social learning theory

• what does Bandura's Social Learning Theory (SLT) propose about behaviour?

  we learn through the observation and imitation of others
• what is required for indirect learning to occur according to SLT?

  an individual must observe the behaviour of others
• under what condition are individuals likely to imitate observed behaviour?

  if the consequences of the behaviour seem to be positive
• what is vicarious reinforcement?

  imitating behaviour after observing the model being rewarded
• who are individuals more likely to imitate according to SLT?

  models that they identify with
• what makes a person become a model in the eyes of an observer?

  possessing characteristics that the observer has or wishes to have
• what does the mediational process refer to in SLT?

  the mental event that determines if a behaviour is worth imitating
• free will vs determinism

  • soft determinism
  • behaviour is controlled by environmental forces
  • however humans have personal responsibility and free choice
• nature vs nurture

  • nurture
  • behaviour is learnt from observation and vicarious reinforcement
• reductionist vs holistic

  • partially reductionist
  • this approach shares elements of both the behaviourist and cognitive approach
• idiographic vs nomothetic

  • nomothetic
  • attempts to establish general laws of behaviour e.g. vicarious reinforcement
• is it scientific

  • mostly scientific
  • utilises scientific methods but also takes into account mediational processes