Approaches in Psychology-Social Learning Theory Flashcards
Who developed Social Learning Theory?
Albert Bandura
How do we learn according to SLT?
We learn by observing other people’s behaviour- imitation
What did Bandura say about classical and operant conditioning?
He said classical and operant conditioning could not explain all human behaviour according to Bandura
What are the assumptions of the approach?
- Agrees with behaviourists with the fact that much behaviour is learned from experience
- Learning occurs through observation and imitation of role models
- Concerned with human rather than animal brain
What is the difference between humans and animals in terms of the brain?
Bandura believed that there are important mental processes that lie between stimulus and response
What is vicarious reinforcement?
When we see the behaviour of other people being reinforced positively/negatively
Who did Bandura say we pay particular attention to?
He said we pay particular attention to role models and learn their because they are the people we identify with the most e.g. children are prone to copying the behaviour of athletes or TV characters
What are the two types of models?
- Live Models: People present in our environment (teachers, parents etc.)
- Symbolic models: People present in the media
What is needed to be an effective role model?
Same gender, same age, higher status
What is the role of mediational processes?
The role is in learning and ‘doing’ the behaviour seen
How do mediational processes work?
Behaviour is noticed by others (attention) and remembered (retention), then if there is reward (motivation), the behaviour may be copied later (reproduction)
What was Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment of 1961?
Aim- To see if children would learn and imitate aggression from watching adult role models
Procedure- Children observed adult role mode being aggressive/non-aggressive to doll. The children were then exposed to mild frustration (e.g. being presented sweet but can’t have) before being left in a room with a bobo doll
Results- Many children who saw adult being aggressive went on to imitate the aggression, less aggressive adult less aggressive children
Conclusion- Children exposed to aggressive role models are likely to imitate their behaviour
Strengths of SLT?
- SLT accepts that cognitive processes are involved in learning and is not just an automatic process
- SLT can have useful applications e.g. social skills training aims to model positive behaviour to reduce criminal behaviour
- Helps to explain cultural differences in behaviour as parents that hit children = children likely to hit next children in some cultures
- Practical applications e.g. age restrictions on video games etc
Negatives of SLT?
- Tends to ignore the role of biological factors in shaping behaviour
- Much of the evidence to support SLT comes from lab studies thus it may explain behaviour in controlled settings but may not relate to real-life behaviour in the same way
