AO3-Social Learning Theory

• Cook (1988) supports the SLT in animals as it was found that reared Rhesus monkeys, which initially displayed no fear of snakes, displayed alarm after watching the reaction of wild monkeys to snakes.
• SLT accepts that cognitive processes are also involved in learning.
• Great deal of supporting research for the SLT from Bandura and others.
• Many experiments were in the lab, making them more reliable.
• Many of Bandura's early studies used children as participants, which is more unethical.
• Many of Bandura's early studies used children as participants which is at greater risk of demand characteristics.
• The SLT supports the nurture debate in Psychology.
• The SLT is deterministic as it suggests situational variables cause behaviour to occur.
• The SLT has lots of practical applications in helping parents and teachers understand how children learn.
• The SLT has been criticised for making little reference to biological factors influencing behaviour.
• The SLT can help us understand how people are influenced by role models.
• Bandura's SLT has been used to help our understanding of media influence on behaviour.
• Bandura (1961) found that children will imitate aggressive behaviour if they observe a role model acting that way.
• Bandura (2001) found that watching violence on the internet was linked with increased levels of aggression among young adults.
• Bandura (1977) found that children who watched violent TV programmes were more likely to act aggressively towards others than those who didn’t watch them.
• A limitation of using SLT to explain learning is that it doesn’t take into account individual differences between people. For example, some people may be more susceptible to social influences than others.
• SLT also fails to consider the impact of culture on learning. Different cultures have different norms about what behaviours are acceptable so this could affect which behaviours we choose to copy from others.
• Strength:

  P-Recognises the role of cognitions(thought processes) in learning.

  B-They ignore cognitive factors. Humans and animals store make judgements about when its appropriate to perform certain actions. Cognitions factor into our behaviour.

  S-SLT provides a more complete explanation for human learning than the behaviourist approach, as it recognises the role of mediational processes.
• Strength:

  P- Can explain cultural differences in behaviour.

  B-Theory can account for how children learn from other people around them, as well as through the media and can explain how cultural norms are transmitted. Can explain how children come to understand gender roles by imitating role models.

  S-SLT is a universal theory of behaviour/meaning can be applied to everyone.
• Weakness:

  P-Bandura relies heavily on lab experiments.

  B-Ideas came about after observing young children in lab settings. People may not behave naturally because of demand characteristics.

  S-May not be able to explain how children/people behave in life.
• Weakness:

  P-SLT does not consider the role of biological factors on social learning.

  B-Bandura found that boys were consistently more aggressive than girls. It could be hormonal factors such as testosterone could be linked to aggression.

  S-SLT may not be the reason why the children behaved in that way, theory may not be useful.