topic 6 - understanding learning theories as an explanation of criminality

Question 1

who developed the operant conditioning theory?

Answer 1

it was developed by Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1948)

Question 2

What did Skinner believe about operant conditioning?

Answer 2

He believed that the behaviours which we display are likely to be repeated if they are reinforced or not repeated if they are punished.

Question 3

what is operant conditioning? define it.

Answer 3

operant conditioning is learning from the consequences of actions.

Question 4

what is positive reinforcement? give examples

Answer 4

positive reinforcement is strengthening our behaviour by receiving a reward.

examples could be (doesn’t always need to be a positive situation but has to be a positive outcome):

• a robber robbing a bank and stealing a lot of money
• a child getting a housepoint in school as a result of finishing their homework

Question 5

what is negative reinforcement? give examples

Answer 5

negative reinforcement is strengthening our behaviour by avoiding an unpleasant situation.

examples could be:

• stealing food because someone is hungry
• punching someone because they are bullying you

Question 6

what is positive punishment? give examples

Answer 6

positive punishment is weakening our behaviour by receiving a negative consequence.

examples could be:

• being told off by a parent for screaming
• being imprisoned for committing a murder

Question 7

what is negative punishment? give examples

Answer 7

negative punishment is weakening our behaviour by taking away something pleasant as a consequence.

examples could be:

• a child being disruptive in a birthday party so their parents remove them
• a person in a gang refusing to participate so are forced to leave the gang.

Question 8

what are primary reinforcers and examples of this? give examples of crimes

Answer 8

this is a type of reinforcer which encourages our behaviour to satisfy our biological need and basic survival such as food: food and water.

most criminals act for secondary reinforcers but criminals that are in extreme poverty may steal food or water in order to survive.

Question 9

what are secondary reinforcers and examples of this? give examples of crimes

Answer 9

this a common reinforcer with no survival value but we associate it as a necessity which then strengthens our behaviour. Examples could be credit cards, money, luxury items etc.

Question 10

what are strength/s of the operant conditioning learning theory?

Answer 10

one strength is that the theory can be used to explain a wide range of crimes. An example could be murder where the murderer finds out that their friend is stealing from them and they kill them which is negative reinforcement where the murderer is taking away an unpleasant situation.

another strength is it explains that punishment can remove undesirable behaviour. This is adapted into the criminal justice system where offenders are punished through being imprisoned. As well as, developing behaviour management techniques such as token economies where good behaviour is rewarded as a form of positive reinforcement and the tokens can be exchanged for goods or treats.

Question 11

what are weakness/es of the operant conditioning learning theory?

Answer 11

one weakness is that operant conditioning is reductionist and may not explain all crimes. Not all crimes are committed because of receiving reinforcement or punishment, some crimes are more complicated than that. The theory neglects other factors that can cause criminal behaviour such as personality type or genetics.

Another weakness is that behaviour can be reproduced in the absence of reinforcement or punishment. A big part of whether someone chooses to commit a crime can be due to the way they think or a different form of motivation than reward. An example could be someone doesn’t feel valued in their workplace so decides to steal or vandalise it as revenge. Operant conditioning doesn’t take into consideration an alternative motivation for crimes.

Question 12

who developed social learning theory?

Answer 12

The theory was developed by Albert Bandura (1977)

Question 13

what is social learning theory?

Answer 13

it is a social theory which explains that behaviour is learned as a consequence of observing and modelling others around us.

Question 14

what is social learning theory also known as and define this.

Answer 14

it is also known as observational learning. Observational learning is the learning of new behaviours from watching and modelling a role model.

Question 15

what is modelling?

Answer 15

modelling is learning a new behaviour through paying attention to, retaining and reproducing the behaviour of a role model.

Question 16

what is a role model?

Answer 16

a person who we admire or someone we share similar characteristics with.

Question 17

what is the FIRST step to the social learning process?

Answer 17

Attention:

In order to learn something new we must be able to and want to pay attention to it.

Question 18

what is the SECOND step to the social learning process?

Answer 18

Retention:

For the replication and learning of the behaviour, we must be able to store and retain the new behaviour in our memory.

Question 19

what is the THIRD step to the social learning process?

Answer 19

Reproduction:

this is to be able to replicate the new behaviour which we previously observed but it must be practiced.

Question 20

what is the FOURTH step to the social learning process?

Answer 20

Motivation:
We are more likely to model a behaviour we have observed someone do if we are motivated to reproduce it. This motivation can be intrinsic which means that we gain pleasure from copying it. Another way to gain motivation is through vicarious reinforcement where we see the model receiving a reward for this behaviour so we copy it in order to receive the same reward.

Question 21

what is the FIFTH step to the social learning process?

Answer 21

Identification:

This is when we adopt the behaviour, beliefs and values of the role model or group temporarily.

Question 22

how many steps are there in the social learning theory process?

Answer 22

five steps being: attention, retention, reproduction, motivation and identification.

Question 23

what is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 23

vicarious reinforcement is the motivation to model the behaviours of others who we see are being rewarded for their behaviour.

Question 24

how can social learning theory be used to explain criminal behaviour?

Answer 24

it can be used to explain criminal behaviour because if a person is exposed to criminality especially when they are younger, then they are more likely to pay attention and retain this, especially if they are able to see the tole model rewarded for their activities.

Question 25

what are the strengths of social learning theory?

Answer 25

1. evidence to support the social learning theory through the study conducted by Bandura (1960s) where a series of experiments were designed for nursery-aged children. They were exposed to aggressive and non-aggressive role models. Bandura concluded that aggression was copied especially if the role-model was of the same gender and if the role model was rewarded for displaying aggression.
2. Observational learning is one of the main ways children learn new behaviour and can explain this behaviour in the absence of reinforcement. behaviours can be learned through consequences and we can simply watch and imitate.
3. Can explain why some people exposed to criminality become criminals and others do not. It does this through explaining that although behaviour must be observed, the motivation to model the behaviour to commit a crime may be absent so they may not copy it.

Question 26

what are the weaknesses of social learning theory?

Answer 26

1. Despite experimental evidence, the study conducted by Bandura can only measures the short-term effect by learning from an aggressive role model as it is not ethical to test whether exposure to aggression may have long-term effects. It cannot be tested in real life situations
2. Another weakness is that some criminal behaviour cannot be explained by observational learning ie murder. Murder is rarely witnessed in real life. It cannot explain opportunistic crime that has not been observed by the criminal. Another example could be fraud and how instead of it being learned through observation it is typically driven by financial gain.