L4 - The Learning Theory - Social Learning Theory & Bandura’s Research

Question 1

What is social learning theory?

Answer 1

• New patterns of behaviour can be learnt by observing the behaviour of others
• during learning people preform behaviours & observe different consequences such as punishment/reinforcement
• behaviour is learnt from environment & also considers cognitive approach
• explains how behaviour can be learnt - Bandura(1977)

Question 2

key points about social learning theory

Answer 2

• modelling
• imitation
• identification
• vicarious reinforcement
• meditational processes (cognition)

Question 3

Modelling

Answer 3

• Social learning requires a person to model or carry out the behaviour, so that the observer can lear the behaviour
• The model can be live e.g. a parent or a peer group, or it could be symbolic such as a TV character
• Models provide examples of behaviour which can be learned by imitation

Question 4

Imitation

Answer 4

• Children learn behaviours via imitation that are modelled by significant others and this process tends to be more rapid than using classical or operant conditioning.
• Key characteristics of successful imitation includes the factors of
  A) The characteristics of the model (age, gender etc) - can identify with them
  B) the observers perceived ability to preform the behaviour shown
  C) the observed consequence of behaviour (positive or negative)

Question 5

Identification

Answer 5

• This is the extent to which the observer relates to the model and feels that he/she is similar to them so that they could experience the same outcomes as the model
• person would aim to be like the model as much as they could
• Children are likely to identify with a model of the same sex as themselves in order for social learning to be effective

Question 6

Vicarious reinforcement

Answer 6

• Children who observed a model who got rewarded for showing aggressive behaviour were more likely to imitate the it compared to children who observed a model being punished for showing it
• This is vicarious reinforcement and shows that individuals do not need to experience rewards or punishment directly in order to learn new behaviours
• They can observe the consequences of behaviours by observing a model, and if rewards are given to the model, then children are more likely to imitate the behaviour shown

Question 7

Meditational processes (cognition)

Answer 7

• Social learning places importance on internal cognitive mediational processes
• The observer must form a mental representation of the behaviour being displayed by the model and the likely consequences of the behaviour in terms of expectancies
• The observer might display the learned behaviour, provided there is the expectation that positive consequences are more likely to occur than negative consequences
• Mediational processes involve the following points:
  A) Attention - The observer must pay attention and notice the behaviour of the model
  B) Retention - The observer must remember the behaviour of the model
  C) Motor reproduction - The observer must be able to perform the behaviour
  D) Motivation - The observer must be willing to perform the behaviour in light of rewards

Question 8

Evaluation of social learning theory

Answer 8

strengths
- understand criminal behaviour
- effective when model is similar
- comprehensive view
weaknesses
- cause and effect
- ignores other influences
- environmental determinism

Question 9

Understanding criminal behaviour

Answer 9

• Social learning theory has its strengths
• It has provided great understanding of how criminal behaviour is learnt
• Akers (1993) found that criminals seem to engage in more criminal behaviour when they are exposed to a model that they can highly identify with e.g. same gender/age range

Question 10

Effective when model is similar

Answer 10

• A strength of Social learning theory is that it is more effective when the model is very similar to the observer (rather than dissimilar)
• If the observer is similar to the model, it makes it easier for the observer to visualise themselves in the place of the model and feel like they are having the same experience
• Fox (2009) found evidence to suggest that when an observer played a computer game that had a model that looked very similar to themselves, they were more likely to engage in the same behaviours as the model

Question 11

Cause and effect

Answer 11

• Social learning theory can be criticised because it does not take into account cause and effect.
• For instance, research has found that increased associations with peers can increase the likelihood of delinquent behaviour in young people through learning poor behaviour
• However, we cannot assume that delinquency is caused by social learning theory alone.
• Other factors could cause delinquency such as deviant and poor attitudes that the person has held before

Question 12

Ignores other influences

Answer 12

• Social learning theory can be criticised because it ignores other potential influences on behaviour
• For example Social learning theory would ignore the role of biology or genetics which could cause people to behave in certain ways
• For example Bandura found in his experiment that boys were more aggressive than girls, regardless of the experimental situation they were in

Question 13

Comprehensive view

Answer 13

• Social learning theory is good because it gives a more comprehensive view of human learning when compared to operant and classical conditioning
• Social learning theory recognises the importance of both behavioural and cognitive factors (meditational processes) when examining how people learn new behaviours

