• Vicarious reinforcement – if the model is observed to use aggression and the outcome is desirable it increases the likelihood that the behaviour will be imitated.
  • E.g., If a child sees another child get their way by hitting someone they are more likely to imitate the aggressive behaviour.

• Models are more likely to be imitated if they are similar to the observer
  • e.g., same sex

• A model is more likely to be imitated if the observer admires their status.
  • E.g. Children are more likely to imitate successful football players like David Beckham than less successful players like David Felgate
    

Evaluation

Children are more likely to imitate aggressive behaviour directed towards a doll than towards another child. According to Durkin (1995), Bandura does not distinguish between real aggression and play-fighting. Conversely, some of the research on the relationship between watching violence in the media and real life aggression seems to support Bandura.

Cumberbatch (1990) found that children who had not played with a Bobo Doll before were five times as likely to imitate the aggressive behaviour than those who were familiar with it; he claims that the novelty value of the doll makes it more likely that children will imitate the behaviour.

Despite the criticisms above, Bandura has successfully demonstrated that learning can take place through observation, and that vicarious consequences are a factor in whether or not the behaviour is copied; nevertheless, the issue here is whether social learning plays a large part in aggressive behaviour. It is clear that it plays some part; however, Bandura has ignored other factors, such as emotions and personality. Social Learning Theory also does not explain why people who are not normally aggressive sometimes behave uncharacteristically aggressively in some situations.

Useful teaching resource: Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory: an introduction DVD