SLT Flashcards
what are social learning key assumptions?:
what are models?
others act as models for our behaviour these can be real people (live models) or or symbolic models eg TV and move characters
identification
characteristics of models influence the likelihood of imitation of their behaviour.
models we relate to are more likely to be imitated eg gender , age
reinforcement
behaviours are likely to be repeated if they are rewarded directly
or if a model is being observed being rewarded - this is Vicarious reinforcement
punishment
behaviour is less likely to be repeated if punished directly or if a model is being observed being punished this is known as vicarious punishment.
How does the SLT differ from other approaches?
it suggests internal mental processes (cognitions) that must be present for learning to occur known as mediational factors
State the four mental cognitive processes
Attention
Retention
Motivation
Reproduction
attention
observers have paid attention to the modelled behaviour factors: how interesting the model was
retention
the observer must be able to remember the observed behaviour some behaviours are very complex and cannot be retained
motivation
anticipated rewards or punishment can influence if the observer decides to reproduce the behaviour
reproduction
behaviours needs to be able to be reproduced by the observer
they may not be able to do so however, if the behaviour is too complex or lack the resources.
banduras procedure
76 children half split male and female were watched a film adult attacking bobo dolls
children with similar aggression levels were put into different groups ie matched pairs
all children were given a mild aggression arousal (by being placed in a room with nice toys and were told they couldn’t play with them) before bobo room
(1961)
findings of banduras study
the children who observed adults playing aggressively imitated aggressive behaviours
the neutral group was not aggressive (children who didn’t watch adult aggression)
the effect was stronger if children has observed the same gender suggesting identification
vicarious reinforcement variation
children who observed adults being rewarded (praised) for their aggressive behaviour were more likely to imitate behaviour than those who observed the adults being punished.
AO3 evaluation of social learning theory - cons (3)
- it difficult demonstrating cause and effect especially in real life often because the time between learning behaviour from watching a model and carrying it out can be days ,weeks months etc.
SLT can explain the display of basic learnt behaviour but not more abstract concepts such as justice
SLT sees behaviour as environmentally determined however behaviour may be innate and better explained by biological explanations
