Social Learning Theory

Question 1

What are 2 assumptions of social learning theory?

Answer 1

• people are active manipulators of their own environment rather than passive recieves of experiences
• learning can occur through observation of role models

Question 2

Who came up with social learning theory?

Answer 2

Bandura

Question 3

Did Bandura agree with behaviourism?

Answer 3

yes

Question 4

What did Bandura believe about how people learnt?

Answer 4

behaviour is learnt through observation & imitation of others

Question 5

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 5

where an individual observes the behaviour of others & imitation occurs is seen to be rewarded rather than punished

Question 6

Which two approaches is SLT described as being the ‘bridge’ between?

Answer 6

Behaviourism & cognitive approach

Question 7

What is meant by the 4 mediational processes?

Answer 7

4 factors which intervene in the learning process to determine whether a new response is acquired

Question 8

What are the 4 mediation processes?

Answer 8

1. attention
2. retention
3. motor reproduction
4. motivation

Question 9

What is meant by the mediational process of ‘attention’?

Answer 9

the extent to which we notice certain behaviour

Question 10

What is meant by the mediational process of ‘retention’?

Answer 10

how well the behaviour is remembered

Question 11

What is meant by the mediational process of ‘motor reproduction’?

Answer 11

the ability of the observer to perform the behaviour

Question 12

What is meant by the mediational process of ‘motivation’?

Answer 12

the will to perform the behaviour, which is often determined by whether the behaviour was rewarded or punishment

Question 13

what is ‘identification’?

Answer 13

when an observer associates themselves with a role model & wants to be like the role model

Question 14

How does a person become a role model?

Answer 14

seen to possess similar characteristics to the observer and/or are attractive & have high status

Question 15

What happened in Bandura’s Bobo doll study?

Answer 15

Bandura recorded the behaviour of young children who watched an adult behave in an aggressive way towards a Bobo doll

Question 16

What were the results of Bandura’s Bobo doll study?

Answer 16

the children played with the various toys, including the Bobo doll, much more agressively than the children who has observed a non-agressive adult

Question 17

Which aspect of SLT does Bandura’s Bobo doll study illustrate?

Answer 17

identification

Question 18

What happened in Bandura’s Bobo doll study with Walters?

Answer 18

3 groups of children were shown videos where an adult behaved agressively towards the Bobo doll
- one group saw the adult praised for their behaviour
- second group saw the adult was told off for their behaviour
- control group saw the adult reciveved no response

Question 19

What were the results of Bandura’s bobo doll study with Walters?

Answer 19

when the children were given their own Bobo doll to play with, the 1st group showed more aggression, then the 3rd & then the 2nd

Question 20

What are 3 strengths of social learning theory?

Answer 20

• recognises importance of cognitive factors instead of just behaviourism
• real world applications - can explain the influence of social media of behaviour
• Bandura’s research = lab study, high control over extraneous variables

Question 21

What are 3 limitations of social learning theory?

Answer 21

• Ignores role of biology in learning behaviour
• Concentrates mostly on external behaviour
• bandura’s research = lab study & so low ecological validity