Social Learning theory Flashcards
Who developed Social learning theory and when?
Bandura, 1960s
What’s one similarity SLT has to behaviourism?
Both believe were born a tabula rasa
What’s one difference between SLT and behaviourism?
Behaviorism is direct learning
(learning through environment)
and SLT is indirect learning (observing and imitating others)
Define social learning theory?
Behavior is learned by observing and imitating others, but mediational processes are involved between S and R
What are the 4 assumptions of SLT?
- Learn through indirect (vicarious) reinforcement
- Learn through observation and imitation
- Some mediational processes are involved between S and R
- Role models have an important influence on SLT
What is vicarious reinforcement?
When people are more likely to imitate behavior if they see others rewarded for it
What makes us more likely to choose certain people to be role models? (identification)
Through identification, if they’re seen to have similar characteristics to us or are attractive and have high status
What is modelling?
Observing and imitating another person
What are medicinal processes?
Mental (cognitive) factors that intervene in the learning process
What are the 4 medicinal processes?
- Attention
- Retention
- Motor reproduction
- Motivation
What is identification?
Adopting behaviors shown by a role model, because they have a quality the individual would like to have
What is retention?
How well the behavior is remembered
What is motor reproduction?
The ability to perform the behavior
What is motivation?
The desire to perform the behavior
What and when was the first experiment done to prove this?
Bandura ross and ross 1961
Describe the procedure of Bandura Ross and Ross
- Tested 36 girls and 36 boys for aggression
- Pre-tested them for aggression levels using matched pairs
- There were 3 groups, one showed an aggressive model, one showed a non-aggressive model, one showed no model
- Aggressive model included unique aggression
Non-aggressive model ignored the doll - Children were told only the best can play with toys and they weren’t the best, to maximize aggression
What were the 3 findings of Bandura Ross and Ross experiment?
- Children who watched aggressive model were most aggressive, imitated the unique aggression, and went a step further
- Boys were more aggressive than girls
- Children were significantly more likely to imitate the same sex
What was the 2nd experiment?
Bandura and Walters 1963
What happened in Bandura and Walters experiment?
- Same as Ross and Ross
- Children are all shown an aggressive video, one model rewarded at the end, one punished, and one with no consequence
What were the findings of Bandura and Walters?
- Children were most aggressive when the model was rewarded
(Vicarious reinforcement) - Children least likely to imitate when the model was rewarded
(vicarious punishment)
What are the 3 strengths of SLT?
-real-life application
-considers cognitive factors
-slightly reciprocal determinist
How does SLT have real-life application?
Alkers (1998) suggests criminal behavior is more likely when exposed to a criminal role model they identify with so SLT helps us understand human behavior
-Could lead to interventions where criminally risked people could be exposed to positive role models
How does SLT consider cognitive factors?
Bandura suggested there are 4 mediational processes between the SR unit and these are important in whether the child will identify with the model or not.
Good as other approaches like behaviorism doesnt take the complexity of human behavior into account so this can explain a wider range of behavior
What is the extended strength of SLT?
Slightly Reciprocal determinism
-This means the behavior is determined by our environment, but SLT believes we chose our environment (friends) so we have an element of free will
What are the 2 limitations of SLT and Bandura’s study?
-Lacks biological factors
-Low external validity
How does SLT have low external validity?
Bandura’s study was conducted in a lab and the children were exposed to aggression arousal which would not happen in real life before encountering situations
and
bobo dolls were made to hit so the children may have believed the experimenter wanted them to attack the Bobo Doll
How does SLT lack biological factors?
It does not include the influence of hormones, or genetics. This limits a person’s behavior to either nature or nurture. Limited explanation
eg. doesnt explain why boys are more aggressive than girls
