“See Aggression…Do Aggression”
“Aggression, in its abundance of forms, is arguably the greatest social problem facing this country and world today. It is also one of the most researched topics in the history of psychology.” (Hock, 2013, 85). The experiment of “See aggression...Do Aggression” was conducted by Albert Bandura and Dorothea Ross. Bandura was a social learning theorist that believe human
interaction is how we develop our personalities, with this in mind these psychologist wondered if aggression is learned from elder models. (Hock,2013, 86). Bandura and Ross hypothesized that; 1) Children who observed models acting in an aggressive manner would more than likely to act aggressive even after the model had left. 2) The children watching the nonaggressive models would not act in an aggressive manner.3) Children would relate to models of the same sex and would imitate their behavior aggressive or nonaggressive. 4) Boys would be more likely to be aggressive then girls, because aggression is seen as a “masculine trait” (Hock, 2013, 86).
The type of research done during this experiment behavioral psychology. Bandura and Ross wanted to see how children would react after seeing aggressive behavior. To conduct this experiment Bandura and Ross gathered 36 boys and 36 girls, from ages three to six (Hock, 2013, 87). 24 of these children would not be influenced by model. The remaining children were broken into aggressive influenced groups and nonaggressive influenced groups. Then the children were broken into more groups that consisted of same sex models and opposite sex models. “This created a total of eight experimental groups and one control group. To begin the experiment, the children were brought into a room where there were many activities for them to do at a table in the corner. Bandura and Ross would then have an adult model come into the same room “to join the game” (Hock, 2013, 87). The model would then be seated in the opposite corner table. Both the nonaggressive and aggressive model would start of by playing with toys, however for the aggressive model they would soon become aggressive, punching Bobo (an inflated clown) and talking aggressively to the clown. After a short time the children would be taken to another room, where there were more fun toys for the children to play with. Bandura and Ross believed that to see if the children were influenced by the models they would need to act out their aggressive or nonaggressive behavior. This second room was used to see if the child would reenact the behavior they had observed.
From the second rooms observations Bandura and Ross found that they had hypothesized correctly on three of the four predictions. Bandura and Ross found that the children that observed aggressive behavior were more likely to reenact that same behavior. 38.2 physical and 17 verbal aggressive behaviors were reenacted by the boys and 12.7 physical and 15.7 verbal aggressive behaviors were carried out by the girls (Hock, 2013, 89). The second hypothesized behavior supported by this experiment was that children who observed nonaggressive models were more likely to act in a nonaggressive way were correct. The final hypothesized behavior supported by this experiment was that boys would be more likely to be aggressive then girls. The average number of aggressive behaviors carried out by boys was 104 to 48.4 when observing an aggressive model (Hock, 2013, 90). Another astonishing comparison was that boys committed 270 violent acts, compared to their 128 female counter parts. That’s 142 violent act difference (Hock, 2013, 90).
These findings are important to Bandura and Ross because they claimed to have “demonstrated how specific behaviors- in this case, violent ones- could be learned through the process of observation and imitation (Hock, 2013, 90). They believed because of this observed behavior, children would be more likely to act aggressively in the future when frustrated. They also associated this masculinity, and how in most cultures it is believed that males are the more aggressive gender. This is also influential when we look at other forms of media that influence children such as cartoons and video games. Violent medias can effect children negatively just like the models, influencing them to act in an aggressive way.
This relates to our book and readings because it relates to behavioral psychology, which we have been studying. Behaviorism is the psychological approach that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of the environment as a determinant of the behavior (Hock, 2013, 90). In this study Bandura and Ross are experimenting on how children are influenced by outside behaviors, produced by the models. Our behaviors are very much influenced by our environment and who we are around and what we watch.
I can apply this in my life, by telling my parents how my little brother could be affected by this learned aggression. My brother plays very aggressive games very often. He can be aggressive sometimes and this may be the cause of it. This can also be helpful when positively influencing him to act in a proper manner when frustrated. I could use this for when I become a father. Influencing my children positively, and trying to keep them from being influenced negatively from other forms of media.
Works Cited
Hock. Forty Studies That Changed Psychology. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2013. Print. See Aggression...Do Aggression.
Ciccarelli, Saudra K., and J. White. Psychology. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2104. Print. Delta Psychology.
