individual differences Flashcards
social learning theory- different role models- different immitated behaviour
social learning theoey would suggest that individual differences in behaviour could arise due to having different role models
role models are often people of the same gender, older than us and of a higher status and powerful, therefore not everyone will have the same role model as us.
for example one girls role model may by a celebrity influencer, who’s got similar hair colour and skin tone
a boy’s role model may be a famous boxer, masculine, older lots of muscle
the behaviour of these role models may be imitated especially if we see them being rewarded for their behaviour e.g. boxer winning an award so therefore the boy may start boxing, violently or non violently
although if the boxer is seen in the news for hitting someone in the street causing them to go to hospital and them going to prison they are likey to not imitate this behaviour.
although most people may have a different role model leading them to immiatet and reproduce different behaviour
strength: bandora supports
weakness: lacks eco val
classical conditioning- phobias
different people may develop phobias/ different phobias due to their experiences. for example one child may go to a party and a balloon popped in their face when they were hugging the clown, whereas another child didn’t have a ballon pop in their face when they met the clown so they loved the clown, whereas the other child now has a fear of clowns.
this is because they associated the NS- the clown with the UCS, the popping of the ballon UCR- fear, one trial learning, led the child to now have an CS of fear around clowns.
so our experiences lead to different CR and fears/ phobias
strength- Watson and Rayner
weakness: not rep
SLT and operant conditioning- gender
SLT and operant conditioning can explain why a girl acts like a girl and a boy acts like a boy.
SLT- the child is likely to imitate behaviour of thoes of the same gender and eco they consider to be similar to them therefore imitating behaviour of others of the same sex
OC- once this behaviour is reproduced they are likely to be positively reinforced for gender appropriate behaviour e.g. girls playing with dolls and boys e.g. playing with cars, although if they aren’t they may be either ignored or punished, thus preventing the behaviour from reoocuring
SLT- the child may also observe the same consequences/ rewards in other children and if they receive a reward more motivated to imitate behaviour- vicarious reinforcement/punishment
strength: fagot carried out an observational study and observed children of 2 years playing at their home with their parents
found that girls and boys were punished and rewarded for different behaviours
boys were reinforced for playing with gender appropriate toys and punished for playing with dolls. girls were reinforced for staying close to parent and punished for rough and tumble play
weakness: reductionist doesn’t consider bio e.g. evolution males evolved to be more aggressive to attract and protect offspring and mate, thoes males who were aggressive were likely to have reproductive success as they could protect and attract mate therefore producing offspring and genes passed on.
buss