Question 14

Environmental determinism

Answer 14

• The Social learning theory can be criticised because it sees behaviour as being determined by the environment (environmental determinism) rather than being caused by other factors such as genetics or innate behaviour
• This can pose a criticism because genetics is a very big factor that can determine human behaviour, and the social learning theory ignores this factor

Question 15

Social learning theory key study

Answer 15

Bandura’s bobo doll experiment (1961)

Question 16

Bandura’s bobo doll experiment (1961) method

Answer 16

• observational study involving 36 male and 36 female children aged 37-69 months
• had to observe either an aggressive/non aggressive female/male model interacting with a bobo doll
• In one condition the aggressive model displayed aggressive acts towards the bobo doll such as striking it with a mallet and shouting verbally aggressive words such as, “POW!”
• After the children observed these aggressive acts, they were made to feel frustrated - were shown attractive toys but told they were not allowed to play with them
• The children (one by one) were then taken to a room which had some toys including a bobo doll (other toys include a mallet, a dart gun and some non aggressive toys too)
• The children were observed for 20 minutes

Question 17

Bandura’s bobo doll experiment (1961) results

Answer 17

• The results found that the children who observed the aggressive model reproduced the same aggressive behaviour towards the bobo doll, whereas the children who observed the non aggressive model, showed no aggression to the bobo doll.
• 33% of children who observed and heard verbal aggression repeated what they had seen and heard,
  “POW!”
• 0% of children in the non aggressive group displayed verbal aggression
• In a follow up study, children observed a model being rewarded for their aggressive behaviour, and this increased the likelihood that the children would also be aggressive towards the bobo doll
• Boys seem to more aggressive than girls, and imitation of aggression was greatest when the model was the same gender as the observer.

Question 18

Evaluation of Bandura’s bobo doll experiment (1961)

Answer 18

strengths
Lab study
Good evidence
weaknesses
Lab study
Use of bobo doll
Short term effects
Ethical issues

Question 19

Lab study (strength)

Answer 19

• Conducting research in a laboratory setting has the advantage that the study is highly controlled to ensure that the independent variable (watching a model behave aggressively) does have an effect on the dependent variable (learning and aggression levels)
• It also ensures that the study is highly reliable and the results are likely to be replicated in the future

Question 20

Lab study (weakness)

Answer 20

• Conducting research in a laboratory setting has the disadvantage that the results gained about social learning might not be able to be generalised to the wider population and might lack ecological validity
• Also, observational research has the limitation that participants might show demand characteristics and guess the aim of the study and distort their behaviour giving invalid results about social learning theory

Question 21

Bobo doll criticised

Answer 21

• The use of a bobo doll in Bandura’s experiment has been criticised
• The bobo doll is quite unique, and it is meant to be hit and thrown about because it “bounces back” into the same position
• Critics have stated that a bobo doll is meant to be played with in an aggressive manner and therefore the results gained from Bandura’s study do not tell us much about social learning behaviour
• Maybe the bobo doll should have been replaced with another toy such as a teddy bear

Question 22

Short term effects

Answer 22

• The study by Bandura has been criticised because the bobo doll experiment is only examining the short term effects of social learning that are occurring within the experiment itself
• We do not know whether the children left the experiment and behaved aggressively in the future (due to social learning theory), so therefore we do not know how powerful and influential social learning theory is as a method of learning.

Question 23

Ethical issues

Answer 23

• Ethical issues can be a problem in this study
• The children need to be protected from psychological harm in the fact they are being taught to be more aggressive
• If they behave aggressively in real life e.g. hit toys and others then this could lead to negative consequences and punishment
• There is also the issue of physical harm whereby the children might wish to inflict harm on others because they have seen a model perform the same behaviours
• All of the children should have been debriefed after the study to ensure that they were told the true aim, purpose and implications of social learning theory

Question 24

Provides good evidence

Answer 24

• The research conducted by Bandura has the advantage the of providing very good evidence that social learning theory is a powerful way for children to learn new behaviours (positive and negative ones).
• This has the implication that we should be very aware of the role of media (e.g. TV and video games) on young children as they might be very easily influenced by what they see on TV etc, and might imitate negative/aggressive behaviours.