Social Learning Theory

Question 1

Give two ways that SLT says we learn.

Answer 1

Through observation and imitation of others.

Question 2

What is said to occur between stimulus and response?

Answer 2

Mental processes.

Question 3

Observational learning can occur without what?

Answer 3

Without reinforcement.

Question 4

Name the type of reinforcement SLT concerns.

Answer 4

Vicarious reinforcement.

Question 5

What is modelling?

Answer 5

A person you look up to displays a behaviour and you copy them, because you want to be like them.

Question 6

What is the difference between a live model and a symbolic model?

Answer 6

Live models are people you know in real life.
Symbolic models are people present in the media.

Question 7

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 7

You watch how someone else is treated for their behaviour, and if they are positively reinforced, you decide to imitate them, in hopes of being reinforced yourself. You observe the consequences of the behaviour.

Question 8

What is imitation?

Answer 8

Copying a behaviour.

Question 9

What is observational learning?

Answer 9

Learning through watching how others behave.

Question 10

What is identification?

Answer 10

Relating yourself to the model you want to copy.

Question 11

What are mediational processes?

Answer 11

Mental processes that occur between stimulus and response, that intervene in the learning process to say whether a new behaviour is acquired.

Question 12

Name the 4 mediational processes and describe what they are.

Answer 12

Attention - Noticing the behaviour.
Retention - Remembering the behaviour.
Reproduction - Being physically able to copy the behaviour.
Motivation - There must be a reason to want to copy the behaviour.

Question 13

What was the aim of Bandura’s (1961) research?

Answer 13

To show how modelling will affect an observers behaviour.

Question 14

Describe the procedure of the 1961 study.

Answer 14

An adult male model behaved aggressively towards a bobo doll. The children received their own bobo doll to play with and they were observed. A control group saw a non aggressive adult.

Question 15

Describe the findings of the 1961 study.

Answer 15

Observers found that children also behaved violently towards the doll. Children who saw a non aggressive model were not violent.

Question 16

Describe the procedure of Bandura’s (1963) research.

Answer 16

Children saw videos of an adult behaved aggressively to a bobo doll. One group saw the model receive positive reinforcement, a second group saw no consequence, a third group saw punishment. The children were then given their own doll to play with.

Question 17

Describe the findings of Bandura’s (1963) research.

Answer 17

Children who saw the model receive positive reinforcement were the most aggressive towards the doll. The group who saw punishment were the least aggressive.

Question 18

Explain the strength of the approach considering cognitive factors. Use the example of conditioning alone being a limited explanation, and also Bandura’s opinion on conditioning.

Answer 18

Classical and operant conditioning cannot offer an adequate enough explanation for how we learn. Humans and animals use their brains in order too make judgements about the behaviours of others, and we base our decisions on how to behave off these judgements. Bandura also said learning would be hazardous if we only relied on the consequences of our actions on how to behave. This suggests that SLT provides a more comprehensive explanation on how we behave.

Question 19

Explain the limitation of the approach ignoring biology.

Answer 19

Results from Bandura’s experiment showed that boys were more aggressive than girls. While SLT would suggest that this could be due to boys identifying with the male model, this doesn’t fully explain why. For example, biology says that males have more testosterone, which influences aggression. This offers another explanation to how we behave, which the approach ignores.

Question 20

Explain the limitation of the approach relying on lab studies, using the example of demand characteristics and the doll being designed to be hit.

Answer 20

Most studies on SLT were completed in labs. Many of Bandura’s findings were a result of studying children in the lab and due to the scientific nature of the studies, children may have thought they had to behave in a certain way (demand characteristics), leading to inaccurate results. In addition to this, the bobo doll was designed to be hit. The children could of thought this was the correct way to play with the doll, meaning that research may tell us little about how children behave in real life.

Question 21

Explain the strength of the approach having real world application, using the example of cultural differences, learning from the media and understanding behaviours such as gender roles.

Answer 21

SLT has had the advantage of explaining cultural differences in behaviours. SLT principles, such as identification and modelling, have been able to explain how children learn from the world around them, and this can tell us how cultural norms are transmitted. This has become useful when explaining behaviours, such as how children come to understand their gender role, increasing the value of the approach.