social learning theory

Question 1

What are the assumptions of the Social Learning Theory?

Answer 1

• a way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement, but combines this with the role of cognitive factors
• people learn through observation and imitation of others within a social context
• social learning: learning occurs directly, through operant conditioning, but also indirectly, through observing other people –> vicarious reinforcement
• Bandura agreed with behaviourists that much of our behaviour is learned from experience

Question 2

What is imitation?

Answer 2

• an individual observes a behaviour from a role model and copies it
• it’s more appropriate than copying as the behaviour is often not able to be copied exactly - it’s merely a situation

Question 3

What is identification?

Answer 3

people are much more likely to imitate the behaviour of people who they identify with, called role models –> process called modelling

Question 4

What is a role model?

Answer 4

• someone who possess similar characteristics to the observer and/or are attractive and have high status
• role models may not necessarily be physically present in the environment, this has important implications for the influence of the media on behaviour

Question 5

What is a model and what is modelling?

Answer 5

• a model is when someone is influential on an individual in some way
• if the individual then imitates that person’s behaviour later, it’s called modelling (the behaviour) - the term is only used when referring to behaviour that is imitated

Question 6

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 6

• describes the reinforcement the observer sees the model receiving, they don’t receive the reward themselves; they see someone else get it
• a reinforcement such as a reward, makes a behaviour more likely to happen again
• the person learns by observing the consequence of another person’s behaviour

Question 7

What are the 4 mediational processes?

Answer 7

• attention
• retention
• reproduction
• motivation

Question 8

What is the medial process attention?

Answer 8

• for a behaviour to be imitated it has to grab our attention
• attention is an extremely important factor in whether a behaviour has an influence in others imitating it

Question 9

What is the mediational process retention?

Answer 9

• the behaviour may be noticed, but not always remembered which prevents imitation
• it is important that a memory of the behaviour is formed to be performed later by the observer

Question 10

What is the mediational process reproduction?

Answer 10

• we see much behaviour on a daily basis that we would like to be able to imitate but this is not always possible
• we are limited by our physical ability so even if we wish to reproduce the behaviour we cannot- this influences whether to try and imitate it or not

Question 11

What is the mediational process motivation?

Answer 11

• the rewards and punishments that follow a behaviour, will be considered by the observer
• if the perceived rewards outweigh the perceived costs (if there are any) then the behaviour will be more likely to be imitated by the observer
• if the vicarious reinforcement is not seen to be important enough to the observer, then they will not imitate the behaviour

Question 12

What are the positives of the social learning theory?

Answer 12

• acknowledges cognition
• research evidence

Question 13

expand on the +ve ao3 point, Acknowledges cognition, for the SLT

Answer 13

• takes thought processes into account and acknowledges the role that they play in deciding if a behaviour is to be imitated or not
• provides a more comprehensive explanation of behaviour because it combines the behaviourist and cognitive approaches

Question 14

expand on the +ve ao3 point, research evidence, for the SLT

Answer 14

• Bandura’s bobo doll - aggression learned via observation and imitation
• Philips - adults can learn aggressive behaviour through the media
• !Kung San - shows importance of seeing a behaviour in order to exhibit it

Question 15

What are the negatives of the social learning theory?

Answer 15

• biology
• unscientific
• not a comprehensive explanation

Question 16

expand on the -ve ao3 point, biology, for the SLT

Answer 16

• Bandura makes little reference to the impact of biological factors on social learning and doesn’t take it into account –> boys were consistently more aggressive than girls, this may be explained by the different levels of testosterone, which is more present in boys and linked to aggressive behaviour

Question 17

expand on the -ve ao3 point, unscientific, for the SLT

Answer 17

• mediational processes have to be inferred, (we can’t see them so we guess them) this is unscientific and unreliable

Question 18

expand on the -ve ao3 point, not a comprehensive explanation, for the SLT

Answer 18

• not all behaviour can be explained using SLT
• Children may have a drive to do something even if they haven’t seen an adult do so
• fairness and justice etc are abstract notions which cannot be ‘imitated’ yet we demonstrate these concepts from a fairly early age

Question 19

What is Bandura’s study 1 (1961)?

Answer 19

• tested boys and girls aged 3-5- half were exposed to adult models interacting aggressively with a bobo doll
• half were exposed to adult models who were non aggressive/passive, playing with jigsaws
• the model in the aggressive condition displayed distinctive physical and verbal aggression towards the doll
• children were then ‘frustrated’ by being put in a room with lots of lovely toys and forbidden from touching them
• they were led to the final room which contained lots of toys including the bobo doll, and left to play

Question 20

What were the findings of Bandura’s first experiment (1961)?

Answer 20

• children in the aggressive condition reproduced both verbal and physical aggression from the adult model ‘POW! SOCK HIM IN THE NOSE!’
• children in the passive condition exhibited virtually no aggression towards the doll
• shows that children can learn aggression directly though observation and imitation

Question 21

What was Bandura’s second study (1963)?

Answer 21

• the children were divided into three groups, and watched a film where an adult used physical and verbal aggression on the bobo doll
• group 1 (control) - aggressive model was neither rewarded nor punished
• group 2 (reward) - aggressive model was rewarded by another adult (7up and sweets)
• group 3 (punishment) - aggressive model was punished by a second adult (told off)
• after watching the film, each child was observed in a playroom with the doll and other toys

Question 22

What were the results of Bandura’s second experiment? (1963)

Answer 22

• condition 1 (control) and 2 (reward) marked tendency for the child to show spontaneous aggressive acts
• children in condition 2 (reward) behaved most aggressively
• children in condition 3 (punishment) behaved least aggressively

Question 23

What are the issues with Bandura’s second experiment?

Answer 23

• Ethics
• Demand Characteristics

Question 24

expand on the -ve AO3 point, ethics, with Bandura’s second experiment?

Answer 24

• psychological harm
• informed consent –> video posted on youtube

Question 25

expand on the -ve AO3 point,demand characteristics, with Bandura’s second experiment?

Answer 25

• ‘mummy there is a doll i have to hit’ –> purpose of doll was advertised on tv
• Live clown study

Question 26

What was Philips study? (1986)

Answer 26

• he applied SLT to adults - can aggression be imitated by adults in a similar way?
• he found that daily homicide rates in USA almost always increased in the week following a major boxing match, suggesting that viewers were imitating behaviour they had seen, and that SLT is present in adults as well as children

Question 27

What is further evidence for SLT?

Answer 27

• !Kung San and the Amish - two totally different cultures
• !Kung San people of the Kalahari desert there is absolutely no aggression ‒> if during childhood, if any aggression is exhibited this is actively discouraged and children are separated
• as a consequence of a lack of exposure to aggressive models, there is a total lack of aggression in the culture–> this supports the idea that aggression is learned and that nurture is more powerful than any potential influence of nature