Literature Evaluation1 Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation Of Aggrressive Models - Dissertation Example

LITERATURE EVALUATION: Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of Aggressive Models Mary Sue Andreozzi Your School February 10 Describe the background knowledge and what unanswered questions led the authors to conduct the current study. This study was informed by several prior research studies on learning and social influence. Based on the number of resources mentioned, it appears that there is a sufficient amount of background knowledge that prompted the researchers to pursue their study.

However, in the actual paper, there is very little data presented on the body of literature, and the information provided was very general and was confined to a single sentence. Hence, it is not clear for the study's readers if the background information was indeed informative and if it is relevant to the research at all. The sparse references attributed to prior research on child learning, cognitive development and social influence, among other related themes, bespeak of an invalid research methodology.

As a matter of fact, the research did not have a dedicated Literature Review section, which could have explained better the paper's research objectives and legitimized its hypotheses. Nonetheless, it was stressed that the body of literature provided the empirical evidence that support how behaviors of a model could have significant influence on others. Based on the cited resources, however, the authors found that there was a need for more effective tests and evaluation mechanism. The researchers believed that such mechanism should be typified by an evaluation of imitative learning that involves the generalization of imitative response patterns.

Questions relating to this issue as well as the nature of experiments finally led the researchers to undertake their study. 2. Outline the authors' research questions. Through an outline of hypotheses, Bandura, Ross and Ross revealed a number of their research questions. For example, when they predicted that children will reproduce aggressive behaviors displayed by an aggressive model, they were asking whether a model's aggressive behavior could indeed be reproduced. In this respect, three other research questions could be identified.

These are: Do subjects learn imitative habits through prior reinforcement? Does the observation of nonagressive models inhibit aggressive behavior? Do the sex of models and the sex of subjects affect or influence the imitative learning of children? 3. Briefly describe the subjects that were the focus of the study. The study had 72 subjects: 36 boys and 36 girls, aging from 37 to 69 months. There were also two adults involved, a male model and a female model and a female experimenter who conducted the study. 4. Discuss two examples of research method.

The main research method was, of course, the controlled experiment identified by the study as the test of imitation. It was a systematic approach wherein the subjects and the model were observed in a series of controlled environments. This method also featured a mechanism of evaluation wherein judges had to rate the children's behavior according to a set of criteria. This method allowed the researchers to quantify behavior and analyze them effectively afterwards in a quantitative analysis. 5.

Discuss one component of the study that I found confusing or hard to understand. Identify why it was confusing. An aspect of the study that I found confusing is the addition of gender in the entire experiment. I do not mean that it is not relevant. I just did not understand how the researchers effectively gathered the appropriate data to explain their findings in this respect. I was confused with the assertion that boys tend to be more aggressive because it is preferred or sanctioned by the model.

It was confusing because the issue was imitation. This component complicated the procedure and I felt that it was not sufficiently evaluated or presented. 6. What unanswered questions would I have after reading the article. Again, this is about the sex of subjects and the models. What are the dynamics that made sex or gender relevant in imitating aggression? Did sex inhibit the imitation of aggression? Are girls more likely to imitate aggression in female than male models? I did not find the answers to these issues in the study. 7. What part of development aggression will I pursue with my literature evaluations?

I would like to focus more on finding the best possible research methodologies that could successfully provide credible evidence to imitation. In this respect, I am interested to read more about case studies and qualitative studies on the subject because they contain information that has deeper insights based on observed phenomena. Also, I believe that aggression, as a form of behavior, cannot be defined, explained and analyzed through simple or short-spanned experiments. For example, should a research design involve children presented with choices such as the presence of both male and female models or aggressive and nonaggressive models.

I would like to see or – if I would conduct my own research – would like to achieve a degree of realism in the research design. Reference Bandura, A., Ross, D. and Ross, S. (1961). Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of Aggressive Models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63(3), 575-582.