Social leaning theory

Question 1

What is the social learning theory?

Answer 1

Understanding human behaviour requires recognising learning as cognitive process which happens in a social context.

Question 2

What is vicarious punishment?

Answer 2

Witnessing someone punished for an action makes us less likely to adopt that behaviour

Question 3

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 3

When we see someone rewarded for a behaviour we are more likely to mimic it.

Question 4

What are models?

Answer 4

Individuals we observe and emulate.

Question 5

Who are live models?

Answer 5

Parents, friends and family members.

Question 6

Who are symbolic models?

Answer 6

Characters from movies and books.

Question 7

What are the mediation factors?

Answer 7

Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation

Question 7

What is identification?

Answer 7

We are more likely to imitate models with similar characteristics eg. gender, age or people perceived as attractive or high status

Question 8

What is attention?

Answer 8

In order to learn from a model, individuals must pay attention to the model by focusing on specific behaviours.

Question 9

What is retention?

Answer 9

The ability to remember the observed behaviours. Involves encoding the observed behaviour into memory so it can be retrieved later.

Question 10

What is reproduction?

Answer 10

The individuals belief in ability to replicate the behaviour that the model has demonstrated. This depends on the individuals psychical capabilities as well as the remembered details of the behaviour.

Question 11

What is motivation?

Answer 11

The willingness to perform the behaviour which is influences by the expected outcomes based on observing the consequences of behaviours in others.

Question 12

What was Banduras research?

Answer 12

The Bobo doll study

Question 13

Describe the bobo doll study.

Answer 13

The participants
3-6 years
Decided into tow groups
First group observed an adult demonstrating physical and verbal aggression towards a bobo doll in a room filled with toys.
Second group watch the adult interact non agressively with different toys.
Experimenter observed and recorded the children’s physical and verbal aggression behind a one way mirror.

Question 14

What study backs up symbolic models?

Answer 14

Children were exposed to a liv aggressive adult, recording of an aggressive adult or a cartoon featuring an aggressive cat.
All agression was directed at bobo doll.

Question 14

What were banduras findings?

Answer 14

Children exposed to an aggressive model were more likely to be aggressive themselves.
Highlighted role of identification, particularly amongst boys who were more likely to mimic aggression after observing a male model compared to those who saw an aggressive female model.

Question 15

What were the findings of this study?

Answer 15

Comparable levels of aggression across all groups, suggesting that models, live or symbolic are imitated.

Question 16

What was the study to back up vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 16

Children witnessed adults acting aggressively towards bobo doll, followed by the adult receiving rewards (sweets), punishment (being hit with a wooden golf club) or neither.

Question 17

What were the findings of this study?

Answer 17

Children who observed the adult being punished displayed significantly less aggression towards the bobo doll compared to children in the other conditions.

Question 18

What are positives of social learning theory?

Answer 18

Lots evidence, high internal validity.
Less reductionist approach.

Question 19

What are the negatives of social learning theory?

Answer 19

Weak ecological validity
Only demonstrates short term validity.
Research relies on inferences.