The paper will focus on the application of the social learning theory through the use of video games that incorporate moral choices into their design. In this paper, I will first describe what the social learning theory is and its implications. I will discuss findings that pertain to the social learning theory and through violent television and operant conditioning from violent video games. I will also explore studies focusing on the impact of moral choices in video games on decision making and moral disengagement. From the data, I will determine my own hypothesis as well as a methodical experiment relevant to the focus of this paper. The social learning theory, as proposed by Albert Bandura (1977), describes how new knowledge can be attained in a social environment through observation. It works in conjunction with operant conditioning, where behavior can be promoted through rewards or diminished through punishment (Holland & Skinner, 1961). As such, it is speculated that one may be prone to imitate behaviors that they observed being rewarded and avoid those they have seen being reprimanded. The social learning theory can translate through to many mediums. Controversies and heated debates have centered on the concept of violent television being the source of increased violent behavior amongst children and teenagers. There has been support for both sides of the argument, but many sources, including most news publishers, lacked true empirical evidence to support their claims. With time, however, scientists began to find logical evidence to support that exposure to violent stimuli in television, as well as video games, increased violent tendencies amongst the recipients. In one study, researchers observed the amount of hours chi... ... middle of paper ... ... general to expressed behavior. Regardless, it is imperative that this experiment be conducted in the future in order to solidify these findings. Works Cited Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Carnagey, N. L., & Anderson, C. A. (2005). The effects of reward and punishment in violent video games on aggressive affect, cognition, and behavior. Psychological Science, 16(11), 882-889. Holland, James G., and Burrhus Frederic Skinner. "The analysis of behavior: A program for self-instruction." (1961). Moore, J. C. (2011). Making Moral Choices in Video Games. Baylor University, 69-77. Robertson, L. A., McAnally, H. M., & Hancox, R. J. (2013). Childhood and adolescent television viewing and antisocial behavior in early adulthood.Pediatrics, 131(3), 439-446. Shafer, D. M. (2012). Moral Choice in Video Games: An Exploratory Study.Media Psychology Review. Vol. 5(1)
In the short article titled “Virtual Morality” by Andrew Tuplin, Tuplin compares both video games and movies that violate moral beliefs according to the social norm. He argues the fact that technology is and will continue to challenge moral beliefs as well as the norm for what we see as acceptable in the real world. I for one see this issue to be harmful and threatening to the way we interact with the world on a daily basis. These so called “fantasy worlds” are confusing young minds and allowing them to create their own image to what is both morally right and wrong in society. This essay will explain why I feel that children should not be allowed to participate in violent video games and movies because the violence they learn will eventually introduce itself in society in one way or another.
Social learning theory was first developed by Robert L. Burgess and Ronald L Akers in 1966 (Social Learning theory, 2016). In 1973, Akers wrote a book entitled Deviant Behaviour: A Social Learning Approach, which discussed Aker’s conception of the social learning theory. He developed social learning theory by extending Sutherland’s theory of differential association (Cochran & Sellers, 2017). Social learning theory is based on the principles of Pavlov’s operant and classical conditioning. Akers believes that crime is like any other social behavior because it is learned through social interaction (Social Learning theory, 2016). Social learning theory states that the probability of an individual committing a crime or engaging in criminal behaviour is increased when they differentially associate with others who commit criminal behavior (Cochran & Sellers, 2017). Social learning theory is classified as a general theory of crime, and has been used to explain many types of criminal behaviour (Social Learning theory, 2016). Furthermore, social learning theory is one of the most tested contemporary theories of crime. There are four fundamental components of social learning theory; differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement and imitation (Social Learning theory,
Through Social Learning Theory, an individual can be studied based on the behavior acquired by a role model. Verbal conditioning procedures and observation influences the response to an individual’s personality. Environment factors contribute to the Social Learning Theory. Antisocial model is a major contribute to crime, which influences negative characteristics. The Social Leaning Theory has three core social concepts the must be followed: observational learning, intrinsic reinforcement and modeling process.
Children today are exposed to more graphic violence in video games compared to any past generations. This is because the media finds that making a profit, surpasses the lives of the adolescents that play these games. However, over time two sets of views formed from the violence in video games. James D. Sauer, is a graduate of the School of Physiology. In his article, “Violent Video Games: The Effects of Narrative Context and Reward Structure on In-Game and Postgame Aggression,” Sauer, describes how adolescents gain forms of aggression and violence after playing certain games.
