Social Learning Theory Approach Flashcards
What is SLT?
A way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement, combining learning theory with the role of cognitive factors
Describe models in association with SLT
Learning can occur simply through observing others (models) in our environment
What did Albert Bandura say about the SLT in 1961?
Learning occurs from observing others
The mind, behaviour and the environment all play a role in learning behaviour
This deals with major criticism of behaviourist approach, which ignores mental processes, by taking account of cognitive processes
Describe the Social Learning Theory
Mind-behaviour-environment
Cognitive processes involved in learning
Shift from behaviourism (human behaviour in response to reward/punishment) to cognitive (internal mental process between stimulus and response)
What is vicarious reinforcement?
We learn through modelling
Modelling involves learning through the observation of other people (models), which may lead to imitation of the behaviour
Only if behaviour is seen to be rewarded
What are the four conditions for social learning? (role of mediational processes)
Attention
Retention
Motor Reproduction
Motivation
Desribe attention
The extent to which we notice certain behaviours (learning of behaviour)
Describe retention
The individual remembers what they have observed (learning of behaviour)
Describe motor reproduction
The individual replicates the behaviour shown by the model (performance of behaviour)
Describe motivation
The individual seeks to demonstrate the behaviour that they have observed (performance of behaviour)
What are the 2 types of models?
Live models
Symbolic models
Describe live models
Physically present in our environment
E.g. mother, teacher, pop star, etc
Describe symbolic models
E.g. people in films, books, cartoons
Considered to have a greater effect on cultures where media is widely available
Give an example of real world application of SLT
Akers 1998
Suggested that probability of someone engaging in criminal activity increases when they are exposed to models who commit crime and identify with them and develop expectation of positive consequences of criminal behaviour
Read the Bobo doll study now
I ain’t kidding bout the knee threatening <3
What is a negative evaluation of SLT?
Over-reliance on evidence from lab studies
Behaviours of children were observed in lab settings:
-Demand characteristics
-Bobo doll: were they behaving the right way?
What is another negative evaluation of SLT to do with gender?
Underestimates the influence of biological factors
Boys more aggressive in Bobo doll experiments than girls
Hormonal factors (testosterone levels)
What did Van Goozen et al. suggest in 1994 about transgender aggression?
Aggression in participants who were transitioning to another gender
35 female-to-male and 15 male-to-female people completed questionnaires to assess proneness to aggression
Before and after receiving hormone treatment to change gender
Female-to-male reported increased aggressive proneness
What did Flanagan conclude in 2000 about Van Goozen’s study?
Testosterone as a primary cause of aggression
MAOA gene causes serotonin to build up in brain
What is a positive evaluation of SLT?
Cultural differences in behaviour
Margaret Mead (1935)
-The Arapesh is example of non-aggressive culture in which aggression is not admired/reinforced or modelled by adults
-The Mundugmor (Biwat) show opposite pattern; violence=norm and status is determined by aggression amount shown
-Tchambuil - women were impersonal and dominant and men were less responsible and emotionally dependent
Children understood their role in society and by gender
