social learning theory Flashcards
What is observation? E.g.?
Watching and paying close attention to other people’s behaviour.
E.g. Watching criminals steal from a bank.
What is imitation? E.g.?
Copying other people’s behaviour. E.g. You now steal from the bank.
What are role models? E.g.?
Someone we look up to and identify with.
E.g. Criminal.
What is identification? E.g.?
When an observer associates themselves with and wants to be like the role model.
E.g. You and the criminal both being males, mid 30s, come from the same working class.
What is modelling? E.g.?
When the role model performs the precise demonstration of a specific behaviour.
E.g. Criminal modelling the behaviour to you, planning how to steal the money and executing it perfectly.
What is vicarious reinforcement? E.g.?
Reinforcement that’s not directly experienced, but occurs through observing someone else recieving a positive or negative consequence for a behaviour.
E.g. The person sees the criminal being rewarded with gaining money, making the person steal>reward.
What is the key difference between the behaviourist approach and SLT?
SLT involves thinking (cognition) in learning.
What 4 key features are in the mediational process?
Attention, retention, motor reproduction, motivation.
Define attention.
Behaviour of the role model must be NOTICED and watched.
Define retention.
Behaviour that has been observed by the role model must be REMEMBERED in order to perform it.
Define motor reproduction.
Previously observed behaviour by the role model is IMITATED by the observer.
Define motivation.
DESIRE TO IMITATE the behaviour we have observed from the role model. Rewards and punishments that follow a behaviour will be considered by the observer.
Outline experiment one of the Bobo doll study.
-Procedure: Children watched either an adult behaving aggressively or non-aggressively towards a Bobo doll.
-Findings: When given their own doll, the children who had seen aggression were much more aggressive towards the doll.
-Conclusion: Provides evidence for imitation and observation.
Outline experiment two of the Bobo doll study.
-Procedure: Children saw an adult who was either rewarded, punished, or had no consequence for behaving aggressively with the Bobo doll.
-Findings: When given their own doll, children who saw the aggression rewarded were much more aggressive themselves.
-Conclusion: Provides evidence for vicarious reinforcement.
PET - P: How does SLT over-rely on the research from lab studies e.g. Bobo doll? (2)
E: Demand characteristics, low external validity.
T: Research may actually tell us very little about how children learn aggressive behaviours in real life.
