Approaches - SLT Flashcards
What is SLT?
Social learning theory is a way of explaining behaviours that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement which combined learning theory with the role of cognitive factors
What is the study that is associated with SL?
State the researcher name
Bandura
When was Bandura’s study?
1961
What is the method of Bandura’s study?
36 girls and 36 boys with a mean age of 52 months took part in the study. The study had a match participant design (children were matched on ratings of aggressive behaviour shown at their nursery school) and had three conditions.
In the first condition, children observed aggressive adult models playing with a Bobo doll (an inflatable figure with a weight in the bottom)- e.g. hitting it with a mallet.
In the second condition, children observed non-aggressive models playing with other toys and ignoring the Bobo doll.
In the third condition was a control condition in which children had no exposure to the models. The children’s behaviour was observed for 20 minutes in a room containing aggressive toys (for example, a Bobo doll and a mallet) and non-aggressive toys (for example, a tea set and crayons).
What were the results of Bandura’s study?
Children exposed to aggressive models imitated a lot of their aggressive behaviour.
Children in the non-aggressive and controlled condition showed barely any aggressive behaviour.
Aggressive behaviour was slightly higher in the control condition than in the non-aggressive condition.
What was the conclusion of Bandura’s study?
Aggressive behaviour is Learned through imitation of others behaving aggressively.
What are the positive evaluations of Bandura’s study?
The study provides evidence for social learning theory. There was strict control of the variable, meaning that the results are likely to be reliable and the study can be replicated.
What are the negative evaluations of Bandura’s study?
It has low ecological validity because the participants were not in a natural situation. It is also difficult to generalise the results because a limited sample was studied- the children were all from the same school.
The study encouraged aggression in children- this could be an ethical problem.
What is vicarious reinforcement?
The theory that we learn through watching others which often leads to imitation
What needs to be true for vicarious reinforcement to happen?
It will only happen if behaviour. Is seen to be rewarding (a lot of the time it is unconsciously rewarding)
What are the 4 meditational processes of SLT?
Attention
Retention
Motor reproduction
Motivation
Explain the meditational process: Attention
The extent to which we notice certain behaviours
Explain the meditational process: Retention
How the individual remembers what they have observed
Explain the meditational process: Motor Reproduction
The individual replicated the behaviour shown by the model
Explain the meditational process: Motivation
The individual seeks to demonstrate the behaviour that they have observed
