social learning approach

Question 1

what are the key assumptions of the social learning approach?

Answer 1

• learning for humans takes place in a social context due to exposure to others behaviour.
• others act as models for our behaviour these can be real people
• characteristics of models influence the likelihood of imitation of the behaviour. models we relate to are more likely to be imitated.
• behaviours are likely to be repeated if rewarded directly or if a model is observed being rewarded, this is vicarious reinforcement.

Question 2

what is the difference between SLT and learning theories?

Answer 2

SLT differs from other learning theories as it suggests that internal processes cognition that must be present for learning to occur.

Question 3

what are mediational factors

Answer 3

need to take place between the stimulus and response

Question 4

types of mediational factors

Answer 4

attention
retention
motivation
reproduction

Question 5

attention-mediational factors

Answer 5

to learn, observers need to have paid attention to the behaviour. factors; how interesting the model is or cognitive ability of observer

Question 6

retention- mediational factors

Answer 6

observer must be able to remember the observed behaviour. some behaviours are very complex and may not be able to be retained

Question 7

motivation- mediational factors

Answer 7

anticipated rewards and punishments can influence if the observer decides to reproduce the behaviour

Question 8

reproduction-mediational factors

Answer 8

behaviours need to be able to be reproduced by the observer. they may not be due to the lack of skill or resources

Question 9

what was the procedure for bandura’s (1961) experiment

Answer 9

72 3-5 year old children either watched a filmed adult attacking a bobo doll (hitting/punching/kicking/verbally abusing), playing neutrally with the bobo doll or no model control group. the children’s aggression was measured before the study and the creations of the group ff a matched pair design. All children were given “mild aggression arousal” by being placed in a room with nice toys they couldn’t play with before bobo room.

Question 10

what were the findings of bandura’s study?

Answer 10

the children who observed the adult playing aggressively imitated aggressive behaviours. the neutral group were not aggressive. the effect was stronger if the children had observed the same gender suggesting identification

Question 11

vicarious enforcement variation- bandura study

Answer 11

children who observed adults being rewarded (praised) for their aggressive behaviour were more likely to imitate the behaviour than those who observed adults punished for behaving aggressively

Question 12

evaluation of the social learning theory

Answer 12

• difficulty identifying cause and effect- although Banduras research controlled variables and demonstrated behaviour was imitated it is difficult to show cause and effect in real life
• SLT sees behaviour as environmentally determined but some behaviours may be innate and better explained by biological explanations