Social Learning Theory

• What is behaviorism classed as?

  A learning theory
• How does behaviorism suggest we learn?

  Through stimuli-response mechanisms
• What happens when we experience a reward for our behavior?

  We are more likely to repeat the behavior
• What is the effect of punishment on behavior according to behaviorism?

  It is likely to stop the behavior from being repeated
• What question do social learning theorists like Albert Bandura ask regarding learning?

  Do we need to experience rewards and punishments ourselves to learn?
• What do social learning theorists argue about observing others?

  Seeing others rewarded or punished is enough to learn
• What did social learning theory include that behaviorists rejected?

  Internal mental processes
• What are the defining features of social learning theory?

  • Learning occurs through observation
  • Models influence behavior
  • Includes cognitive processes
  • Vicarious reinforcement and punishment
• Who is the most prominent social learning theorist?

  Albert Bandura
• What was the aim of Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment?

  To demonstrate modeling and imitation in children
• What did children observe in the first group of Bandura's experiment?

  An adult displaying physical and verbal aggression towards a Bobo doll
• What was the result of Bandura's study regarding aggressive models?

  Children who observed aggressive models were more likely to be aggressive themselves
• How did boys' imitation of aggression differ based on the model's gender?

  Boys were more likely to imitate aggression from a male model than a female model
• What did Bandura's 1963 variation study show about symbolic models?

  Children imitated aggression from both live and symbolic models
• What did Bandura's 1965 study demonstrate about vicarious reinforcement and punishment?

  Children who saw an adult punished were less aggressive towards the Bobo doll
• What are the strengths of Bandura's Bobo Doll study?

  • High internal validity
  • Controlled environment
  • Matched participant design
• What are the weaknesses of Bandura's Bobo Doll study?

  • Lacks external validity
  • Short-term effects only
  • Limited generalizability to real-life situations
• Why do social learning theorists use inferences in their studies?

  Because mediating cognitive factors cannot be directly observed
• How does social learning theory compare to behaviorism in terms of understanding human behavior?

  It offers a more detailed understanding by including consciousness and rationality
• What is reciprocal determinism according to Bandura?

  Behavior is influenced by the environment, and the environment is influenced by behavior