidence that a child who witnesses or experiences violence at home may develop aggressive tendencies.” There are a number of different types of behaviour these include assertive, aggressive, submissive and manipulative behaviour.

The study consisted of 36 boys and 36 girls from the Stanford University Nursery School, ages between 3 to 6 years old. The children were split into three groups based off their aggression judgment from teachers and parents. The first set of children were shown aggression by adults, both male and female, beating up a Bobo Doll. The second set of children ascertained an adult model who exhibit no aggression and the control group was not acquaint to any model. The first set of children were placed in a room with the Bobo Doll after 10 minutes of watching the adult model. The results showed that the first set of children who watched the aggressive model showed

In the Bobo doll experiment, the kids demonstrated behavior similar to what the saw. The hit the doll, hammered the doll, and kick the doll. Then the kids began to adopt different ways of attacking the doll, whether it was with a gun, smacking it with a ball, or hitting the tether ball which hit the Bobo doll. One possible implication of viewing violence when it comes to social learning is that violence might be a product of what they are taught. Like in the video, the kids saw an adult beating up a doll. In a way, the may think if the adult can do it, I can also beat up the doll. If the kid does not differentiate from what is appropriate from adult behavior, and kids behavior, they will copy behavior of authority. Another implication could

Social learning theory, developed by Bandura, discusses how people learn from one another through observation, modeling, and imitation bridging an individual’s attention, memory and motivation. Social learning theory identifies the importance of cognition, observable behavior, individual self-efficacy, and the extent of how the events surrounding an individual affect them; their locus of control. Social learning theory also looks at individual problem behavior being influenced by positive or negative reinforcement (Ashford & LeCroy, 2012).

As Akhbar () stated, the more violence we are exposed to, the more violent we become and the more evil we observe, the more evil we become. When the social-cognitive learning theory is influenced by the words and behaviors of violent models, it becomes essential that people start to carefully select the kinds of experiences and people in which they expose themselves and their children to ().

Practically since the beginning of television many, parents, teachers, legislators and mental health professionals have desired to grasp the impact of television programs, mainly on children. Mainly on the concern has been the portrayal of violence, predominantly given by psychologist Albert Bandura's work in the 1970s on social learning and the tendency of children to imitate what they see. In general,” the more aggressive the people or films that children observe, the more aggressive the children act. Learning by watching and imitating others, rather than through one's own personal experiences, is called social learning. Later research has shown that viewing violent acts on TV and in the movies affects people in other negative ways: (1) It

These results correlate highly with the social learning theory on aggressive behavior. Those exposed to substantial violence and aggression were likely to imitate it later on in life. However, while an observational study can elicit enlightening results, they do not provide much on practical, empirical evidence. What the researchers did was observe behavior exhibited by the individuals they studied; they did not control the amount of violence the individuals were being exposed nor were they preventing others from being exposed to such programming. Thus, this study can not be deemed as an “experiment”. While they tried eliminating the lurking variables that may plague the results of their findings, it would be impossible to eliminate every possible influence other than the television exposure through an observational study.

As evidence has shown, children view many violent scenes while watching television, movies, or playing video games, but the question still remains: What psychological effect does violence in the media have on children? Research over the past 10 years has consistently shown that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between media violence and real-life aggression (Strasburger 129). Violence in the media can lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch the various programs. Of course, not all children who watch television, or movies, or play video games develop aggressive behavior. However, there is a strong correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior. A study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, examined how children's television viewing practices are related to aggressive behaviors. The results revealed that children who reported watching greater amounts of television per day had higher levels of violent behavior than children who reported lesser amounts of television viewing (Singer 1041). Witnessing violence is an important determining factor in violent behavior. The media serves as a means for children to witness violence. According to Bandura's Social Learning Theory, children imitate behavior that they see on television, especially if the person performing the behavior is attractive or if the

the Bandera’s Theory illustrates the Three Effects of Imitation for instance the modeling affect ,this can be explained when someone starts acquiring a new behavior. If a child continues to watch a martial arts tcv shows they are more prone to trying some off the moves that they see,it is human nature to imitate something or someone that attracts your intertset.This can open the door for Territoriality ,our text human puzzles defines this as Another explanation, attributed to ethologists, is based on the assumption that we are by nature aggressive. This explanation relies heavily on observations of aggression among nonhuman animals. It assumes that since aggression appears to be common among other animals, it must have a biological basis. This theory explains how certain stimuli in the environment can create a reason for aggression ,can sometimes be a survival characteristic .However, there is not clear evidence that humans have this ,but it is fair to say that we may have had instinctual tendencies .How can children be influenced by violence? ,when some children don’t ?.Research suggest children younger than eight may not be able to detruncate between reality or fantasy ,since children observe and imitating, and are able to adopt behaviors to different situations and environments ,it is concluded that media can influence children’s thoughts