Studies of Reinforcement of Aggression: I. Effects of Scheduling1

(I, 3). The importance of direct reinforcement in the shaping and maintaining of aggressive responses is also evident from cross-cultural studies, e.g., Bateson's (4) description of latmul society, and from studies of social class differences such as that of Davis and Havighurst (5). Nevertheless, perhaps because of ethical and practical difficulties, the effects of reinforcement of aggression have been rarely studied in controlled laboratory conditions. This paper describes a preliminary study of reinforcement effects, using an automated Bobo toy which readily elicits hitting responses from children. The aggressive responses of both institutionalized and noninstitutionalized children were investigated.