WEBVTT

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(MUSIC). My initial research and observational learning

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centered on the social modeling of aggression.

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In our experiment,

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preschool children observed an adult model

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beat up an inflated Bobo 

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doll

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in novel ways.

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She pummeled it with a mallet,

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flung it in the air,

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kicked it repeatedly,

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and threw it down and beat it.

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And these novel acts were embellished with hostile remarks.

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The children were then left in the playroom

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that had a variety of toys.

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Now, the children who had observed the aggressive modeling

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adopted much of it.

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They even invented new ways for attacking the doll.

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Children who had not observed the adult model

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were less aggressive and never hit the Bobo 

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doll in the novel ways that were bottled.

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The children who had been exposed to the aggressive modeling

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showed an increased attraction to guns

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even though the adult model never used them.

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At the time we did this research,

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it was widely believed that seeing others venting aggression

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would drain away the viewer's aggressive drive.

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As you can see,

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exposure to modeled aggression is hardly cathartic.

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Televised violence has four major effects.

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It teaches aggressive styles of behavior,

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weakens restraints over aggression,

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desensitizes and habituates viewers to human cruelty

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and shapes viewers images of reality.

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With the enormous advances in the technology of communication,

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observational learning from the symbolic environment

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is placing an increasingly powerful role

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in people's everyday lives.

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Human attitudes,

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values,

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styles of behavior

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are now being modeled worldwide.

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As a result,

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televised modeling

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is becoming an influential vehicle for political

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and social change.

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We now have global broadcasts

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of societal conflicts

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as they are happening.