social learning theory Flashcards
who created it ?
. Albert Bandura= proposed social learning theory
what is it ?
to explain how learning often occurs without direct reinforcement.
Instead, a behaviour can be learned indirectly by observing and imitating another individual whose behaviour has already been reinforced.
what study supports this idea ?
Bobo doll studies- Bandura
what was the first step=
modelling= 24 children saw an adult (model) behaving aggressively to the toy (punching, hitting). Another 24 children observed a non-aggressive model. The adult (model) played in a quiet gentle manner. The final group of 24 were used as a control group. Not exposed to any group again
what was the second step=
Aggression arousal= all the children were exposed to “mild aggression arousal”. Each child was taken to a room and shown relatively attractive toys. As soon as the child started playing with the toys the experimenter told the child to stop as they were “reserved for other children”.
what was the third step=
Delayed imitation= the next room contained some aggressive (dart gun) and some non-aggressive toys (crayons/teddy bears). The child was in the room for 20 minutes and their behavior was observed
what were the results ?
children who observed the aggressive model made far more imitative aggressive responses than those who were in the non-aggressive or control groups.
.There was more partial and non-imitative aggression among those children who had observed aggressive behaviour, although the difference for non-imitative aggression was small.
conclusion=
children do not need direct reinforcement to learn new behaviour. Children can learn through observation and imitation
Modelling=
.when a behaviour is demonstrated to another person. The person who performs the behaviour is the “model”. The person who witnesses the model’s behaviour will then “model” their behaviour.
Modelling in Banduras research= an adult model behaved aggressively towards an inflatable doll. Some of the children then “modeld” the behaviour.
Imitation=
Imitation= the observer may copy or “imitate” the model’s behavior. Imitation happens if the observer perceives the model to be like themselves (similarity) or because the observer values/admires the model (value).
Imitation in banduras research= when the children in the bobo studies played with the doll they behaved aggressively, often “imitating” the model’s behavior (hitting ext.). In some cases, imitation was more likely when the model was the same gender as the child (similarity).
Vicarious learning/reinforcement=
Vicarious learning/reinforcement= the learning of a behaviour by observing the positive or negative consequences of the action of others.
Vicarious reinforcement in Bobo doll study= the bobo doll showed the imitation by the children was more likely when the adult model was rewarded for their behaviour.
strength=
SLT has research to support- bandura et ales research showed that children will imitate an aggressive adult model, and this is more likely when they observe the model’s behavior being reinforced (rewarded). Also, some phobias may develop in children because they observe fearful and anxious behavior by adults around them.
weakness=
social learning theory has relatively little influence on many behaviors= some behaviors are better explained by alternative theories. For example, research shows that the occurrence of phobias is greater in identical twins than in non-identical twins (kedler). The same pattern is true for depression. This shows how genes play a greater role than social learning in many behaviors such as phobias and depression.
strength=
can help understand aggressive behaviour in children and how it can be reduced= children learn to imitate aggressive models, especially when they see them rewarded. SLT suggests several targets for interventions, such as: reducing the rewards available for aggression, limiting access to violent media and providing non-aggressive role models for children to identify with and imitate. Therefore, SLT has practical applications because we can use our knowledge on it to reduce undesirable behaviours and increase desirable ones.
