Social Learning Theory

Question 1

What is it?

Answer 1

Bandura argues that we learn much of our behaviour - including aggressive behaviour - by imitating other people.
Bandura calls these people ‘models’

Question 2

How does it explain causes of criminality?

Answer 2

Learn from ‘models’.
Whether we imitate mainly depends on the consequences of that behaviour. If we see a model being rewarded for their
behaviour, we are more likely to imitate it.

Question 3

Research study - Bo-Bo Doll expt.

Answer 3

4-5 yr olds shown film of an adult being aggressive towards a doll

Group 1: Saw version where model = rewarded. Later they imitated the behaviour on doll

Group 2: Saw version where model = punished (told off). Least likely to imitate

Group 3: Control group. Model = neither rewarded/punished. Imitated model but less than group 1

Question 4

Strengths

Answer 4

Takes into account the fact humans are social beings and learn from the experiences of others.
Bandura shows that children who observed aggressive behaviour being rewarded, imitated that behaviour. This shows the importance of role models in learning.

Question 5

Weaknesses

Answer 5

Theory is based on laboratory experiments which are artificial settings and the findings might not be valid in real life situations.
Theory assumes that behaviour is completely determined by learning experiences and ignores their
freedom of choice.