Social learning theory Flashcards
What are the basic assumptions of the SLT?
- behaviour is learned from the environment and genetics don’t influence behaviour
- Behaviour is learned by observing others and the reinforcement/punishment they receive
what is identification?
When an individual is influenced by another because they are in someway similar to that person or wish to be like them
E.g. same gender, ethnicity, high status etc
what is imitation?
when an individual observed behaviour from a role model and copies it
This is determined by the characteristics of a model and the observers ability to perform the behaviour and the observed consequences of the behaviour
What is modelling?
Observing the behaviour of a role model
E.g. a teacher parents sister
what is vicarious reinforcement?
Observer sees someone else get a reward for a specific behaviour motivating them to imitate this behaviour
What are the mediational processes?
ARRM
attention
Retention
Motor reproduction
Motivation
what is attention?
For a behaviour to be imitated we must notice it attention is pivotal to whether a behaviour will be imitated
what is retention?
Forming a memory of a behaviour to be imitated later by the observer
what is motor reproduction?
Of physical ability to perform the behaviour
What is motivation?
The desire to perform the behaviour
Reward/punishments will be considered and if words outweigh the costs, the observer will be more motivated to imitate
What was the aim of Bandura’s research?
To examine if children will imitate an aggressive adult model and to discover the extent to which the gender of the model influenced the child motivation to imitate
What was the method of Bandura study?
36 boys and girls age 37 to 69 months
ppts were put in a room one at a time half of the group of observed an aggressive role model and the other a non-aggressive
groups were subdivided by gender and whether the model was the same/opposite sex
That was also a control group who was not exposed to the model
Aggressive model hit bobo doll to with a hammer and shouted abuse at it. Non-aggressive model played with the toys and ignored the Bobo doll. ppts witness behaviour for 10 minutes then were taken into another room to play with the toys and observed for 20 minutes
what were the results of Banduras study
children who observed aggressive behaviour acted more aggressively boys acted more aggressively than girls
was also a great level of imitation of seeing sexual role models
what are strengths of Banduras study?
Used experimental method
what are limitations of Bandura’s study?
Low ecological validity
Used children
Unethical
evaluate low ecological validity as a limitation of Banduras study
- Low ecological validity
- Experiment was conducted in an unfamiliar controlled environment. There was no interaction between the child and the model they were strangers. Also, the effects of the model aggression were measured almost immediately.
- Limitation as conditions are unlikely to happen in real life and may exaggerate the effects of modelling on behaviour
evaluate the use of the experimental method as a strength of Banduras study
- used the experimental method
- Use control conditions to discover a cause relationship between modelling and imitation of aggression. By manipulating the gender and behaviour of the door he was able to accurately measure the effect on the children’s behaviour.
- Strength as it allowed Bandura to establish cause and effect between observation and imitation of behaviour
Evaluate the use of children in Bandura study as a limitation
- use children as participants
- Children may have thought that they were being tested for the right response and were required to behave aggressively to board the doll. Impossible to establish if ppts would have imitated the aggressive behaviour if they were not in a laboratory setting. Meaning that results may not reflect ppts true behaviour
- Limitation as results would not be valid
evaluate ethics as a limitation of Banduras study
- Unethical
- manipulated some participants to respond in an aggressive manner and purposely made all of the children experience aggression arousal (they were told they couldn’t play with the toys in the room as they were being saved for other children but they could play with toys in a neighbouring room) which could have caused them to experience psychological harm such as stress
- Limitation because his experiment raise his ethical concerns and would not be acceptable under current bps guidelines for protection of participants
what are strengths of the social learning theory?
Supported by evidence
Acknowledges cognitions
Lets understand cultural difference
What is a limitation of the social learning theory?
favours the nurture side of nature VS nurture debate
Evaluate supported by evidence as a strength of the SLT
- Supported by evidence
- Bandura demonstrated that children who observed an aggressive model behaved more aggressive than those who observed a non-aggressive model that was also a great level of imitation of same-sex role models
- Strength as research suggests that SLT provides an accurate explanation of aggression and might be able to explain all the behaviours accurately
what was the conclusion of Banduras research?
children learn social behaviour such as aggression by observing all the behaviours
most likely to happen when behaviour is modelled by someone of the same gender
evaluate the acknowledgement of cognition is as a strength of SLT
- acknowledges the role of cognitions in behaviour
- Bandura emphasise the role of mediating processes in behaviour and suggested that cognitions intervene between stimulus and response. The implication of this is that there is more than one factor causing behaviour and the individual has at least some control over their actions.
- Strength as it provides a more holistic and less deterministic view of behaviour than operant/classical conditioning
Evaluate the understanding of cultural differences as a strength of SLT
- SLT enables us to understand cultural differences in behaviour
- social learning principles can help us to understand the diversity of cultural norms across different cultures. Theory helps us understand how individuals display different behaviours as a result of being exposed to different models, this can help us understand how cultural norms are transmitted through societies.
- Strength as a enhances all understanding of a number of different behavioural for example how children acquire their gende role
evaluate favouring nurture as a limitation of SLT
- save the nurture side of nature VS nurture
- Bandura suggested that we learn behaviour through observation and vicarious reinforcement . This ignores evidence that suggest biological factors also contribute to behaviour e.g. genes/hormones
- limitation as it takes a one-sided view and Bandura ignores the fact that boys were more aggressive regardless of the experimental setting. This suggest that there is a biological component to aggression but Bandura fails to consider this.
