Approaches - Social Learning Theory Flashcards
AO1
- Imitation – copying the behaviour of others which is shown through Bandura’s research
- Role model – a person who is seen to possess similar characteristics to the observer and/or are admired for their achievement and have high status
- Identification – when an observer associated themselves with a role model and wants to be like the role model
- Modelling – the role model demonstrates (models) a specific behaviour that can be imitated by the observer. The observer imitates (models) the behaviour of a role model
- Mediational Processes – cognitive processes that occur between a stimulus and a response which includes attention, retention, motivation and motor reproduction
- Vicarious Reinforcement – reinforcement that occurs through observing someone else being rewarded for their behaviour. If an individual observes a role model being rewarded for a behaviour then they are more likely to be motivated to imitate that behaviour
AO3
- A strength of the Social Learning Theory approach is that it can be applied to real-life situations
- For example, Bandura et al (1961) recorded behaviour of children after they has seen a adult act violently towards a Bobo doll and he later watched the children also act aggressively towards the doll, showing how children imitated this behaviour
- This is a strength because it offers clear evidence that children will observe the behaviours of others, as predicted by SLT
- However, some psychologists may argue that there was an inconsistent finding in the Bobo doll experiments. Boys acted more aggressively than girls regardless of the experimental condition which may be explained by the different levels of testosterone as boys have a higher level (testosterone is linked to aggression). This means that Bandura underestimated biological factors on social learning theory
- Despite this, the initial point is still a significant strength of the approach
- Thus increasing it’s internal validity and credibility as an explanation of behaviour
- A strength of social learning theory is that it is able to explain cultural differences.
Cultural differences are the various beliefs, languages, practices and expressions considered unique to members of a specific ethnicity, race or natural origin. For example, cultures differ in what they could wear or the way they greet each other. The approach describes how we learn form others around us by either imitating their behaviour or identifying with models. For example, a child brought up in France learnt to greet people by noticing other meet with a kiss on both sides of the face. If the child moved to England, he would then realise that the way to greet Is most commonly saying ‘hi’ or shaking their hand and so they would imitate this - This is a strength as, unlike other approaches, it is able to explain why people in different cultures act in the way they do, increasing it’s applicability
- However, some psychologists may argue that the research it relies upon is on children, thus limiting the trust we have in the application of this approach
- Despite this, it is still an advantage of the approach as it has been useful in understanding a range of behaviours in different cultures, aiding the external validity of the expression
- Thus increasing the validity of the approach
- A weakness of this approach is that the theory heavily relies on lab studies to support it
- Bandura et al recorded the behaviour of children who watched an adult act aggressively towards a Bobo doll.
- The use of lab studies within social learning theory, as illustrated, is often criticised as the participants may show demand characteristics as they know they are being watched and therefore may behave in a way to support the hypothesis, which would make the results less valid/invalid
- Some psychologists may argue that the use of lab experiments allows for precise control of extraneous and independent variables. This allows a cause and effect relationship to be established.
- Despite that, this (overall) proves to be a weakness of the Social Learning Theory approach as the participants knew that they were being looked over and so acted to prove the hypothesis
- Thus reducing the trust we have in the results outlined by the approach and the usefulness of the approach
imitation
copying the behaviour of others
role model
a person who is seen to possess similar characteristics to the observer and/or are admired for their achievement and high status
identification
when an observer associates themselves with a role model and wants to be like the role model
modelling
the role model demonstrates (models) a specific behaviour that can be imitated by the observer
the observer imitates (models) the behaviour of the role model
mediational processes
cognitive processes that occur between a stimulus (role model’s behaviour) and a response (imitation)
what are the four mediational processes
A R M M
Attention
Retention
Motivation
Motor Reproduction
direct reinforcement
an individual’s behaviour is rewarded directly and therefore they are more likely to repeat the behaviour
indirect reinforcement
also known as vicarious reinforcement
reinforcement that occurs through observing someone else being rewarded for their behaviour. If an individual observes a role model being rewarded for a behaviour then they are more likely to be motivated to imitate that behaviour
Attention
Learning can only take place if a model is attended to
more attention is paid to role models who have status and those that we can identify with e.g. individuals of the same gender
Retention
Learning will only take place if the Behaviour we have observed is stored in memory
Motor Reproduction
This relates to the performance of behaviour. the observer must be physically able to perform the behaviour for imitation to occur. For example a child may want to imitate the skills of a footballer but lack the necessary ability required to reproduce the behaviour
Motivational processes
The consequence of behaviour can be direct or vicarious and would determine the observers will to perform the behaviour.
Positive reinforcement would encourage behaviour to be repeated.
Punishment reduces the likelihood of imitation
SLT study
Bandura et al
Bobo Doll study
To find out if children would show more aggressive behaviour if exposed to an aggressive role model and less aggressive behaviour if exposed to a non-aggressive role model
Method
72 children were split into three groups of 24 (12 boys, 12 girls)
Condition 1 - aggressive
role model (used both male and female role models) being aggressive physically and verbally to the doll
Condition 2 - non aggressive
observed an adult assembling a toy showing no aggression
Condition 3 - control
no adult model was observed
second room filled with toys played for 20 minutes and observed and recorded imitative aggression, partial aggression and non-imitative aggression
Findings
children who had observed the aggressive models (condition 1) displayed higher levels of aggressive behaviour to the doll than those in either of the other two conditions.
Children were more likely to directly imitate same sex models
Conc = behaviour can be learned by observation and imitations. Individuals are more likely to imitate role models that they can identify with e.g. those of the same gender
