Social Learning Theory

Question 1

who proposed the social learning theory

Answer 1

albert bandura

Question 2

explain what observational learning is

Answer 2

• where children observe the people around them behaving in various ways
• these are called models
• chldren pay attention to some of the models and retain their behaviour

Question 3

if we are similar to our role models, we can describe this as …….. with them

Answer 3

identification

Question 4

explain 3 processes that make it more likely a child will reproduce a behaviour they have observed

Answer 4

• the child is more likely to imitate those people it perceives as itself. Eg, the same gender
• the people around the child will respond to the behaviour it imitates with either reinforcement or punishment. If the consequences are rewarding then the child is likely to repeat
• the child will also take into account what happens to other people when deciding wether or not to copy someones actions. This is known as vicarious reinforcement

Question 5

what are the 4 mediational processes proposed by bandura

Answer 5

• attention
• retention
• reproduction
• motivation

Question 6

explain the attention mediational process

Answer 6

the individual needs to pay attention to the behaviour and its consequences

Question 7

explain the retention mediational process

Answer 7

a memory of the behaviour is formed

Question 8

explain the reproduction mediational process

Answer 8

the ability to perform the behaviour

Question 9

explain the motivation mediational process

Answer 9

the rewards and punishment that follow a behaviour will be considered. If the perceived rewards outweigh the cost then the behaviour will be more likely to be imitated

Question 10

what was banduras key study called

Answer 10

the bobo doll experiment

Question 11

what was the 3 different conditions in the bobo doll experiment

Answer 11

1. aggressive model
2. non aggressive model
3. no model is shown (control group)

Question 12

what were the results of the bobo doll experiment

Answer 12

• children who observed the aggressive model made far more aggressive responses
• the girls showed more physcial aggression if the model was male but more verbal aggression if the model was female
• boys were more likely to imitate same sex models
• boys were more physical

Question 13

give a strength of social learning theory

PEEL

Answer 13

• recognising mediational processes
• eg, classical or operant conditioning cant offer an adequat account of learning
• provides a more comprehensive explanation of human learning
• higher validity

Question 14

give a limitation of social leanring theory

PEEL

Answer 14

• reliance on evidence from lab studies which may lack ecological validity
• banduras bobo dell experiment, participants may have demand characteristics
• this means the children were only behaving simply in a way they thought was expected
• therefore, the research may tell us little about how children learn aggression in everyday life. Lacking ecological validity

Question 15

What was Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment

Answer 15

• bandura showed children one of three conditions: an aggressive model, non aggressive model and no model (control)
• after being midly frustrated, children were observed in a room with toys
• those who saw aggression were more likely to imitate - especially boys when the model was the same sec