Social Learning Theory Flashcards
Who invented SLT and in what year?
Bandaranaike (1972)
What is SLT similar to?
Behaviourism- people are shaped by their environments
What does behaviourism focus on?
How people (mainly children) learn from others
What do children learn via?
The observation of models- e.g. parents, teachers, older siblings, celebrities
What do children do with behaviour they like?
Imitate the behaviour- learning is not innate but learnt from the environment
What is modelling?
The imitated behaviour is performed in different contexts
What happens if behaviour is reinforced?
We understand it is the correct behaviour to adopt- therefore we continue with it
What is vicarious/indirect reinforcement?
We observe another person being reinforced for a behaviour, we are motivated to imitate that behaviour to receive similar reinforcement
What does vicarious/indirect reinforcement highlight about SLT?
Highlights the more sophisticated nature of SLT compared to behaviourism as it involves cognition
How does SLT involve cognition?
People are required to process what they have seen and imagine themselves gaining a similar reward for the specific behaviour
What are the 4 mediational processes?
Attention (noticing the behaviour)- retention (remembering the behaviour)- reproduction (imitating the behaviour)- motivation (desire to perform the behaviour)
Nature or nurture?
Nurture
Strengths of SLT: reductionism?
Less reductionist than behaviourism
Strengths of SLT: determinism?
Less deterministic than behaviourism- mediational processes imply the individual has choice over their behaviour
Strengths of SLT: practical application?
Good practical application- token economies in prison/health settings
The prisoner is rewarded for good behaviour- observation from other inmates encourages good behaviour- therefore good external validity
Limitations of SLT: behaviour that is not imitated?
SLT cannot account for behaviours which are observed frequency and not imitated- e.g. a child who experiences domestic violence may never be violent
Limitations of SLT : individual differences?
Doesn’t account for them
Limitations of SLT: lab experiments?
Lacks ecological validity
What does identification mean?
Liking someone and wanting to be the same as them
What was Bandura testing?
To see if children would imitate an aggressive role model
What was the aim of bandura’s experiment?
To investigate the effect of observed aggression on children’s behaviour
Investigate the effect of same-sex modelling on children’s aggressive behaviour
How many participants were there and what ages were they?
72 participants- 36 girls and 36 boys
Aged between 37-69 months
Were matched pairs used?
Yes
What nursery were the children from?
Stanford University Nursery
What were the 3 conditions?
Aggressive model
Non-aggressive model
Control group- no model present
Findings: Children who had observed aggressive behaviour….
Were more likely to be aggressive towards the Bobo doll
Findings: boys were more…
Physically aggressive
Findings: girls were more…
Verbally aggressive
Findings: what were children more likely to do?
Imitate the behaviour of the same-sex role model
Aggression may be observed in one setting and imitated in a different setting
