KA - 5 Social Learning Theory

Question 1

what is identification

Answer 1

attaching oneself to a model because they have qualities that you wish to possess

Question 2

what is imitation

Answer 2

copying a behaviour

Question 3

what is a model

Answer 3

any person who shows examples behaviour

Question 4

what is modelling

Answer 4

imitating a behaviour that has been shown by a model who you have identified with

Question 5

what is reinforcement

Answer 5

the consequences of behaviour being strengthened

Question 6

what is vicarious learning

Answer 6

modelling a behavior that you have seen being reinforced because you want to receive the same reinforcement

Question 7

what is nurture

Answer 7

behaviour is learned through environmental experience, it is not innate

Question 8

what does SLT argue

Answer 8

• behaviour is learnt through observation
• falls on nurture side of nature/nurture debate
• takes cognitive mediating factors into consideration

Question 9

which approaches is it influenced by

Answer 9

behaviourist and cognitive

Question 10

what are the cognitive mediating factors

Answer 10

• attention
• retention
• motor reproduction
• motivation

Question 11

strengths of SLT

Answer 11

• acknowledges the importance of cognitive factors
• can explain cultural differences in behaviour
• lots of research in a lab - high control

Question 12

limitations of SLT

Answer 12

• Bandura’s Bobo Doll research underestimates the influence of biological factors
• suggests that behaviours that are not met with good outcomes will not be repeated but that is not always the case
• lab setting has low ecological validity

Question 13

how did Bandura research social learning

Answer 13

Bobo Doll experiment

Question 14

how did Bandura conduct the Bobo doll experiment

Answer 14

• 8 groups of 6 children matched on aggression levels from a questionnaire
• 1/4 saw same sex aggressive role models
• 1/4 saw opposite sex aggressive role model
• 1/4 saw same sex non-aggressive role model
• 1/4 saw opposite sex non-aggressive role model
• control group saw no model at all

Question 15

what did the non aggressive role models do

Answer 15

played with cars, trucks, tea set, farm animals and crayons

Question 16

what did the aggressive role models do

Answer 16

played with Bobo doll, mallet with peg board, dart guns and a tetherball

Question 17

what were key observations of the experiment

Answer 17

• partial imitation of the models behaviour with the mallet, also sitting on the bobo doll was more common with aggressive
• aggressive conditions were more likely to display non-imitative aggression
• boys showed more physical imitative aggression, girls showed more verbal imitative aggression
• the male model had greater effect over behaviour

Question 18

what was the conclusion of the Bobo doll experiment

Answer 18

if a child is exposed to an aggressive model, it is likely they would imitate their behaviours and boys were more likely to imitate the same-sex model

Question 19

strengths of the Bobo doll experiment

Answer 19

• lab setting - easily replicable
• did not rely on a sole observer
• Bandura’s later research found similar findings meaning it is reliable

Question 20

limitations of Bandura’s bobo dolls

Answer 20

• only studied the immediate impact of observing aggression
• Bobo doll was designed to be punched (demand characteristics)
• imitation could have been a result of obedience
• unethical and morally wrong (Wortman, Loftus and Weaver)