Research Into Social Learning Flashcards
Social learning
A type of learning that occurs by watching the actions and their consequences of others to guide future behaviour. Also known as ‘observational learning’.
Modelling
The model that an observer learns from in observational learning.
Vicarious punishment
A tendency for learners to be less likely to imitate behaviours of a model that they observe that model being punished for. In vicarious punishment, the observer watches a model’s punishment for a behaviour without personally experiencing the punishment. For example, a student may observe someone else in class receiving detention for calling out without permission. The observer is likely to refrain from that behaviour in the future if they view detention as an undesirable outcome (a punisher).
Vicarious reinforcement
A tendency for learners to be more likely to imitate behaviours of a model which are observed as being condoned. In vicarious reinforcement, the model is rewarded. The observer is conditioned through the observation without personally experiencing the reinforcement. reinforcement or consequence directly. For example, a student who sees another student being allowed to leave a class early after correctly finishing all their work may be more inclined in another class to model the behaviour and respond in a similar way if they consider leaving class early a desirable outcome (a reinforcer).
Vicarious conditioning
observing someone else’s conditioning. During vicarious conditioning, the individual watches a model’s behaviour being either reinforced or punished, and then subsequently behaves in exactly the same way or in a modified way, or refrains from the behaviour, as a result of what they have observed. Bandura uses the terms ‘vicarious reinforcement’ and ‘vicarious punishment’ to describe the different processes of vicarious conditioning.
If a learner doesn’t reproduced the behaviour, does this mean they have not learned it.
Not necessarily, if a learner does not reproduce the behaviour, it does not always mean the behaviour has not been learned. The learner may not be motivated to reproduce the behaviour and are thus choosing not to or perhaps they also lack the resources to reproduce the behaviour.
Comparison of the three types of learning
Type of responses, classical = involuntary, operant = voluntary, observational = voluntary
Role of the learner, classical = passive, operant = active, observational = most active.
Classical involves the association between two types of stimulus, operant involved the consequences of your actions guiding future behaviour and observational involved consequences of a models actions guiding future behaviour.