“Aggression, in its abundance of forms, is arguably the greatest social problem facing this country and world today. It is also one of the most researched topics in the history of psychology.” (Hock, 2013, 85). The experiment of “See aggression...Do Aggression” was conducted by Albert Bandura and Dorothea Ross. Bandura was a social learning theorist that believe human
interaction is how we develop our personalities, with this in mind these psychologist wondered if aggression is learned from elder models. (Hock,2013, 86). Bandura and Ross hypothesized that; 1) Children who observed models acting in an aggressive manner would more than likely to act aggressive even after the model had left. 2) The children watching the nonaggressive models would not act in an aggressive manner.3) Children would relate to models of the same sex and would imitate their behavior aggressive or nonaggressive. 4) Boys would be more likely to be aggressive then girls, because aggression is seen as a “masculine trait” (Hock, 2013, 86).
The type of research done during this experiment behavioral psychology. Bandura and Ross wanted to see how children would react after seeing aggressive behavior. To conduct this experiment Bandura and Ross gathered 36 boys and 36 girls, from ages three to six (Hock, 2013, 87). 24 of these children would not be influenced by model. The remaining children were broken into aggressive influenced groups and nonaggressive influenced groups. Then the children were broken into more groups that consisted of same sex models and opposite sex models. “This created a total of eight experimental groups and one control group. To begin the experiment, the children were brought into a room where there were many activities for them to do at a table in the corner. Bandura and Ross would then have an adult model come into the same room “to join the game” (Hock, 2013, 87). The model would then be seated in the opposite corner table. Both the nonaggressive and aggressive model would start of by playing with toys, however for the aggressive model they would soon become aggressive, punching Bobo (an inflated clown) and talking aggressively to the clown. After a short time the children would be taken to another room, where there were more fun toys for the children to play with. Bandura and Ross believed that to see if the children were influenced by the models they would need to act out their aggressive or nonaggressive behavior. This second room was used to see if the child would reenact the behavior they had observed.
From the second rooms observations Bandura and Ross found that they had hypothesized correctly on three of the four predictions. Bandura and Ross found that the children that observed aggressive behavior were more likely to reenact that same behavior. 38.2 physical and 17 verbal aggressive behaviors were reenacted by the boys and 12.7 physical and 15.7 verbal aggressive behaviors were carried out by the girls (Hock, 2013, 89). The second hypothesized behavior supported by this experiment was that children who observed nonaggressive models were more likely to act in a nonaggressive way were correct. The final hypothesized behavior supported by this experiment was that boys would be more likely to be aggressive then girls. The average number of aggressive behaviors carried out by boys was 104 to 48.4 when observing an aggressive model (Hock, 2013, 90). Another astonishing comparison was that boys committed 270 violent acts, compared to their 128 female counter parts. That’s 142 violent act difference (Hock, 2013, 90).
These findings are important to Bandura and Ross because they claimed to have “demonstrated how specific behaviors- in this case, violent ones- could be learned through the process of observation and imitation (Hock, 2013, 90). They believed because of this observed behavior, children would be more likely to act aggressively in the future when frustrated. They also associated this masculinity, and how in most cultures it is believed that males are the more aggressive gender. This is also influential when we look at other forms of media that influence children such as cartoons and video games. Violent medias can effect children negatively just like the models, influencing them to act in an aggressive way.
This relates to our book and readings because it relates to behavioral psychology, which we have been studying. Behaviorism is the psychological approach that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of the environment as a determinant of the behavior (Hock, 2013, 90). In this study Bandura and Ross are experimenting on how children are influenced by outside behaviors, produced by the models. Our behaviors are very much influenced by our environment and who we are around and what we watch.
I can apply this in my life, by telling my parents how my little brother could be affected by this learned aggression. My brother plays very aggressive games very often. He can be aggressive sometimes and this may be the cause of it. This can also be helpful when positively influencing him to act in a proper manner when frustrated. I could use this for when I become a father. Influencing my children positively, and trying to keep them from being influenced negatively from other forms of media.
Works Cited
Hock. Forty Studies That Changed Psychology. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2013. Print. See Aggression...Do Aggression.
Ciccarelli, Saudra K., and J. White. Psychology. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2104. Print. Delta Psychology.