Social Learning Theory

Question 1

What is social learning theory

Answer 1

It is the theory that behaviour is learnt through both direct and indirect reinforcements with the role of cognitive factors

Question 2

Who created the social learning theory

Answer 2

Albert Bandura

Question 3

Did bandura agree with behaviourists

Answer 3

Yes but there was still a difference

Question 4

What was the difference in what bandura thought and what the behaviourists thought

Answer 4

His theory produced a different approach in how people learn, which is through the observation and imitation of others

Question 5

Define vicarious reinforcement

Answer 5

Reinforcement which is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour and this is a key elements of imitation.

Question 6

What is imitation

Answer 6

Coping the behaviour of others

Question 7

What are mediational processes

Answer 7

They are cognitive factors that influence learning and come between stimulus and responses

Question 8

What are the 4 mediational processes

Answer 8

Attention, retention, Motor reproduction and motivation

Question 9

What is attention

Answer 9

When the participant notices something

Question 10

What is retention

Answer 10

How well the behaviour is remembered

Question 11

What is motor reproduction

Answer 11

The ability of the observer to perform the behaviour

Question 12

What is motivation

Answer 12

The will to perform the behaviour, which is often determined by if there is a reward or not

Question 13

What do attentions and retention represent

Answer 13

The learning of behaviour

Question 14

What do motor reproduction and motivation represent

Answer 14

The performance of the behaviour

Question 15

What is identification

Answer 15

When an observer associates themselves with a role model and wants to be like them

Question 16

What is a role model

Answer 16

Someone you look up to, has similar characteristics, has good qualities

Question 17

What is modelling

Answer 17

The process of imitating a role model

Question 18

What was Bandura first experiment

Answer 18

Where he recorded how children, who watched adults behave in an aggressive way towards Bodo Dolls, would react if the same situation was presented to them

Question 19

What was seen from Banduras first experiment

Answer 19

That children who witnessed aggressive behaviour, would imitate that behaviour onto the toys

Question 20

Who was the other person who conducted the 2nd study with bandura

Answer 20

Walter

Question 21

What was the Bandura and Walter experiment

Answer 21

showed videos to children where an adult behaved aggressivly towards the Bobo doll. One group of children saw the adult praised for their behaviour. A second group saw the adult punished for their aggression towards the doll,by being told of. The third group (control goup) saw the aggression without any consequnce.

Question 22

what is the 1st strength of SLT

Answer 22

P- recognises the importance of cognitive factors in learning
E-Neither classical or operant conditioning can offer adequate account of learning on their own
E- Humans and animal store information about the behaviour of others and use this to make judgments about when it is appropriate to perform certain actions.
L- provides a more comprehensive explanation of human learning by recognising the role of mediational processes

Question 23

what is the counterpoint of the 1st strength

Answer 23

P- critisised for the lack of reference on biological factors on social learning
E-although he claimed natural biological differenced had an influence, he though learning itself was determined by the enviroment
E- recent researches show that this may be a result of mirror neaurons in the brain which allows us to emphasis with and imitate other
L- biological factors where ubder-emphasisted

Question 24

what is the 2nd strength

Answer 24

P - SLT principles have been applied to a range of real world behaviours
E- SLT has the advantage of being able to explain cultural differences in behaviour. The principles such as modelling, imitation and reinforcement account for how children learn from
others around them including the media.
E- This is useful in understanding a range of behaviours, such as how children come to understand their gender role
L- This increases the value of the approach as it can account for real world behaviour

Question 25

What is the 1st limitation of SLT

Answer 25

P -that the evidence based was gathered through lab studies
E- Many of Bandura’s ideas were developed through observation of young children’s behaviour in a lab. Lab studies are often criticised for their contrived nature where participants may respond to demand characteristics.
E- in relation to the Bobo doll, the main purpose of the doll is to strike it, the children were simply behaving in that way as that was expected
L- This suggest that the research may tell us little about how children actually learn aggression in everyday life.

Question 26

what is the 3rd strength of SLT

Answer 26

P - Bandura emphasize reciprocal determinism
E-In the sense that we are not merely influenced by our external environment but we also exert an influence upon it through the behaviours we wish to perform
E- This element of choices suggests that we have some free will
L- This contrasts with the behaviourist approach which denies the possibility of free will.

Question 27

what is reciprocal determinism

Answer 27

the theory set forth by Bandura which states that a person’s behavior both influences and is influenced by personal factors and the social environment