The allegation that videogames cause violent behavior in children has been present as long as videogames themselves. Some researchers said that the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, was one intense gamer. “Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech Shooter was seen by his roomates as odd because he never joined them in video games.”(Beresin) This debate will continue to go on in this country as long as there are horrific crimes that occur. There is much written in the research regarding this issue, and many differing views. The research that is presented in the next few paragraphs supports the theory that it is not the graphic video games that produce aggressive behavior, but other factors in a child’s life that create violent actions.
Scott, D. The Effect of Video Games on Feelings of Aggression. The Journal of Psychology. March 1995 v129 n2 p121-132.
Scott, Derek. “The Effect of Video Games on Feelings of Aggression.” The Journal of Psychology 129.2
Many theories have been thought of over the years to attempt to explain why people behave the way they do. Many questions were brought up when thinking about that and the social learning theory is a popular theory in explaining this. Nobody really thought of the social learning theory too much until Albert Bandura wrote his idea of it. He actually wrote a book called “Social Learning Theory.” In this book, he states that behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning(Saul McLeod).
The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review on existing articles relating to the possibility of violent video games promoting aggressive behavior. The hypothesis set forth was that people who played non-violent video games displayed more Prosocial behavior versus those who played violent video games displayed more antisocial and aggressive behavior. A search was conducted on regular search engines on the internet, and on EBSCOhost using the title “can violent video games promote aggressive behavior.” The research articles presented are obtained from five case studies each focusing on different measures that were obtained, methods used, the participants involved, the designs of the study, and the results of the studies.
Kline, S. (1999). Moral panics and video games. In Research in Childhood, Sociology, Culture and History Conference, University of Southern Denmark, Odense.
On the other hand, one of the strengths of the behavioural approach over the psychodynamic approach, is in the terms of testability, since it only focuses on behaviour that can be tested and observed, which makes it very useful in experiments under a laboratory setting where behaviour can be repeatedly observed and verified. Therefore, the results derived from behavioural approach have been, and continue to be, objectively and reliably
Behavior and social learning are two theories that are inherently intertwined. Behavior to some extent is taught for social reasons, and social learning can very much shape and create behaviors. While behavior is something intentionally taught, social learning can teach and reinforce many unintentional behaviors, such as dishonesty or aggression. In order to adequately discuss these two interrelated topics, theory exploration is in order.
Socialization is a critical aspect of people learning to fit within a given society. Even more, internalization, involving taking social values, norms and roles into own mind, plays a significant role in shaping behavior, especially in children. According to Andersen and Taylor (2008), the imitation stage of children involves children merely copying the behavior around them. Children would just mimic what exists in the environment without an understanding of social meaning of any given behavior. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, AACAP (2011) indicates a significant increase in video games noted to constitute a multi-billion dollar industry. They come in all forms of technologies including through the Internet. In the same way, they also have varied content with others being educational while others involve criminal behavior and killing of people and animals among others. The major concern has been on th...
Television violence is also a cause of both violent and aggressive behavior in teenage boys. According to the evidence in a study done by Turner, Hesse, and Peterson-Lewis, it was concluded that watching television violence had a long-term increase in aggression in boys (Hough 1). In addition to this study, Dr. William A. Belson evaluated fifteen hundred boys, aged thirteen to sixteen years, and he determined that boys with heavy television exposure are more likely to commit violent acts than other boys (Langone 51). In Belson’s study, he discovered that the effect of each violent act on television was collective, and over time, Belson discovered that the boys engaged in many aggressive acts, including painting graffiti, breaking windows, aggressive play, swearing, and threatening other boys with violence (Kinnear 26).
Movies and video games today, play a significant role in shaping the attitudes, thoughts, and beliefs of society. In terms of being more influential on its particular audience, video games are a much more potent medium of entertainment than movies for a variety of reasons. The influence video games have on their participant are very obvious and overwhelming. Study’s concur the overall impact of video games on their audience is substantial when comparing them to movies. Video games have a substantial influence on its audience because video games are increasing violent behavior of the player, contain more violent content and a deeper complex plot, and video games require a much deeper lever of engagement of the player.