TABLE OF CONTENTS
Synopsis
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Chapter 4. Observational Learning of Aggression

Human Development Video Activity
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You must read each slide, and complete any questions on the slide, in sequence.
students in a row of school bus windows
students in a row of school bus windows
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OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING OF AGGRESSION

Estimated Completion Time:

Approximately 5 minutes.

Synopsis:

More than four decades ago, Albert Bandura and his colleagues conducted their now-classic experiments on observational learning and aggression. In this activity, you will view video clips from Bandura’s original Bobo experiments, showing a model engaged in aggressive actions and children imitating the model.

One way children learn social behavior is by observing the behavior of others. A classic experiment by Albert Bandura illustrates how children can learn aggressive behaviors as a result of seeing them modeled by others.

girl mimics pop star behavior
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1.

The clips provide clear evidence that children can learn social behaviors by observing them being carried out by others. However, not all children who watched the film of the adult model initially imitated her behavior. What, according to the text, were some of the factors that influenced whether or not children displayed aggression in the playroom?
One factor that influenced the children’s behavior was whether they saw the adult model punished or rewarded for her actions. Children who saw the model punished were less likely to engage in aggressive behavior than were children who saw the model being rewarded or receiving no consequences. In addition, girls, on average, were less likely than boys to engage in aggressive behaviors in the playroom, and approached the boys’ level of aggression only when offered an incentive to imitate the model.

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