Social Learning Theory

Question 1

What are the two assumptions of the social learning theory?

Answer 1

Behaviour is learnt from the environment therefore it does not regard genetics and behaviour is learned from observing others

Question 2

What else other than behaviour does the social learning theory consider?

Answer 2

Cognitive processes

Question 3

Who researched the social learning theory?

Answer 3

Bandura

Question 4

How does Bandura challenge Skinner?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

What was Banduras basic idea?

Answer 5

We learn behaviour by observing the positive and negative consequences of someone else’s behaviour

Question 6

What experiment did Bandura carry out?

Answer 6

The bobo doll experiment

Question 7

What was he interested to see?

Answer 7

If the influence of a model continued once the role model was no longer present

Question 8

What were the three conditions of Banduras experiment?

Answer 8

24 aggressive children, 24 non-aggressive children and no model was shown to 24 children

Question 9

How old were the participants and where was the study carried out?

Answer 9

37-69 months (mean age 4 years) and it was carried out at Stanford University nursery school

Question 10

What was stage one of the study?

Answer 10

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

Question 11

What was stage two?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

What was stage three?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What are the findings of the bobo doll study?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

What are two strengths of the study?

Answer 14

Experiments can be replicated as standardised procedures were used and cause and effect can be established

Question 15

What are two limitations of the study?

Answer 15

Low ecological validity no demonstrations are measured almost immediately so we only know short term effects

Question 16

What is imitation?

Answer 16

Individuals observe a behaviour from a role model and copies it

Question 17

Why is imitation more appropriate than copying?

Answer 17

Behaviour is often not able to be copied exactly

Question 18

What is identification?

Answer 18

An individual is influenced by another if they are similar or wish to be like them

Question 19

What is modelling?

Answer 19

If a behaviour displayed by the model is copied in some way then this is known as modelling

Question 20

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 20

The reinforcement the observer sees the model receiving. They do not receive the reward themselves

Question 21

What are the four mediating processes?

Answer 21

Attention, retention, reproduction, motivation

Question 22

What is attention?

Answer 22

For a behaviour to be imitated it has to grab our attention

Question 23

What is retention?

Answer 23

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

Question 24

What is reproduction?

Answer 24

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

Question 25

What is motivation?

Answer 25

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

Question 26

What are two strengths of the social learning theory?

Answer 26

It takes into account thought processes and there is practical applications eg starting smoking

Question 27

What are two limitations of the social learning theory?

Answer 27

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