social learning theory

• imitation is the copying of the behaviour of other, especially a role model
• identification is the social process where we associate ourselves with another person and want to be like them. its more likely when we see ourselves as similar to the other person or they are of a higher status than ourselves.
• modelling is the demonstration of a behaviour by a model that may be imitated by a learner or observer.
• classical conditioning is learning through association, which occurs when 2 stimuli are presented together
• operant conditioning is learning through consequences. Positive and negative reinforcement increases the likelihood of repeating a behaviour, whilst punishment decreases the likelihood of repeating it.
• Vicarious reinforcement is a form of indirect learning where we are more likely to perform a behaviour if we have seen others be rewarded for it.
• Bandura's bobo doll study- vicarious reinforcement:

  2 groups of children shown 2 situations of an adult model playing either gently or violently with a doll.

  Bandura found that children coped the behaviour of the adult that they saw when they entered a room with the same doll. On a whole boys were more violent that girls. He repeated the study where he observed childrens behaviour after they saw violence on TV rather than
• Strengths of the bobo doll study:

  • recognises that humans are very social and highlights that we learn from eachother
  • shows the importance of role models and imitation- we should be careful around children and ensure teaching

  Weaknesses of the bobo doll study:

  • ignores biological factors that may influence behaviour
  • ignores free will which may influence behaviour
  • the study was carried out in an artificial setting and therefore may be not be generalisable to real life situations.
• Bandura agreed with behaviourists that much of our behaviour is learned from experience however, his social learning theory proposed that people also learn through observation and imitation indirectly but also indirectly through classical and operant conditioning.
• The role of mediational processes:

  SLT is often described as the bridge between traditional learning theory and the cognitive approach as it involves the mental factors involved in learning.

  These mental factors mediate (intervene) in the learning process to determine whether a new response is required.
• Mediational processes identified by Bandura:

  • Attention (the extent to which we notice behaviours)
  • Retention (how well we remember the behaviour)
  • Motor reproduction (the ability of the observer to perform the behaviour)
  • Motivation (the will to perform the behaviour)

  Attention and retention relate to the learning of new behaviour. Motor reproduction and motivation relate to the actual performance of the behaviour.
• a weakness of the approach is that it over relies on evidence from lab studies. many of banduras ideas were developed through observations in lab studies meaning demand characteristics affecting the results. this means his proposals over behaviour and child violence may actually be very smally reflective of real life behaviour. However lab studies have high levels of control and help eliminate extraneous variables which could also have effected the results.
• A further weakness of the approach is that it underestimates the influence of biological factors on behaviour and learning. Even though bandura found that boys were more violent than girls in his bobo doll study he didn't acknowledge the potential biological cause of this. Because of this SLT can be argued as a reductionist approach even though it is less simplistic than many other approaches giving it an element of greater credibility.
• Some people argue that SLT has impressive application to real life. for example, understanding modelling and identification has improved the success of campaigns targeting health behaviours. Andsager et al concluded that similarity to models improved anti-alcohol campaigns results. in conclusion it can be a useful and valuable approach to psychology.