Social Learning Theory Flashcards
What are the two assumptions of the social learning theory?
Behaviour is learnt from the environment therefore it does not regard genetics and behaviour is learned from observing others
What else other than behaviour does the social learning theory consider?
Cognitive processes
Who researched the social learning theory?
Bandura
How does Bandura challenge Skinner?
He argues that reinforcers and punishments merely inform the individual of a likely consequence and it is down to the individual as to whether they choose to copy their behaviour
What was Banduras basic idea?
We learn behaviour by observing the positive and negative consequences of someone else’s behaviour
What experiment did Bandura carry out?
The bobo doll experiment
What was he interested to see?
If the influence of a model continued once the role model was no longer present
What were the three conditions of Banduras experiment?
24 aggressive children, 24 non-aggressive children and no model was shown to 24 children
How old were the participants and where was the study carried out?
37-69 months (mean age 4 years) and it was carried out at Stanford University nursery school
What was stage one of the study?
Modelling. In condition one the model behaves aggressively towards a bobo doll. In condition two the model played quiet and subdued. In condition three the control group wasn’t exposed to a model
What was stage two?
Aggression arousal. All the children were subject to mild aggression arousal. When the children started to play with the toys, the child was told they were the experimenters best toys and to be careful with them
What was stage three?
Test for delayed imitation. The children were out in a room with aggressive and non-aggressive toys. They were observed every 5 seconds for 20 minutes. They were tested for imitating the model
What are the findings of the bobo doll study?
Children who observed the aggressive model were far more aggressive. Boys were more likely to imitate same sex models than girls. Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls but there was little difference in verbal aggression
What are two strengths of the study?
Experiments can be replicated as standardised procedures were used and cause and effect can be established
What are two limitations of the study?
Low ecological validity no demonstrations are measured almost immediately so we only know short term effects
What is imitation?
Individuals observe a behaviour from a role model and copies it
Why is imitation more appropriate than copying?
Behaviour is often not able to be copied exactly
What is identification?
An individual is influenced by another if they are similar or wish to be like them
What is modelling?
If a behaviour displayed by the model is copied in some way then this is known as modelling
What is vicarious reinforcement?
The reinforcement the observer sees the model receiving. They do not receive the reward themselves
What are the four mediating processes?
Attention, retention, reproduction, motivation
What is attention?
For a behaviour to be imitated it has to grab our attention
What is retention?
The behaviour may have been noticed, but not always remembered which prevents imitation. It is important therefore that a memory of the behaviour is formed for it to be performed later
What is reproduction?
We are not always able to imitate behaviour even though we may understand it as a desirable behaviour. We are limited by our physical ability and influences our decision to imitate it or not
What is motivation?
If the perceived reward outweigh the perceived cost then the behaviour will be more likely to be imitated by the observer. If the vicarious reinforcement is not seen to be important enough to the observer then they will not imitate behaviour
What are two strengths of the social learning theory?
It takes into account thought processes and there is practical applications eg starting smoking
What are two limitations of the social learning theory?
It is not a full explanation for all behaviour and it can be criticised for being unscientific as it uses a variety of research methods
