Social learning theory Flashcards
What is the social learning theory?
-Proposed by bandura
-Rejected skinners views that the direct consequences on our behaviour were sufficient to explain behaviour
-He believed that people were also interested in the potential consequences of their behaviour which can be learned indirectly (or vicariously) by watching and learning from other people.He also viewed the cognitive processes involved in learning being important too.
What is the role model in the SLT?
People we watch who are significant to us(parents,friends,celebrities)
If the role model’s behaviour is positively reinforced than this acts as a vicarious (indirect) reinforcement for the observer
The observer is likely to observe the potential consquences of such behaviour and is likely to imintate the behaviour themselves to recieve the same reinforcement
What is modelling?
observation and subsequent imitation of the behaviour
What was the procedure for Banduras research?
-participants were 4 year children-36 boys and 36 girls.
-They either watched an aggressive model-an adult behaving aggressively towards a bobo doll by punching and hitting it with a hammer,
or a non aggressive model
-The children were then taken to a room which contained brand new toys and told they werent allowed to play with these(done to create a sense of frustration in all children)
-They were then moved to another room with other toys,including a hammer and a bobo doll.
-Their behaviour was observed through a one way mirror.
What Bandura discover from his findings?
-Children in the aggressive model condition reproduced a high number of physical and verbal aggressive acts resembling that of the model
-Children who observed the non aggressive model or no model exhibited virtually no aggression towards the bobo doll.
-Both boys and girls were more likely to imitate the model’s aggressive behaviour if the model they had observed was the same gender as them
-Boys showed higher levels of aggression than girls.
What was the procedure of bandura and Walters follow up study?
-The children were shown videos of an adult behaving aggressively towards a bobo doll.
-There were three conditions…
1.One group of children saw adult kick and punch bobo doll with no consequences
2.Another group of children saw the same aggressive behaviour performed by the adult model but this time the model was positively reinforced by another adult for the aggressive behaviour by being told well done
3.In the final group the children saw the same aggressive behaviour performed but this time the model was punished by another adult who warned him not be aggressive in the future
What did Bandura and Walters find from the follow up experiment?
Children exposed to the model positively reinforced were most likely to imitate the aggressive acts,followed by the no consequence condition whereas the children in the model punished condition were least likely to imitate the aggressive behaviour.
What did banduras experiment support?
Vicarious reinforcement-The claim that we learn behaviour by observing the consequence of others behaviour;this is because the consequences the child observed directly influenced their motivation to imitate and reproduce the aggressive behaviour they had observed.
What are the strengths of SLT?
-Research evidence-Bandura demonstrated how childrens aggressive behaviour could be initiated and modified through the processes of modelling and vicarious reinforcement.These findings increase validity and the power of social context (the media) on our behaviour.
-It accounts for cognitive factors when explaining the learning of human behaviours.Thesde cognitions are overlooked by classical and operant conditioning processes.Therefore arguably the SLT can provide a more comprehensive explanation of learning,especially of novel behaviours(e.g starting smoking)
-SLT helps us understand why there are cultural variations in human behaviour.Cultural norms are perpetuated within societies through the continuous observation and imitation of models and their behaviour within the culture.
What are the limitations of the SLT theory?
-Ignores the importance of biological factors and the effect they have on behaviour.E.g in Banduras experiment one of the primary findings was that boys were overall more aggressive than girls.This could be explained by hormonal influences on aggression as male sex hormone testerone which has been linked to an increase in agressive behaviour, and is present in greater quantities in males than females.
-Much of the research is based by controlled laboratory research.This type of research has been critisised for being too artificial and being subject to demand characteristics.e.g the children may have shown aggressive behaviour because thats what they thought they were supposed to do,rather than showing true learning of aggressive acts.This questions the validity of the research and compromises the support banduras research can offer to the SLT ,meaning the validity of the SLT itself may be in question.
