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Although it is controversial to say so, it does appear that early childhood exposure to media violence can precipitate aggressive behavior and violence in adulthood. In a longitudinal study that actually was able to determine causality in the same population sample, Huesmann, Moise-Titus, Podolski & Eron (2003) show that there is a connection between media violence exposure and violent behavior. The type of violent behavior differed, largely due to gender. For example, men in the study were more likely to use physical aggression and violence but females were more likely to use other forms of aggression like verbal abuse. Regardless, the study should alert parents about how to monitor their children and how to talk to children about the violence they see. It is not simply the exposure to the violence, but the duration of exposure or frequency of viewing. Other factors that impact violence and aggression include personality differences and other individual psychological characteristics; it is not that media is the only factor.
Social learning theory refers to behavioral modeling, something that has been tested empirically as well ("Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence," n.d.). It is important to point out that social learning theory is not just about parents modeling children's behavior but about a complex range of factors that impact the ways we learn throughout our lives. Children model their behavior after the adults they spend time with, and if adults model healthy behaviors those children will do the same. The adage "Do as I say, not as I do," is an improper method of parenting because the child does not respond as much to verbalizations as to their parents' actions.
Response 1: Michael
Observational learning, or modeling, does account for some children's behavior. While I believe there are other factors, modeling is one of the most important features of early childhood learning. Older kids start to learn more by doing, but even so, adolescents do learn from observing their peers. Whatever gets them the results they want, such as attention or praise, is behavior the child is likely to repeat. This is why parents need to be careful when rewarding and punishing their children, keeping the rewards and punishments consistent and reflective of the root behavior they want to see repeated. Because children model their behavior after television characters and friends,…
