Bandura

Question 1

What is Bandura’s theory?

Answer 1

Bandura’s theory of child development is based on the idea that children learn by observing, modelling and imitating the behaviours, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Bandura argues that there are three factors that influence how a child shapes their behaviour: the social and environmental context, the rewards and consequences of their actions, and their self-efficacy or belief in their own abilities

Question 2

What are criticisms of Bandura?

Answer 2

1. Overemphasis on Observational Learning
   Critics argue that Bandura places too much focus on observational learning, suggesting that individuals learn primarily through imitation of others, while neglecting the significance of direct experiences and other learning methods.
2. Neglect of Biological Factors
   Bandura’s theory emphasises environmental influences and social interactions, but critics believe it overlooks the role of genetic and biological factors that can significantly impact behaviour and learning.
3. Limited Focus on Emotion and Motivation
   4.The theory does not adequately address the influence of emotions and intrinsic motivation on learning. 5.Critics argue that personal feelings and internal drives play a critical role in shaping behaviour, which Bandura’s framework does not fully consider.
   6.Ethical Concerns
   Some of Bandura’s experiments, particularly the Bobo doll experiment, have raised ethical concerns regarding the potential for exposing children to aggressive behaviours and the implications of modelling such behaviours.
   7.Lack of Attention to Cognitive Processes
   While Bandura acknowledges cognitive processes, critics argue that his model does not sufficiently explore how internal thoughts, beliefs, and cognitive structures influence behaviour and learning.
4. biased sample- only studied one nursery-72 children, cant be generalised to all children of different cultures etc.
5. demand characteristics of strange situation=reacting differently

Question 3

What are the 4 stages of Bandura’s Theory?

Answer 3

Observe behaviour from others
Child internalises the behaviour
Child will then copy this behaviour
Behaviour may be repeated depending on circumstances

Behavior may not occur straight away and can appear in totally different situations

Question 4

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 4

Positive reinforcement:
Own satisfaction of copying behavior = intrinsic reinforcement
Receiving a reward or praise for copying behavior= extrinsic reinforcement

Question 5

What is Negative reinforcement?

Answer 5

Negative reinforcement: repeated behavior wont be repeat due to an adverse experience for example- being told off, ignored, r not receiving the reaction they wanted.

Question 6

What was the bobo doll experiment?

Answer 6

Bandura (1961) conducted a controlled experiment study to investigate if social behaviors (i.e., aggression) can be acquired by observation and imitation.

Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961) tested 36 boys and 36 girls from the Stanford University Nursery School aged between 3 to 6 years old. They pre-tested the children for how aggressive they were by observing the children in the nursery and judged their aggressive behavior on four 5-point rating scales. It was then possible to match the children in each group so that they had similar levels of aggression in their everyday behavior. The experiment is, therefore, an example of a matched pairs design. To test the inter-rater reliability of the observers, 51 of the children were rated by two observers independently, and their ratings were compared. These ratings showed a very high-reliability correlation (r = 0.89), which suggested that the observers had a good agreement about the behavior of the children.

Method
A lab experiment was used, in which the independent variable (the type of model) was manipulated in three conditions: Aggressive model is shown to 24 children
Non-aggressive model is shown to 24 children
No model is shown (control condition) – 24 children

Question 7

What are some positives of Bandura’s theory?

Answer 7

Controlled lab experiment= less extraneous variables

use of young children reduced demand characteristics due to lack of understanding

justifies that children are easily influenced by their surrounding