The Learning Approach-Social Learning Theory Flashcards
What did Albert Bandura believe?
He agreed with the behaviourist approach that learning occurs through experience. He also proposed that learning takes place in a social context through observation and imitation of others’ behaviour.
Define vicarious reinforcement.
Learning related to consequences of behaviour.
What is the process of vicarious reinforcement?
Children and adults observe other people’s behaviour and take note of its consequences.
When is behaviour more likely to be repeated?
When the behaviour is seen to be rewarded.
What is it called when learning is related to the consequence of a behaviour?
Vicarious reinforcement
What are the 4 mediational processes?
- Attention
- Retention
- Motor reproduction
- Motivation
What is attention?
Whether behaviour is noticed.(learning)
What is retention?
Whether behaviour is remembered.(learning)
Wha is motor reproduction?
Having the ability to do it.(Performance)
What is motivation?
The will to perform the behaviour. (Performance)
Why is identification important?
Children are more likely to imitate the behaviour of people whom they identify.
Outline Bandura’s research
- Children watched either a. An adult behaving aggressively towards a bobo doll or b. An adult behaving in a non-aggressive manner towards the bobo doll
- Children saw an adult who was a. Rewarded b. Punished or c. Given no consequence for their behaviour.
What did Bandura find?
- When given a bobo doll to play with, the children who witnessed aggression were much more likely to be aggressive towards the doll.
- Children who saw aggression being rewarded showed much higher levels of aggression.
What do the bobo doll studies suggest?
Children are likely to imitate acts of violence if they observe an adult model carrying out this behaviour first.
Name one strength of the social learning theory.
It emphasises the importance of cognitive factors in learning and provides a more complete explanation explanation of human learning than the behaviourist approach.
