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Kelsea Vaillancourt
HDF 308 TR 9:30 AM
4/21/16
Individual Theoretical Project

Banduras Social Learning Theory and Learned Aggression

Children learn words, language patterns, actions, and more from observing others. They
observe and imitate models and easily learn to repeat a behavior that was modeled for them.
Seeing any type of behavior can rub off on a child. One of the most concerning behaviors that
can be learned through observation is violence and aggression. A child who witnesses violence is
more likely to repeat the violent behavior at home or school. It is especially hard if a child has
been abused or has seen domestic violence within their home. This makes it more likely that the
child will recreate those actions at some point in their life, whether it be immediately or later in
life. Violent video games and movies also have an impact on children. If a child watches a
violent movie and sees something happen in it that they find interesting or intriguing, they could
then immediately turn to their sibling and do the violent act that they had just witnessed on them.
There are many negative behaviors that can be easily picked up by children just by observing
someone else partake in said behavior. Seeing the use of drugs and alcohol in video games,
movies, or in the home can impact a child as well. A child who sees their older sibling get in
trouble for fighting may go to school and hit another child. They may do this because it is what
they saw someone close to them do, and could possibly feel like they need to do it as well to feel
more grown up and to be more like their sibling. The purpose of the research conducted in this

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paper is to find out how behaviors are learned through observation, why they are repeated, and
ways to decrease inappropriate behaviors that are learned through observation and modeling.
Albert Bandura coined the Social Learning Theory, which teaches the idea that children
learn actions, words, behaviors, etc. through observation. When someone models a behavior, a
child can easily pick up on it and imitate what they have observed. This theory also discusses the
steps that children take when learning something through observation and the reasons behind the
imitation. A child must pay attention to the model, retain what they have seen, reproduce the
action, and have a motivation to reproduce the action. Motivations can be anything from getting
a high from drugs to a child wanting to act and feel older. Through these steps, children can learn
both positive and negative behaviors through observational learning. The more concerning of the
two, however, is the negative behaviors that are learned. Children are easily influenced by what
goes on around them. It would be simple for a child to learn violent and aggressive behaviors
through observing models.
The first step in learning a new behavior through observation is to pay attention to said
behavior while it takes place. According to the social-cognitive theory, one must pay attention to
their surroundings to learn. To learn a behavior from the model, one must eliminate anything
other than the desired behavior that catches their attention. The more interesting the model is the
more likely one is to pay full attention and learn. This is particularly true for infants. With
shorter attention spans and more to learn, infants are eager to learn about the world around them
through observation. This is particularly interesting in cases of domestic violence, wherein an

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infant observes new violent behavior and speech as if it were a normal behavior. In situations
where the violence is rare or a one-time occurrence, it would be less likely that said behavior
would be learned and retained, which is the second step to learning through observation. If the
domestic violence is a repeat occurrence, the behavior has a much higher likelihood of being
learned (Grusec 780). When the behavior is repeated it opens an opportunity for analysis, and
strengthens the observers retention.
The same holds true for adolescents of all ages, not just babies. Violence is witnessed at
home or school by many adolescents. Whether it is parent-to-child, parent-to-parent, or child-tochild, seeing violent acts take place can have a large impact on a child of any age. Children learn
to repeat the actions that they have witnessed. Reproduction of the behavior is Banduras third
step. Reproduction of violent behavior is more likely to occur when the child is or has been a
victim of violence (Anderson 42). For example, if a child is bullied at school, that child might
then go home and repeat the behavior to a younger sibling. Had this child not been a victim of
bullying, or perhaps had the bully not seen violence in their own home, this behavior would not
have been repeated.
The possibility a child being exposed to violence in movies, videogames, and art is very
high. A study conducted in 2001 suggests that being exposed to violent video games as a child
will increase aggressive behavior. The study shows that, exposure to violent video games
increases physiological arousal and aggression-related thoughts and feelings, and, decreases
prosocial behavior (Anderson 353). This shows that violence is in fact a learned social

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behavior. If one is not exposed to it, they themselves are less unlikely to become violent
individuals. However if a child witnesses violence in a video game or in any situation, they are
more likely to repeat the same violence in their own homes or at school. The violent models are
ultimately teaching their behaviors to children. Another study discusses that there is a correlation
between violent media consumption and poor developmental outcomes for these reasons (Boxer
672).
How can we as a society break this cycle of violence? We can start by removing the
motivation (the fourth step in Banduras social learning theory), of the learned behavior. For
example, drug use is a learned behavior, and after reproducing the act, one has gained a
motivation to continue the behavior. In the case of drug use, the motivation is the high (Ford,
304). When it comes to violence, it is no different. The motivation can vary from case to case
and is not always as clear. However if we can isolate ones motivation for violence they will then
no longer have a need to reproduce said violence.
Children learn new behaviors and ideas quite easily and quickly. Perhaps one of the most
common ways that a child can learn a new behavior is through observational learning. This is
part of Albert Banduras Social Learning Theory, in which he discusses how modeling and
imitation work and how children learn from observing others. The theory also lists the four steps
that a child must take to successful learn a new behavior. The steps are to pay attention, retain
information, reproduce the behavior, and find a motivation to reproduce the behavior. Modeling
and imitation involves a model participating in a certain behavior while a child intently watches

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and learns the behavior as one of their own, and then proceeds to imitate the behavior shown by
the model. This can be a good thing, as plenty of positive behaviors are learned through
observational learning. However, it is more of a concern the amount of negative behaviors that
can be learned through this type of learning. Children can easily pick up on violent behaviors
and aggression when they are exposed to that type of behavior. Whether through violence in the
home or even from playing violent video games, exposure to violence leads to increased negative
behaviors within children. Parents, teachers, and others who spend time around children need to
watch and moderate their own behaviors so the children around them dont pick up any negative
behaviors themselves and act on them toward others.

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Citations:
Anderson, C. (2001). Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive
Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior. Psychological
Science, 12. 353-359.
Anderson, C. (2002). Human Aggression. Annual Review of Psychology, 53. 27-51.
Boxer, P. (2015). Video Games Do Indeed Influence Children and AdolescentsAggression,
Prosocial Behavior, and Academic Performance. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10.
671-673.
Ford, J. (2008). Social Learning Theory and Non-Medical Prescription Drug Use Among
Adolescents. Sociological Spectrum: Mid-South Sociological Association, 28. 299-316.
Grusec, J (2000) Social learning theory and developmental psychology: The legacies of Robert
Sears and Albert Bandura. Developmental Psychology, 28. 776-786.