L4 - social learning theory and banduras research Flashcards
what is social learning theory
new patterns of behaviour can be learnt by observing others
during learning, people observe consequences - punishment or reward
behaviour is learnt from the environment and consider cognitive processes
what is modelling
requires a person to model behaviour so observer can learn the behaviour
model can be live e.g. parents or symbolic e.g. tv character
what is imitation
children learn behaviours by imitating significant others, more rapid than classical or operant conditioning
characteristics of successful imitation:
- model e.g. age, gender
- observers perceived ability to perform the behaviour shown
- observed consequence of behaviour
what is identification
extent to which observer relates to model and feels similar to them
observer aims to be like model
children are more likely to identify with model of same sex
what is vicarious reinforcement
children who observed a model who got rewarded for showing aggressive behaviour were more likely to imitate it than those who observed a model being punished for showing aggressive behaviour
shows that individuals do not need to experience rewards or punishment directly to learn new behaviours
what are mediational processes
cognitive
observes must form a mental representation of behaviour being displayed by model and the consequences of behaviour in terms of expectancy
will display learned behaviour with expectation of positive consequences
what 4 points do mediational processes include
Attention - observer must pay attention and notice behaviour of model
Retention - observer must remember behaviour of model
Motor reproductive - observer must be able to perform the behaviour
Motivation - observer must be willing to perform the behaviour in light of rewards
strength of social learning theory by bandura
understanding of criminal behaviour
akers - criminals engage more in criminal behaviour when exposed to a model they can identify with e.g. same gender/age range
2 weaknesses of social learning theory by bandura
- does not take into account cause and effect, increased associations with peers can increase likelihood of delinquent behaviour in young people, cannot assume that delinquency is caused by SLT alone, other factors could be the cause e.g. poor attitude
- ignores other influences on behaviour i.e. genetics. bandura found that boys were more aggressive than girl regardless of experimental situation
banduras bobo doll experiment procedure
- 36 male and 36 female children aged 37-69 months
- observed aggressive/non-aggressive female/male model interacting with bobo doll
- displayed aggression in one condition
- children then observed acts, making them feel frustrated
- shown toys they were not allowed to play with
- children then taken into a room with bobo doll and aggressive/non-aggressive toys
- observed for 20 minutes
banduras bobo doll experiment results
those who observed aggressive model reproduced same behaviour and vice versa to non-aggressive
33% of children who observed and heard verbal aggression repeated what they had seen/heard
0% of non-aggressive group displayed verbal aggression
in follow up - children rewarded for aggressive behaviour, increasing likelihood of children’s aggression -> found that boys were more aggressive than girls and imitation of aggression was greatest when model was same gender as observer
strength of banduras bobo doll experiment
lab setting with observations
highly controlled
to ensure IV is having an effect on DV
ensures reliability and reproducibility of results
2 weaknesses of banduras bobo doll experiment
- lab setting - results cannot be generalised to wider population, lacks ecological validity, limitations of demand characteristics, guess aim of study and distort behaviour giving invalid results
- criticism of use of bobo doll, doll is meant to be hit and thrown and bounces back, meant to be played with aggressively so results from study do not say much about SL behaviour, maybe should be replaced with another toy e.g. teddy
