The social learning theory Flashcards
What is the social learning theory?
People learn through observation and imitation of others within a social context, the SLT suggests that learning both happens directly and indirectly. The social learning theorists say that things take place within the organism that mediate between stimulus and response.
What is vicarious reinforcement?
Rather than being directly reinforced the learner observes the consequences of a behaviour for someone else, if the behaviour is seen to be rewarded (reinforced) the learner is likely to imitate it
What are the meditational processes?
Attention= a person pays attention to someone else’s behaviour
Encoding/retention= they memorise the behaviour they have observed
Imitation/motor reproduction= they practise the behaviour themselves
Motivation= given a reason they may use it
What are the assumptions of SLT?
modelling role models imitation identification vicarious reinforcement social context observational learning
What are the methods of SLT?
lab
face validity
informed consent
ecological validity
What is identification?
People, especially children, are more likely to imitate the behaviour of people with whom they identify with, called role models. This process is called modelling. A person becomes a role model if they are seen to posses similar characteristics to the observer and/or are attractive and have a high status.
What are the strengths of the social learning theory?
The importance of cognitive factors in learning - neither classical or operant conditioning can offer an adequate account of learning on their own. Humans and many animals store information about their behaviour of others and use this to make judgements about when it is appropriate to perform certain actions, as such SLT provides a more comprehensive explanation of human learning by recognising the role of meditational processes.
Explains cultural differences in behaviour - SLT has the advantage of being able to explain cultural differences in behaviour. SLT principles can account for how children learn from other individuals around them, as well as through the media, and this can explain how cultural norms are transmitted through particular societies.
What are the weakness of the social learning theory?
Over-reliance on evidence from lab studies - many of Bandura’s ideas were developed through observation of young children in lab settings. Lab studies are often criticised for their artificial nature which may lead to demand characteristics, causing the results to have a lower validity.
Underestimates the influence of biological factors - Bandura makes little reference to the impact of biological factors on social learning. One consistent finding throughout the Bobo doll experiment was that boys were overall more aggressive than girls, this may be explained through the hormone testosterone which is more present in boys than girls, which is linked to aggressive behaviour. These findings are not accounted for with the SLT.
