social learning theory

Question 1

a01

Answer 1

-new patterns of behaviour can be acquired by observing someone else’s behaviour
-someone must model this behaviour such as a parent for the behaviour to be learnt
-determinants to whether a behaviour imitated are the characteristics of the model, the observer’s perceived ability to perform that behaviour and the observed consequences of that behaviour

Question 2

a01- bandura

Answer 2

-Bandura found that children who observed a model being rewarded for aggressive behaviour were much more likely to imitate that behaviour than children who had observed the model being punished for the same behaviour
-vicarious reinforcement
-concluded that aggressive behaviour can be learnt through imitating a model

Question 3

ao3- strength: empirical evidence

Answer 3

p- empirical evidence for concept of role models
e- fox and bailenson (2009) humans more likely to imitate computer generated ‘virtual humans’ who were similar to themselves
e- more likely to model behaviours if role models more identifiable with ourselves
l- adds validity to the key principle of the study

Question 4

a03- strength: more holistic

Answer 4

p- more holistic than traditional behaviourism
e- thought processes taken into account with meditational processes, acknowledges role of cognition in imitating behaviour
e- more comprehensive recognises cognitive processes
l- better explains more complex social behaviours i.e. gender roles than models of learning based on simple reinforcement

Question 5

ao3- weakness:

Answer 5

p- not full explanation as doesn’t consider other factors like biological influences
e- may be more aggressive due to higher testosterone levels rather than observational learning
e- particularly when no apparent role model to imitate for a given behaviour
l- SLT needs to be used in conjunction with other approaches