Sample SAQ

One study of Social Cognitive Theory was carried out by Bandura. This study had the aim to determine whether children would learn aggressive behaviour by imitating an adult model. Social Learning Theory - also called “observational learning” - is the idea that people learn by imitating the actions of others. The theory argues that we are more likely to imitate someone who is like us, that we identify with, if we have a sense of self-efficacy.  Self-efficacy is the belief that we are able to imitate the behaviour. In addition, we also imitate those who receive vicarious reinforcement. Bandura found that when a model was rewarded or at least was not punished, the children were more likely to imitate a behaviour.

The study was made up of 3 - 5-year-old children. They were first evaluated to determine their level of aggression. Bandura then used a matched-pairs design to make sure that the different levels of aggression were evenly distributed in the groups. There were three independent variables in this study: whether the children were exposed to violence or not, the gender of the child, and the gender of the model. The children then watched either a male or a female model either act aggressively (bashing the Bobo with a baseball bat and yelling at the Bobo), act passively (assembling toys), or they had no model. This served as the control group to see what children would do when simply but with the Bobo.

The children were then individually invited into a room full of toys. After they saw all the toys, they were told that they were not allowed to play with them since they were for other children. This caused all of the children to feel frustrated. This was important because Bandura wanted to make sure that they all had the same level of arousal.

The results were that all of the children showed some level of aggression against the Bobo. However, the group that saw the aggressive model were the most aggressive. Those that saw the control were second, and those who saw the passive model showed the least aggression. In addition, the boys were the most violent. They tended to imitate both the male and the female models, though they commented that the woman’s behaviour was not acceptable, saying “Ladies should not behave that way.” Girls tended to imitate the verbal aggression of the male - and imitated the female model more directly. This shows that it each gender identified more with the same sex model.

This study demonstrates SCT. First, the children appear to have learned the behaviour by watching the models. Secondly, since there was no punishment for the models’ actions (and it actually looked like they enjoyed it), the children imitated it. They had been vicariously reinforced. Lastly, the fact that they imitated the same gender makes sense. Since the children would identify with the same gender and they would feel that if he (or she) can do it, so can I (self-efficacy), then they are more likely to imitate them.

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