The Learning Approach: Social Learning Theory

Question 1

Who supported the behavourist on learning by direct experiment?

Answer 1

• Bandura
• Skinner
• Pavlov
• Watson

Question 2

Who argued that behaviour is learnt by direct and indirect experiences?

Answer 2

Bandura

Question 3

What are the four stages of Social Learning Theory (Mediational Processes)?

Answer 3

• Attention
• Retention
• Reproduction
• Motivation

Question 4

What happens during motivation?

Answer 4

-Individual must expect to receive the same positive reinforcement for imitating the observed behaviour seen

Question 5

What happens during attention?

Answer 5

-Individuals need to pay attention to behaviour and its consequences

Question 6

What happens during retention?

Answer 6

The individual stores the observed behaviour in memory

Question 7

What happens during reproduction?

Answer 7

-Individual must be able to reproduce the observed behaviour

Question 8

Who carried out the Bobo doll experiment?

Answer 8

Bandura

Question 9

When did the Bobo doll experiment?

Answer 9

1961

Question 10

What was the sample of the Bobo doll experiement?

Answer 10

36 boys/36 girls aged between 3 to 6 years old

Question 11

What was the conditions of the Bobo doll experiment?

Answer 11

• Aggressive model shown to 24 children:
• Non-aggressive model shown to 24 children
• No model shown (control condition) - 24 children

Question 12

What were the procedures of the Bobo doll experiment?

Answer 12

• Children, after watching the video, taken to a room with aggressive and non-aggressive toys
• Behaviour observed through a one-way mirror

Question 13

Results of the Bobo doll experiments?

Answer 13

• Children who has an aggressive model tend to use more aggressive tos
• Boys imitated more physically aggressive than girls
• Boys more likely to imitate same-sex models than girls

Question 14

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 14

Children observe other people’s behaviour and take note of its consequences

Question 15

What effect does identification have on behaviour?

Answer 15

Children more likely to imitate the behaviour of whom they identify

Question 16

Why are role models important?

Answer 16

More likely to imitate due to be similar to the observer

Question 17

What are strengths of social learning theory?

Answer 17

• Gives an adequate account of learning on their own (unlike behaviourism) = importance of cognitive factors
• Account for cultural differences
• Less deterministic than the behaviourist approach

Question 18

What are the weaknesses of the social learning theory?

Answer 18

• Heavy on lab experiments, artificial stimulus, low ecological validity, lack of generalisablity
• Underestimates biological factors such as boys tend to more aggressive than girls, may be due to higher testosterone levels