Angry? Send In The Clowns

There is little doubt that we learn some behaviours. Observation of our and other’s actions confirms that (at least in some part) the behaviour is a construct of our experiences. However, it also has to be acknowledged that we learn behaviours by observing others. 

We witness the positive or negative consequences of behaviour and that informs whether or not we will repeat the same behaviour. 

Social Learning Theory (Bandura and Walters, 1963) suggests that we not only learn by direct experience but vicariously learning through the observation of others. The expression of behaviour is influenced by the learning which has taken place previously. This concept can be used to explore the question of whether being exposed to aggression will lead to a person to display aggressive behaviour as well. The researchers created a now-famous experiment to see if aggressive behaviour would be vicariously learned. 

What did they do?

Two groups of children (between the ages of three and five) were shown a recording of a woman with several different children's toys. One was an inflated clown toy called a Bobo Doll. One group saw the woman being very aggressive to the doll. She hit it with a toy hammer, punched and kicked it in the air as well as using aggressive language towards the doll. The other group witnessed the woman being non-aggressive towards the doll. 

Sometime later the children were taken to a room to play with some toys, amongst which was an identical Bobo Doll. The researchers watched carefully to see what would happen. Would the children who had witnessed the aggressive behaviour copy the behaviour? Would the exposure to simply witnessing a behaviour have influenced them enough to have an impact on their behaviour?

They found a significantly higher number of children in the ‘aggressive’ group went on to mimic the aggressive behaviour they had witnessed, with the ‘non-aggressive’ group showing almost no aggression towards the doll. Interestingly one-third of children in the aggressive condition copied the verbal aggression phrases they had heard, and while the boys were more aggressive than the boys, there was no difference in the verbal aggression. 

While such results confirm our expectations that we reproduce the behaviour we see, it does not tell us a great deal about why those children chose to copy that behaviour. The researchers went on to show that when, under the same conditions, children were shown a recording of the woman being rewarded for aggressive behaviour, they were more likely to behave aggressively. Conversely, if they witnessed someone being punished for the aggressive behaviour they were less likely to copy the aggressive behaviour. It was precisely this kind of behaviour that was termed vicarious learning, where our behaviour is shaped by the potential consequences we envisage it will lead to. Our expectations of those consequences are shaped by not only our direct experience but also what we have witnessed. 

One of the very satisfying things about Social Learning Theory is that it is not in complete opposition to biological explanations for behaviours such as aggression. This explanation does not suggest that our behaviours are confined to the realms of behavioural psychology, but that they may run alongside the possible genetic and neurochemical influences. Essentially we can say that a person may have a biological predisposition to, say aggression, but the expression of that behaviour will be influenced by their learning and the potential consequences for that behaviour. 

The case of Phineas Gage illustrates the effect the physical trauma to the brain can lead to behaviour changes. In 1848 Phineas was a construction worker on an American railway. As part of his job, he would set up the explosives to blast away rock so that the railway tracks could be put in place. On one particular day, an explosion drove a tamping rod through his skull. It entered just below his left eye and exited through the top of his skull. 

Amazingly Phineas survived the accident and was able to function fairly normally afterwards, which was an important development in brain surgery as it showed that parts of the brain could be removed from the brain without an individual dying. However, the changes to his brain did alter his personality. It was reported that Phineas became restless and indecisive and was far more aggressive than he had been before the accident. 

It seems clear the brain injury he endured resulted in behavioural changes, but the trauma of the injury must also have played a role in shaping his future behaviour; to go through an experience can change person’s outlook. How many times have we heard someone say that they are going to live every day like it is their last after a medical ‘all clear’? Our biology, neurology and our psychology meet with social influences to shape our behaviour so that we react in a way we ‘decide’ on being the best fit given the available information. 

Reference: Bandura, A. Ross, D. and Ross, S.A. (1961) Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, 63, 575-82