slt Flashcards
(20 cards)
What is the social learning theory?
Learning through observing others and imitating behaviours that are rewarded
Who proposed the slt and when?
Bandura 1986
What does the social learning theory consist of?
Modelling
Imitation
Identification
Vicarious reinforcement
The role of meditational processes
What is modelling?
A form of learning where individuals learn a particular behaviour by observing another individual performing that behaviour
Examples of different types of models
Live model= parent, teacher, peer
Symbolic model= a character on tv
What is imitation?
The action of using someone or something as a model and copying their behaviour
What does research on imitation show?
Unlike in the slower process of conditioning, when a model is provided, whole patterns of behaviour can be rapidly acquired.
The key determinants of whether a behaviour is imitated are:
1. the characteristics of the model,
2. the observer’s perceived ability to perform that behaviour
3. the observed consequences of the behaviour
What is identification?
a form of influence where an individual adoprs an attitude or behaviour bc they want to be associated w a particular person or group
in order to identify with a model, the observer must feel that they are similar enough to them that they would be likely to experience the same outcomes in that situation
Research into identification
Shutts et al
Suggests that children are more likely to identify with models who are similar to them, particularly same-sex models.
Identification with a model means that the individual is more likely to imitate their behaviour, meaning that social learning is more likely to be effective.
What is vicarious reinforcement?
Learning that is not a result of direct reinforcement of behaviour, but through observing someone else being reinforced for that behaviour
The concept of vicarious reinforcement suggests that individuals do not need to experience rewards or punishments directly in order to learn. Instead, they can observe the consequences experienced by a model and then make judgments as to the likelihood of experiencing these outcomes themselves.
What are mediational processes
Mediational processes= refer to the internal mental processes that exist between environmental stimuli and the respone made by an individual to those stimuli
Role of mediational processes in set
Bandura: in order for social learning to take place, the observer must form mental representations of the behaviour displayed by the model and the probable consequences of that behaviour in terms of expectancies of future outcomes.
When appropriate opportunities arise in the future, the individual might display the learned behaviour provided that the expectation of positive consequences is greater than the expectation of negative consequences.
What is the key study: SLT
Bandura 1961
Procedure of Bandura bobo doll
Experiment involving children who observed aggressive or non-aggressive adult models and were then tested for imitative learning in the absence of the model.
1/2 were exposed to adult models interacting aggressively with a life-sized Bobo doll (e.g., striking it with a mallet and using verbal aggression such as saying “POW”).
1/2 were exposed to non-aggressive models, who interacted with the doll in a calm and subdued manner.
Following exposure to the model, children were frustrated by being shown attractive toys to which they were not allowed access.
They were then taken to a room where, among other toys, there was a Bobo doll.
Findings of Bandura bobo doll
Children who observed the aggressive model reproduced a good deal of physically and verbally aggressive behaviour resembling that of the model.
Children who observed the non-aggressive model exhibited virtually no aggression toward the Bobo doll.
About one-third of the children who observed the aggressive model repeated the model’s verbal responses, while none of the children who observed the non-aggressive model made verbally aggressive remarks.
In a follow-up to this study, Bandura and Walters found that children who saw the model being rewarded for aggressive acts were more likely to show a high level of aggression in their own play.
SLT eval points
str: application
str: rwa
lim: causality
str: research
SLT strength : useful application
The principles of social learning have been usefully applied to increase our understanding of many areas of human behaviour, including criminal behaviour.
Akers: suggests that the probability of someone engaging in criminal behaviour increases when they are exposed to models who commit criminal behaviour, identify with these models, and develop the expectation of positive consequences for their own criminal behaviour.
Ulrich: supports the importance of social learning in this process in his review of the literature, finding that the strongest cause of violent behaviour in adolescents was association with delinquent peer groups, where violence was modelled and rewarded.
SLT strength: RWA identification
The Importance of Identification in Social Learning
Media attempts to change health-related behaviours have shown that models similar to the target audience are more likely to bring about identification and greater social learning.
To achieve this, health campaigns have tried to match characters in terms of physical characteristics, attitudes, and behaviours with the target audience in order to increase the likelihood of identification and, therefore, greater social learning.
Andsager: found that perceived similarity to a model in an anti-alcohol advertisement was positively related to the message’s effectiveness.
Based on this finding, the researchers suggest that some of a message’s potency may be lost if the individual finds it difficult to identify with a given model.
SLT lim: causality
A Problem of Establishing Causality
A major criticism of social learning theory explanations of deviant behaviour is that it is difficult to show that behaviour has been learned solely as a result of observing others.
For example, it is generally the case that young people who hold deviant attitudes and values (e.g., low self-control) seek out peers with similar attitudes and behaviours, as they are more fun to be with.
This means that the cause of delinquency may not be social learning as a result of exposure to deviant role models, but the possession of deviant attitudes prior to contact with deviant peers.
SLT str: research
Research Support for Identification
Research has shown that observing a model similar to the self should lead to more learning than observing a dissimilar model.
Fox and Bailenson 2009: found evidence for this using computer-generated “virtual” humans engaging in exercise or loitering.
These models looked either similar or dissimilar to individual participants.
Participants who viewed their virtual model exercising engaged in more exercise in the 24 hours following the experiment than participants who viewed their virtual model merely loitering or a dissimilar model exercising
