social learning theory

Question 1

strength: scientific methods

Answer 1

scientific enquiry to investigate human behaviour, based on objective and empirical techniques, bobo doll study, high control over extraneous variables, role modelling same type of behaviour for each child, increases internal validity, raises psych scientific status

Question 2

strength: practical applications

Answer 2

principles of theory that behaviour is caused by imitating and observing a model, government controls how media portray behaviours, restricted smoking and gambling adverts, reduce negative behaviour, important part of applied psych, encourages positive behaviour

Question 3

strength: goes beyond behaviourist approach

Answer 3

considers free will in learning, all behaviour is result of external cues but have decision in who we imitate and what we imitate, who we choose to model, superior to approaches that take a hard determinism stance

Question 4

weakness: alternative explanation

Answer 4

biological approach, behaviour due to genes or hormones rather than observation, SLT underestimates hormones in doll study, boys more aggressive than girls regardless of situation, can be explained by boys having more testosterone, SLT not only explanation