posed to non-aggressive models. Sex of the model was an independent variable, and the groups were divided further by gender. It was found that the children exposed to aggressive behavior imitated what they saw, somewhat more in boys than in girls. The findings for those who watched the non-aggressive models were mixed.
The cognitive approach is followed by Tolman (1948) in studying cognitive maps in rats and human beings. Tolman proposed modifications to the prevailing view of behavioral learning, stating that the true nature of this learning could not be known without an understanding of the internal mental processes accompanying observable stimuli and responses and that even though these processes could not be directly observed, they could be objectively and scientifically inferred from observable behavior. In his "latent learning" experiment, the control group of rats was exposed to a complex maze at the end of which was a reward. A second group found no reward at the end of the maze. A third group spent the first half of the experiment not finding food and the second half finding food. The independent variable was the maze and the reward condition, and this research showed that there were cognitive patterns being learned by the rats as they moved through the maze.
2. Five of McBurney's principles are:
1) a belief in theory based on data and not personal preference,
2) causes of behavior do not operate at the level of consciousness,
3) the inevitability of events seems different after the fact,
4) pseudoscience is not related to the rest of science by theory, and
5) we should try to explain mysterious events by known principles.
These various principles serve to identify the nature of scientific thought as much as psychological thought. The scientists believe in a principle because there is data to support it and not because he or she prefers that theory to be true. Similarly, mysteri...