Approaches in Psychology - Social Learning Theory

Question 1

What is the learning theory all about?

Answer 1

• We are born as “blank slates” (tabula rasa)
• All we have at birth is the capacity to learn
• All behaviour is learned from the environment
• Focus of the approach: observable behaviour

Question 2

What is reinforcement?

Answer 2

Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.

Question 3

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 3

Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are pleasant when they happen.

Question 4

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 4

This occurs when an unpleasant event is stopped (therefore there are positive consequences).

Question 5

What is punishment?

Answer 5

Anything which has the effect of decreasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are unpleasant.

Question 6

What is schedule of reinforcement?

Answer 6

When and how often we reinforce a behaviour can have a significant impact on the strength and rate of the response.

Question 7

What are the two types of schedules of reinforcement?

Answer 7

Continuous reinforcement: the desired behaviour is reinforced every single time it occurs.

Partial reinforcement: the response is reinforced only part of the time.

Question 8

What is fixed ratio schedules?

Answer 8

The response is reinforced only after a specified number of responses.

Question 9

What is variable-ratio schedules?

Answer 9

They occur when a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses.

Question 10

What is fixed-interval schedules?

Answer 10

The first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has elapsed.

Question 11

What is variable-interval schedules?

Answer 11

They occur when a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed.

Question 12

What is neo-behaviourism: social learning?

Answer 12

Learning by observation and imitation.

Question 13

What did Bandura believe that the four criteria needed for imitation to occur were?

Answer 13

1. Attention to the role model.
2. Retention of the observed behaviour.
3. Reproduction of the target behaviour.
4. Motivation to imitate the observed behaviour.

Question 14

Who makes an effective role model?

Answer 14

• same gender
• similarity
• higher status
• admired or/and respected

Question 15

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 15

Observing behaviour being reinforced in other people.

Question 16

What are the key assumptions of social learning theory?

Answer 16

• Learning that occurs indirectly.
• Learning related to consequences of behaviour (vicarious reinforcement).
• Mediational (cognitive) processes play a crucial role in learning.
• Identification with role models is important.
• Imitation of aggression.
• Children model aggressive behaviour.

Question 17

Explain why learning that occurs indirectly is a key assumption.

Answer 17

Albert Bandura agreed with the behaviourist approach that learning occurs through experience. However, he also proposed that learning takes place in a social context through observation and imitation of others’ behaviour.

Question 18

Explain why learning related to consequences of behaviour is a key assumption.

Answer 18

Children (and adults) observe other people’s behaviour and take note of its consequences. Behaviour that is seen to be rewarded (reinforced) is much more likely to be copied than behaviour that is punished. Bandura called this vicarious reinforcement.

Question 19

What are the four mediational processes in learning?

Answer 19

1. Attention - whether behaviour is noticed.
2. Retention - whether behaviour is remembered.
3. Motor reproduction - being able to do it.
4. Motivation - the will to perform the behaviour.

The first two relate to the learning of behaviour, the last two to the performance of behaviour (so, unlike behaviourism, learning and performance do not have to occur together).

Question 20

Explain why identification with role models is a key assumption.

Answer 20

Children are more likely to imitate the behaviour of people with whom they identify. Such role models are similar to the observer, tend to be attractive and have high status.

Question 21

Describe Bandura’s research 1.

Answer 21

Children watched either:

• An adult behaving aggressively towards a Bobo doll.
• An adult behaving non-aggressively towards a Bobo doll.

When given their own doll to play with, the children who had seen aggression were much more aggressive towards the doll.

Question 22

Describe Bandura’s research 2.

Answer 22

Children saw adult who was:

• rewarded
• punished
• there was no consequence

When given their own doll, the children who saw the aggression rewarded were much more aggressive themselves.

Question 23

Explain why children modelling aggressive behaviour is a key assumption.

Answer 23

The Bobo doll studies suggest that children are likely to imitate (model) acts of violence if they observe these in an adult role model. It is also the case that modelling aggressive behaviour is more likely if such behaviour is seen to be rewarded (vicarious reinforcement).

Question 24

What are the strengths of social learning theory?

Answer 24

• SLT emphasises the importance of cognitive factors in learning.
• SLT can account for cultural differences in behaviour.
• SLT is less determinist than the behaviourist approach.

Question 25

What are the weaknesses of social learning theory?

Answer 25

• SLT relies too heavily on evidence from controlled lab studies.
• SLT underestimates the influence of biological factors.

Question 26

Why is a strength of SLT that is emphasises the importance of cognitive factors in learning?

Answer 26

Neither classical conditioning nor operating conditioning can offer a comprehensive account of human learning on their own because cognitive factors are omitted.

Humans and animals store information about the behaviour of others and use this to make judgements about when it is appropriate to perform certain actions.

SLT provides a more complete explanation of human learning than the behaviourist approach by recognising the role of mediational processes.

Question 27

Why is a strength fo SLT that it can account for cultural differences in behaviour?

Answer 27

Social learning principles can account for how children learn from other people around them, as well as through the media, and this can explain how cultural norms are transmitted.

This has proved useful in understanding a range of behaviours such as how children come to understand their gender role by imitating role models.

In contrast, the biological approach can only explain universal behaviours because human biological processes do not change with culture.

Question 28

Why is a strength of SLT that it is less determinist than the behaviourist approach?

Answer 28

Bandura emphasised reciprocal determinism - we are influenced by our environment, but we also exert an influence upon it through the behaviours we choose to perform.

This element of choice suggests that there is some free will in the way we behave.

This is a more realistic and flexible position than is suggested by the behaviourist approach as it recognises the role we play in shaping our own environment.

Question 29

Why is a weakness of SLT that it relies too heavily on evidence from controlled lab studies?

Answer 29

Many of Bandura’s ideas were developed through observation of children’s behaviour in lab settings and this raises the problem of demand characteristics.

The main purpose of a Bobo doll is to hit it. So the children in those studies may have been behaving as they thought was expected.

Thus the research may tell us little about how children actually learn aggression in everyday life.

Question 30

Why is a weakness of SLT that is underestimates the influence of biological factors?

Answer 30

A consistent finding in the Bobo doll experiments was that boys showed more aggression than girls regardless of the specifics of the experimental condition.

This may be explained by differences in the levels of testosterone, which is present in greater quantities in boys and is linked to aggression.

This means that Bandura may have underplayed the important influence of biological factors on social learning.