Social Learning Theory (Bandura) Flashcards
(17 cards)
What does SLT claim?
That behaviour is learnt through the imitation of role models.
What are the four stages of SLT?
Modelling
Identification
Observation
Imitation
What is modelling?
Modelling- a behaviour is modelled by a role model. This is someone who is looked up to- a parent, a friend, a celebrity etc.
What is identification?
Identification- The observer needs to identify with the role model- we are more likely to observe someone we see as similar to ourselves or someone we see as high status.
What is observation?
Observation- the behaviour needs to be observed and paid attention to through meditational process.
What is imitation?
Finally, the behaviour is imitated and so is learned. Whether it is repeated again depends on whether the behaviour is reinforced.
What is vicarious reinforcement?
This is when a role model gets rewarded for a behaviour and this makes the observer more likely to imitate this behaviour.
What is vicarious punishment?
When a role model gets punished for a behaviour and this makes the observer less likely to imitate their behaviour.
What is modelling and identification in terms of being a role model?
We are more likely to imitate someone if we are similar to the role model (gender, age, race), if the role model has high status and if their behaviour has been reinforced. People are much more likely to imitate the behaviour of people with whom they identify with, called role models. This process is modelling.
A person becomes a role model if they are seen to posses similar characteristics to the observer and are attractive and have high status. Role models may not necessarily be physically present in the environment, and this has important implications for the influence of the media on behaviour.
What is the role of the meditational process?
SLT is often described as the bridge between behaviourism and the cognitive approach as it focuses on how cognitive factors are involved in learning.
These mental factors mediate the learning process to determine whether a new response is required.
There are 4 parts to the meditational process.
What are the 4 parts of the meditational process?
Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation
What is attention?
The learner must pay attention to the role models behaviour.
(Grabbing our attention)
What is retention?
The information must be retained on the individuals long term memory store.
(There needs to be a memory)
What is reproduction?
The observer must be able to reproduce the behaviour.
(We are limited by our abilities- this influences our decision to try or not)
What is motivation?
The individual needs motivation to relocate this behaviour.
(Through vicarious reinforcement- rewards are motivation- is is worth it or not?)
What are the strengths of SLT?
- Scientific credibility, reliable- Bandura conducted experiments which provide evidence for SLT whcih have scientific credibility. He used standardised procedures and a matched pairs design and controlled extraneous variables. All children experienced the same frustration of not playing with toys before being observed with the bobo doll. He found that children would imitate aggression they had watched in response to a bobo doll, even if the role model was filmed or dressed as a cartoon cat.
- Applicable, valid- SLT has a big contribution to society, it’s applications to the real world suggest the theory’s inherent construct validity. Much of Bandura’s work on violence on TV and children’s imitation, led to a censorship in the media like the watershed at 9pm and an age rating system. SLT is also applied to anorexia like fashion shows banning size 0 models. Also modelling- watching other people show calm responses to feared stimuli can help reduce phobias.
- Holistic- SLT considers cognitive processes unlike CC and OC (attention, retention, self-efficacy are key components in human behaviour). According to SLT, these are mental processes and this makes it less reductionist and deterministic.
- SLT is more able to accommodate individual differences in human behaviour than the other theories (not all exposed to the same role models, pay the same attention to, are motivated to imitate in the same way, do not have the same levels of self-efficacy). This account for different ways that we develop considering the different cultural behaviours we may observe and imitate and the different role models we may identify with.
- Applicable- Bastion et Al (2011) found that playing violent video games can lead to a tendency to dehumanise others. Bandura incorporated this idea into SLT in 2001 stating humans use mechanisms of self-regulation to maintain moral judgment, but that we can bypass our self-regulation mechanisms. This shows that the theory is still being developed using current research to make it applicable to current issues like video gaming, making the theory applicable.
Why are the weaknesses of SLT?
- Not generalisable- lots of evidence for SLT takes place in laboratory settings with animals or children, therefore it is artificial evidence and might not generalise to learning amongst adults in day life. Adults may respond differently but we cannot know this from Bandura. People may behave differently in real life situations in a highly controlled environment. It doesn’t account for people being in the environment as well which often happens in real life.
- difficult to establish a cause and affect between observation of the role model and imitation of the behaviour as behaviours are not usually imitated immediately. It could be that another variable is influencing the person producing the behaviour which occurs during the gap in time between observing and imitating the behaviour, it may not be the SLT process at all.
