social learning theory Flashcards
what two approaches come under learning theories
social learning theory and the behaviourist approach
which approach was more dominant in the 1940s and 50s
Behaviourism
what are the assumptions of social learning theory
- behaviour is learned from experience
- humans learn via observation and imitation of other people
what did Albert Bandura argue
some behaviours are too complex to simply be explained through the stimulus and response associations of classical conditioning and the reward and punishment of operant conditioning
what did Albert Bandura agree but also disagree about behaviourism
on the influence of the environment on learning however he argued that much of our learning can happen indirectly through the observation of other people
what did Bandura want to explore
how children learn aggression and violent behaviour and what factors led them to behave that way
what did the Bandura Bobo Doll experiment involve (1961)
- 72 children from a local nursery school
- Aged between 3-5.5 years old.
- 36 girls and 36 boys
- divided into 3 groups for different conditions of the study
how many conditions were there
3
how many children (and boys/girls) were in each condition
- condition 1 = 24 children (12 boys/girls)
- condition 2 = 24 children (12 boys/girls)
- condition 3 = 24 children (12 boys/girls)
what experimental design is used in both studies
Matched Pairs Design as each child was rated by their nursery teachers in terms of how aggressive their behaviours typically was and then matched with a child of similiar aggression
why are matched pairs designs good
they are a great way to control the extraneous variable known as participant variables
what happened in the first bobo doll experiment (1961)
the child was shown to one area of a room by the experimenter where there was a small table and different toys and activities for them to play with - tasks they were used to from primary school.
once the child was settled into the activity, the adult model was then brought into the room in the opposite corner where there was a range of different toys that included a bobo doll, a mullet and a toy set for each condition.
half of the children observed a model of the same sex while the other half observed a model of the opposite sex
what was condition 1
observing the aggressive adult model
- in this condition the adult model behaved in aggressive ways (they tipped it over, punching it repeatedly in the nose, picked up the mallet and hit it in the head, then tossed it in the air and kicked it) they were also verbally aggressive
- the adult behaved this way for 10 minutes
what was condition 2
observing non aggressive adult model.
- the adult played with the toys but demonstrated none of the aggressive behaviours in condition 1
- they did this for 10 minutes
what was condition 3
- this was the control group
they did not observe an adult model so they went straight to the 2nd room to play with the toys
what happened after observing the adult model
the children in conditions 1 and 2 went straight to the waiting room where there were highly attractive toys
what did the children experience in the waiting room
a mild aggression arousal
what is a mild aggression arousal
the adult did something that will provoke some level of aggression in the children
what did the experimenter do to give the children mild aggression arousals
the experimenter explained to each child that the toys in the new room were for them to play with. when the child became involved with the toys the experimenter told them that they were “the best toys and she did not let just anyone play with them” and said they were “reserved toys for the other children”
what happened after the mild aggression arousal
the experimenter took them to the 2nd room and told the children they could play with any toys in that room. the children were left to play with the other toys for 20 minutes and their behaviour was carefully observed through a one way mirror
what happened in condition 1 (1961)
the child did exactly what they saw the model do. they imitated the many aggressive behaviours they observed the adult model fo but they also carried out other aggressive behaviours they hadnt seen the model do
what happened in conditions 2&3 (1961)
rarely to no aggression
what did the experiment in 1961 about children’s learning
it shows how influential observing an adult model’s behaviour is on the children’s learning
why does the 1961 raise serious concerns
it raises concerns about the implications for what children pick up from watching aggressive behaviours
why did the sex of the adult model play an important role
male participants exhibited more physical and verbal aggression and engaged in signficantly more aggressive gun play following the exposure to the male model than the female children
what was the aim of the bobo doll experiment (1963)
they wanted to investigate to which extent aggression observed on film would be imitated
how many conditions were there in the experiment (1963)
4
what was condition 1 (1963)
the real life aggressive model (same as before)
what was condition 2 (1963)
film of aggressive model (same as before but they observed the adult on film)
what was condition 3 (1963)
cartoon film of aggression (the cat carried out the aggressive behaviour)
what did the children in these conditions do (1963)
they went to the waiting room like the original study where they were experienced a mild aggression arousal before being taken to the 2nd room
what was condition 4 (1963)
this was kept as a control. there was no exposure to aggressive models so they went straight the 2nd room immediately