SLT Flashcards
What did social learning theorists agree and disagree with?
Social Learning Theorists agreed with the Behaviourist approach that most of our behaviour is learnt through experience.
However, the SLT disagreed about how we learn from experience. They believed it was through observation & imitation within a social context.
How do people learn aggressive behaviour?
People learn aggressive behaviour primarily by observing the behaviour of role models with whom they identify and then imitating their behaviour. This is known as modelling.
What’s direct reinforcement?
People experience the consequences of their own behaviour by being rewarded or punished for the behaviour themselves e.g., Getting directly told off for being late.
What’s vicarious reinforcement?
People observe and learn the consequences of behaviour by watching others being rewarded or punished for their behaviour e.g. You see someone else getting told off for being late so make sure you’re on time to lesson.
What did Bandura (1961) do and find?
Watched adult behaving aggressively with Bobo Doll and watched adult behaving passively (non-aggressively) with the doll.
Children (age 3-5) were then observed in a room with the Bobo Doll - children who witnessed the adults behaving aggressively were much more likely to imitate the same aggressive behaviour themselves (hitting with hammer, kicking etc).
Imitation was more closely matched when watching the same sex. This demonstrates observational learning. Children observe and imitate the person they identify with (role model).
What did Bandura (1961) do and find in the follow up study?
Model rewarded for aggressive behaviour.
Model punished for aggressive behaviour.
No reward/punishment for aggressive behaviour.
Children who had observed the models being rewarded for their aggression were more likely to imitate aggressive behaviour compared to children who observed the models being punished for their aggression, as they were less likely to imitate behaviour. This is evidence of vicarious reinforcement.
What are the mediational factors?
Bandura identified four mediational processes – cognitive factors (i.e. thinking) – that he believed determine whether a new behaviour is learnt:
To imitate a behaviour these factors must be present:
Attention- the extent to which we notice certain behaviours.
Retention- how well we remember the behaviour.
Motor Reproduction- the ability of the observer to perform the behaviour.
Motivation- the will/desire to perform the behaviour (often determined if the observer see the behaviour being rewarded or punished).
Are children and adults influenced by what we see on TV?
Evidence: James Bulger murder case 1993.
Jon Venables and Robert Thompson murdered toddler James Bulger in Liverpool. It was said that they imitated scenes from the horror film Childs Play 3.
What are the strengths of SLT?
Useful in understanding children’s behaviour and how they learn. Bandura’s research and SLT allows us to see how children may observe and imitate behaviour of those they identify with such as aggressive behaviour seen on television/video games SUCH AS IN THE CASE OF JAMES BULGER. This can help explain how the media can affect behaviour. This is a strength as it allows us to set rules and censorship on certain programmes/games FOR EXAMPLE AGE LIMITS to reduce the impact that observing aggression can have.
Supported by highly controlled research. For example Bandura used lab experiments to collect is data on the impact of observational learning therefore is highly scientific. This is a strength of SLT as it’s supported by Bandura’s research so cause and effect can be established that children learn through observation and imitation. The controlled research also means we can replicate Bandura’s study and assess the reliability of the findings.
What are the limitations of SLT?
There is an over dependence on artificial lab experiments in controlled settings. For example in bandura’s study, Children may have demonstrated demand characteristics and behaved abnormally as they knew that they were in an experiment due to being in a controlled environment such as the room where the bobo doll was. This is a weakness as this would make findings low in ecological validity and not reflective of aggression in real life. Reducing the generalisation of the findings to aggression in real life situations about how children would behave.
SLT is reductionist - oversimplifies complex behaviour like aggression down to observation and imitation, and underestimates the influence of biology. Bandura: boys were more aggressive than girls in all experiments. This could be explained by boys having higher testosterone levels, a biological factor that has been shown to affect aggression that Bandura did not consider in his explanation of behaviour. Ignoring these factors gives us a limited and incorrect view of complex behaviour.
