Social learning theory

• Who proposed the social learning theory?

  Bandura proposed SLT as a development of the behaviourist approach. He argued that classical and operant conditioning couldn't account for all human learning; there are important mental processes that mediate between stimulus and response.
• How is the behaviourist model and social learning model different?

  The behaviourist model only studies observable/external behaviour. The social learning model includes the scientific study of internal behaviour.
• Social learning theory is a way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement, combining learning theory with the role of cognitive factors.
• What is modeling?

  Imitating the behaviour of a model.
• What is imitation?

  Copying the behaviour of others.
• What is identification?

  When an observer associated themselves with a role model and wants to be like the role model.
• What is vicarious reinforcement?

  Reinforcement, which is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behavior. This is a key factor in imitation.
• Explain what mediational processes are and name all of them.

  Mediational processes are mental (cognitive) factors that intervene in the learning process to determine whether a new behavior is acquired or not.

  • Attention
  • Retention
  • Reproduction
  • Motivation

  (ARRM)
• What is attention (mediational process)?


  Whether we notice the behaviour.
• What is retention (mediational process)?


  When we remember the behaviour long term.
• What is reproduction (mediational process)?


  Whether we remember the behaviour long term.
• What is motivation (mediational process)?


  Whether the perceived rewards outweigh the perceived costs.
• Explain Bandura's Bobo Doll study.


  (1961) 72 children, age range of 3-5 (36m, 36f) either watched a filmed adult attacking the bobo doll or an adult playing neutrally with the bobo doll. Children's aggression was measured beforehand. All children were given mild aggression arousal by being placed in a room with nice toys they couldn't play with before the bobo room.
• What are the findings of Bandura's bobo doll study?

  Children who observed the adult playing aggresively imitated aggressive behaviours. The neutral group was not aggressive. The effect was stronger if the children observed the same gender, suggesting identification.
• What are the strengths of the social learning theory?

  • Real-life applications- can account how children learn from people around them.
  • Can account for cultural differences in behaviour- Explains how norms are transmitted.
  • Less deterministic than the behaviourist approach- Bandura emphasised reciprocal determinsim which means we are influenced by our environment but we also exert an influence upon it through the behaviours we choose to perform. Suggests there is some free will in the way we behave.
• What are some limitations of the behaviourist approach?

  • Relies heavily on evidence from lab studies—Increases demand characteristics. The main purpose of the Bobo doll is to hit it, so the children in those studies may have been behaving as expected
  • Underestimates the influence of biological factors—A consistent finding was that boys showed more aggression than girls; explained by the differences in the levels of testosterone, which is greater in boys.
  • Reciprocal determinism sees all behaviour as environmentally determined by external influences we are unable to control.