U09 Psych 100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6.4: Observational Learning, Amygdala, Mirror Neuron

• School: WUSTL
• Department: Psychology
• Course: U09 Psych 100
• Professor: Rice Heather, Duchek, Carpenter

Document Summary

2 types of observational learning: modeling and vicarious learning. Vicarious learning - learning the consequences of an action by watching others being rewarded or punished for performing the action: ex: bobo doll experiment. Control: adult experienced no consequences for the aggressive behavior. Children who observed the model being rewarded were much more likely to be aggressive toward the doll than were the children in the control group. Children who saw the model being punished were less likely to be aggressive than those in the control group. All children acquired the behavior, but only those who saw the model being rewarded performed the behavior. Media violence has been found to increase the likelihood of short-term and long-term aggressive and violent behavior. Studies showed that playing violent video games or watching violent tv showed increased aggression in children. Many of the so-called aggressive behaviors displayed by children could be interpreted as playful rather than aggressive.