TRANSMISSION OF AGGRESSION THROUGH IMITATION
OF AGGRESSIVE MODELS
Kylie Ball
The Social Learning Theory is Bandura’s theory which proposes that new behaviors can be acquired by observing and imitating others. It states that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social environment and can occur through observation, even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement. Learning occurs through the observation of rewards and punishments, a process known as vicarious reinforcement. When a behavior is rewarded regularly, it will continue. If a behavior is constantly punished, it will stop. The theory is based on behavioral theories, in which behavior is governed by reinforcements. Reinforcement plays a role in learning but is not entirely responsible for learning. The learner is not a passive recipient of information. Cognition, environment, and behavior all mutually influence each other.
The initial study, along with Bandura’s follow-up research, would later be known as the Bobo doll experiment. The experiment revealed that children imitate the aggressive behavior of adults. The findings support Bandura’s social learning theory, which emphasizes the influence of observational learning on behavior. Bandura conducted a number of follow-up studies during the 1960s. These studies examined how witnessing a third party being rewarded or punished for behaving in a particular manner can influence actions. Bandura concluded that vicarious reinforcement, as well as direct rewards and punishments, can impact on an observer’s behavior (Bandura, Ross, and Ross, 1961).
Bandura, Ross, and Ross, 1961 devised an experiment in which participants would observe an adult behaving in a violent manner towards a Bobo doll toy. The toys, which were popular during the 1960s, feature an image of a clown and were designed to self-right when pushed over. The experiment took place at Stanford University, where Bandura was then working in a teaching position as a professor. The participants – children who attended the Stanford University nursery – were divided into groups. Children in one of these groups were placed in a room in which they witnessed an adult hitting a Bobo doll in an aggressive manner. They were later given the opportunity to play with the dolls for themselves. The researchers found that the group of children who had observed an adult behaving violently towards the toy were more likely to act aggressively towards it themselves when given the opportunity. This indicated that learning takes place not only when individuals are rewarded or punished for their own behavior, but also when they observe another person exhibiting violent behavior, a process called observational learning. With subjects in the nonaggressive condition, the model assembled the tinker toys in a quiet subdued manner totally ignoring the Bobo doll. In contrast, with subjects in the aggressive condition, the model began by assembling the tinker toys but after approximately a minute had elapsed, the model turned to the Bobo doll and spent the remainder of the period aggressing toward it (Bandura et al, 1961).
In 1961, Bandura conducted a second experiment which replicated many aspects of the previous study. However instead of observing an adult’s violent behavior firsthand, they watched a video of the Bobo doll being struck. As in the 1961 experiment, those participants who watched the film of a person being aggressive were more likely to behave violently towards the toy than participants in a control group. The study indicates that indirect exposure to violent behavior through film or television may lead to actions being imitated in a similar way to behavior observed in person (Bandura et al, 1963). The procedure of the experiment was very similar to the one conducted in 1961. Children between the ages of 2.5 to 6 years watched a film of a mediated model punching and screaming aggressively at a Bobo doll. Depending on the experimental group, the film ended with a scene in which the model was rewarded with candies or punished with the warning, "Don't do it again". In the neutral condition the film ended right after the aggression scene toward the Bobo doll. Regardless of the experimental group the child was in, after watching the film the child stayed in a room with many toys and a Bobo doll. The experimenter found that the children often showed less similar behavior toward the model when they were shown the clip that ended with the punishment scene as compared to the other conditions. Also, boys showed more imitative aggression than girls toward the Bobo doll. That is the measure of the performance and it supports the results of the experiments in 1961. Next, the experimenter asked the children to demonstrate what they had seen in the film. The experimenter did not find differences in the children's demonstrated behavior based on which of the three films the child watched. The results of the experiment show’s that rewards or punishment don't influence learning or remembering information, they just influence if the behavior is performed or not. The differences between girls and boys imitating behavior got smaller (Bandura et al, 1963).
Bandura showed a film to participants in which a person again beat the doll. One group watched as the person’s behavior was reinforced by way of a food reward, while the second group saw a video in which the person was criticized for their violent behavior. The researchers found that the children who watched the video where positive reinforcements were given were more likely to behave violently themselves (Bandura, 1965). This process of vicarious reinforcement suggests that learning takes place not just through direct observation, but also through the media that a person consumes.
In 1977, drawing on his previous experimental research, Bandura outlined his social learning theory, which attempts to explain the effect of social interactions on learning. According to Bandura’s theory, a person may observe the behavior of people around them. Bandura argues that through observational learning, an individual may imitate the behaviors of others (Bandura, 1965). Furthermore, when a person sees another individual being punished or rewarded for their actions, their evaluation of the behavior will be further influenced, even if their own behavior has not been reinforced directly.
One area of the Bobo doll studies was the way in which children imitate the aggressive behavior of an adult. However, the dolls were designed to be hit and pushed, and to rebound after being knocked over, some have suggested that the participants were not exhibiting aggressive behavior, but merely playing with the toy as it was intended to be used. This has led critics of the study to consider its experiment design to be flawed, as its participants were conforming to the demand characteristics of the situation. Studies carried out in the decades since Bandura’s initial research have lent further support to his observation that violent behavior on-screen can influence the actions of those viewing it. Heuessman, Lagerspetz and Eron (1984) studied children’s behavior after they had watched television programs containing violence. The researchers found that the participants, and in particular males, were more likely to behave in an aggressive manner if they had seen such behavior on television (Huessmann, 1984). The "Cultivation Theory" argues that the more a child engages in media, the more they will be affected by it. Therefore, the more violent content the child is engaging in, the larger the impact it will have on them.
The Bobo doll experiment supports the social learning theory, that when one observes another’s actions they tend to behave in a similar way. In society today, children observe and learn from the media, even when it is fictional. Children are likely to replicate and learn from the things they see on the screen when they identify with their own personality traits and if that character receives punishment or not.
References
Bandura, A., Ross, D. and Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of
Aggressive Models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575-582.
Bandura, A., Ross, D. and Ross, S. A. (1963). Imitation of Film-Mediated Aggressive
Models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66(1), 3-11.
Bandura, A. (1965). Influence of Models’ Reinforcement Contingencies on the Acquisition of
Imitative Responses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1(6), 589.
Huessmann, L. R., Lagerspetz, K. And Eron, L. D. (1984). Intervening Variables in the TV
Violence-Aggression Relation: Evidence From Two Countries. Developmental
Psychology, 20(5), 746-775.