Approaches : Social Learning Theory Flashcards
What do behaviourist believe about biology?
Behaviour is learnt from experience meaning biology plays a negligible role in explaining behaviour.
What are the assumptions of Social Learning Theory (SLT)?
- Learning occurs through direct reinforcement (classical & operant conditioning), eg YOU YOURSELF get the punishment or reward and indirect reinforcement, is when you OBSERVE OTHERS model a behaviour and get either reward or punishment.
- Behaviour is learnt from experience, meaning biology plays an unimportant role in explaining behaviour.
- Social learning relies on internal mental processes as well as experience from the environment.
What is imitation?
Refers to the when an individual copies the behaviour of a roll model.
What is the role of the ATTENTION mediational process?
A person must first attend to occurring behaviour. If they don’t then imitation will not occur.
What is the role of RETENTION in mediational processes?
The person must retain the modelled behaviour in their mind so that they can then imitate it.
What is the role of MOTOR REPRODUCTION in mediational processes?
A person needs to decide if they are physically capable of reproducing the modelled behaviour. If it looks too difficult they will decide not to imitate it.
What is the role of MOTIVATION in mediational processes?
A person must be motivated to reproduce the modelled behaviour. This will only happen if the perceived rewards must outweigh the costs.
What is the role of VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT?
Vicarious reinforcement occurs when we observe the consequences of a modelled behaviour being rewarded, their motivation to imitate it will increase. This plays a crucial role in social learning because If they observe the behaviour is punished, they will be motivated not to imitate it.
What is the role of IDENTIFICATION?
Identification occurs when a person is more likely to pay attention and then imitate behaviour modelled. This plays a crucial role in social learning because they view the model as a role model, as someone they see of higher status.
How did Bandura’s Bobo doll research provide evidence for social learning?
Bandura found that children who watched a videos of an adult MODEL aggressively attacking a doll were more likely to attack the doll than children who had watched the adult interact peacefully with the doll. This represents SLT as the observed modelled behaviour was imitated by the children. This supports Bandura’s claim that we can learn by observing others. This is indirect reinforcement rather than only learning through direct reinforcement. Similarly, in another study children were proved to imitate the violent behaviour if the model was praised for the behaviour rather than no praise. Less imitation occurred when the model was told off for their behaviour— supporting the concept of vicarious reinforcement as their observation of the consequences indirectly contributed to their own behaviour. Bandura uses the reference to meditational of motivation process— positive vicarious reinforcement increases the motivation to imitate and negative vicarious reinforcement reduces motivation. Finally, Bandura found that the children were also more likely to imitate the modelled behaviour if the model matched their gender— supporting the concept of identification. If the gender of the child matched the model, they were able to identify with the model more, increasing the chance of imitation. Refers to mediational processes of attention as we imitate models who we identify with. Bandura’s research provides strong support for SLT.
Why did Bandura have issues with its ecological validity?
Bandura’s study was conducted in a lab, an artificial setting, meaning the research findings cant be generalised to the real world. Secondly, the tasks the participants completed where artificial. Watching a staged video of an adult attack a doll then being invited to play with a doll is very artificial. It is questionable if this situation could be generalised in real world situations. It is arguable that Bandura’s research demonstrated SLT in an artificial situation rather than real life.
Define Ecological Validity.
Refers to the extent to which research findings can be generalised to the real world.
Define the Cognitive revolution.
The cognitive revolution was a ‘paradigm shift’ , in which psychologists began to reject the assumptions of behaviourism.
Why are Demand Characteristics a limitation of Bandura’s research?
Demand characteristics occur when the participants guess the aim of the study. Bandura was vulnerable to this due to the staged nature of the task, providing clear cues. Secondly, children participant are usually more susceptible to demand characteristics than adults. Therefore the willingness of their attack on a doll may simply be a product of their expectations. Bandura’s research may appear to provide evidence of social learning but it may instead only provide evidence that children will attempt to behave as they think adults want them to behave.
