Social Learning Theory of Aggression (AQA A Level Psychology): Revision Note

SLT & aggression

• Social learning theory (SLT) is based on the idea that human beings learn behaviours from others within social contexts

• The key ideas behind SLT involve the observation of role models, which then leads to the imitation of role models’ behaviour depending on whether that behaviour is seen to be rewarded or not

• SLT uses the principles of operant conditioning to explain the ways in which social learning occurs

  • E.g. Billy observes his dad shouting at the TV when watching football and so, over time, Billy begins to shout at the TV when his team are playing badly

• A behaviour is positively reinforced when it is rewarded, either directly or indirectly, e.g.,

  • Billy feels good when he and his dad are shouting at the TV to show how useless their team is (direct reinforcement)

  • Billy sees his brother being praised for tackling another player aggressively, which makes Billy want to imitate this behaviour the next time he plays football (indirect /vicarious reinforcement)

• Vicarious reinforcement may encourage a child to think that aggression is a positive behaviour, as it leads to someone getting what they want

  • E.g., Cassie often observes her older sister threatening younger children: the children are scared so they always do what she demands

• Bandura’s (1961) famous – and controversial – Bobo Doll study highlights the ease with which young children appear to observe and imitate aggressive behaviour learned from adult role models

Cognition & learned aggression

• SLT is not a simple stimulus-response phenomenon; instead, it involves cognitive mediations in the form of the thought-processes and motivations which will determine whether or not a specific behaviour is imitated

• These cognitive mediations are as follows:

  • Attention – has the child noticed the aggressive behaviour in the first place?

  • Retention – can the child remember the actions of the aggressive role model?

  • Reproduction – is the child able to perform the aggressive behaviour?

  • Motivation – does the child believe that imitating the behaviour will lead to an outcome that they desire?

• Self-efficacy may be a key mediating factor in learned aggressive behaviour as it concerns the belief that particular outcomes or objectives can be achieved

  • E.g., Leon learns that he is able to manipulate his classmates into doing his homework for him and the more successful he becomes at doing this, the more confident and skilled he becomes in his manipulation

Research which investigates the social learning theory of aggression

• Perry et al. (1986) - aggressive primary-school children reported that aggression came to them easily and that it was difficult for them to inhibit their aggression; these aggressive children were also confident that aggression would lead to positive rewards, although aggressive girls reported higher levels of concern for victims of aggression and more awareness of possible punishments for aggressive behaviour

• Huesmann & Eron (2013) - vicarious reinforcement of aggression may stem from the bad behaviour of celebrities with whom children identify 

• Poulin & Bouvin (2000) used a real-world example of aggressive boys aged around 10 years old and found that they sought friendships with other aggressive boys who, in turn, positively reinforced their aggression and that this was stable over time  

Evaluation of the social learning theory of aggression

Strengths

• There is strong research (and anecdotal) evidence that SLT provides a valid explanation of aggression, e.g., Poulin & Boivin (2000), cited above, is a particularly strong and compelling piece of evidence that aggression is learned via operant conditioning

• SLT has good application to interventions in both educational and offender settings, i.e., if aggressive/negative behaviour can be learned then prosocial/positive behaviour can also be learned via, for example, social skills training 

Limitations

• Reactively aggressive children are hostile and seek retribution, rather than imitating behaviour for reward; SLT struggles to explain this type of aggression which is impulsive and emotionally driven

• SLT does not really account for examples of children who grow up observing aggressive adult role models without in turn imitating that aggressive behaviour so to some extent it lacks explanatory power

Issues & Debates

• SLT supports environmental determinism, suggesting that aggression is learned from observing and imitating role models

  • This implies that aggressive behaviour is shaped by external reinforcement, leaving little room for free will or personal responsibility

  • However, the inclusion of cognitive mediators (like motivation and self-efficacy) suggests some degree of choice, making SLT less deterministic than traditional behaviourist theories

• SLT takes a nomothetic approach, aiming to establish general laws of behaviour (e.g., all children learn aggression through observation)

  • This is useful for creating testable hypotheses and broad applications like anti-bullying strategies

  • However, it may overlook individual differences – not all children exposed to aggression become aggressive