social learning theory Flashcards
who developed social learning theory
albert bandura
how do people learn according to social learning theory
by conditioning observing role models
what are the two types of models
live and symbolic
what is a live model
a real life model e.g parents, teachers
what is a symbolic model
celebrities, characters ect
what is imitation
reproducing behaviour
what is identification
how much the observer relates to the model
does identification increase or decrease imitation of behaviour
increase
are children more likely to copy same sex or different sex models
same sex
what are the 4 mediational processes involved in social learning theory
attention, retention, reproduction and motivation
what is attention
paying attention to the stimuli
what is retention
remembering the stimuli
what is reproduction
deciding whether it is possible to imitate the behaviour
what is motivation
the driving force to imitate behaviour; reinforcement
describe bandura’s bobo doll experiment
children observed either an aggressive role model, a non-aggressive role model or no model and bandura observed how they behaved with the doll afterwards
what were the results of banduras bobo doll experiment
children who saw an aggressive role model were more likely to behave aggressively and children who saw a same sex model were also more likely to imitate behaviour, especially boys
describe bandura’s follow up experiment
the children observed both live and symbolic models to see if the behaviour of the symbolic models would also be imitated
what were the results of bandura’s follow up experiment
cartoon models were the most imitated, then filmed models (both symbolic) then finally live models
describe banduras final experiment
children observed a model being aggressive to the bobo doll, then either being reinforced or punished. their behaviour was then observed
what is a strength of bandura’s studies
controlled
what is a weakness of bandura’s studies
aggression may have been produced as a result of demand characteristics
what is a strength of social learning theory
real life applications
does social learning theory ignore free will
no (reproduction)
what is a real life application of social learning theory
tv watersheds - sex, violence and obscene language can only be broadcast after 9pm
what other research supports social learning theory
osborne and west - 40% of sons with criminal fathers offended before turning 18 compared to 13% of sons with non-criminal fathers
farringdon et al - the most important risk factor aged 8-10 for offending was family criminality
what is a limitation of social learning theory
it is reductionist
