SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

• SLT

  A way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement, combining learning theory with the role of cognitive factors
• Assumptions

  • Our behaviour is learned from experience
  • However this experience is from observation and imitation of others (within a social context)
  • Learning occurs both directly and indirectly
• Vicarious reinforcement


  Reinforcement which isn't directly experienced. Occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour. Key factor in imitation
• What does a learner observe through vicarious reinforcement?

  The consequences of a behaviour. They may then imitate the behaviour observed based on whether it is rewarded or punished
• Define mediational processes

  Cognitive factors that influence learning and come between stimulus and response. (e.g. thinking)
• The 4 mediational processes

  Attention

  Retention

  Motor Reproduction

  Motivation
• What is the 1st mediational process?

  Attention- the extent to which we notice certain behaviours
• What is the 2nd mediational process?

  Retention- how well the behaviour is remembered
• What is the 3rd mediational process?

  Motor reproduction- the ability of the observer to perform the behaviour
• What is the 4th mediational process?

  Motivation- the will to perform the behaviour which is often determined by whether the behaviour was rewarded or punished
• What do attention and retention relate to?

  The learning of behaviour
• What do motor reproduction and motivation relate to?

  The performance of behaviour
• Learning and performance of behaviour do not need to occur together (unlike behaviourism). Observed behaviours may be stored and reproduced at a later time
• Identification


  When an observer associates themselves with a role model and wants to be like the role model.

  Children are more likely to imitate the behaviour of people they identify with. They may model their behaviour if seen to possess similar characteristics to the observer or are attractive with high status.
• Modelling


  Observer's POV: Imitating the behaviour of a role model

  Role model POV: Modelling is the precise demonstration of a specific behaviour that may be imitated by an observer
• Role models do not...?

  Have to be physically present in the environment. This may have implications for the influence of media on behaviour
• (AO3) What is an issue with Bandura's reliance on lab studies?

  • Overreliance
  • Many of Bandura's ideas were developed through observation of children's behaviour in lab studies
  • These are often highly controlled and can be argued the children's behaviour may respond to demand characteristics
  • Children may have been behaving in a way that they thought was expected (the main aim being to strike the doll)
  • This therefore suggests how children actually learn about aggression in real life and therefore cannot form a reliable conclusions due to distorted results
• (AO3) What is an issue with Bandura and the influence of biological factors?

  • Underestimation
  • One consistent finding from the Bobo doll study was that boys were more aggressive than girls regardless of specifics/variations
  • This can be explained by hormonal factors, e.g. levels of testosterone which is linked to increased aggressive behaviour (T is more prominent in boys)
  • Therefore suggests bio factors may also influence SLT and Bandura did not account for this|
• (AO3) What is an advantage of Bandura's research in SLT

  • SLT is able to explain the cultural differences in behaviour
  • It can account for how children learn from individuals around them alongside the media
  • This may explain how cultural norms are transmitted through particular societies (e.g. how children understand and fufill their gender roles)
• (AO3) Reciprocal determinism


  • We are not merely influence by our external environment but we also exert an influence upon it
  • We exert an influence through the behaviours we choose to perform
  • Suggests there is some free will in the way we behave
• BANDURA'S BOBO DOLL STUDY

  • Investigated whether social behaviours such as aggression could be acquired via indirect processes of observation and imitation
  • Lab experiment, studied 72 children between 3 groups
  • 24 children with an aggressive role model, 24 without, 24 control with no model
  • 12 girls and 12 boys in each condition where 6 observed a male model and 6 observed a female
  • 10 minute observation time
• BOBO DOLL STUDY 2

  • Male/female model would act aggressively by hitting the doll with a hammer or throwing it in the air
  • Non aggressive condition showed adult playing in a subdued manner
  • Children were to a room to arouse aggression with a selection of toys but told they could not play with them
  • Then taken to play with doll with options of aggressive and non aggressive toys
  • Child observed for 20 minutes
• BOBO DOLL FINDINGS:

  • Children who observed the aggressive role model imitated aggressive responses more than those who did not
  • girls in the aggressive model showed more physically aggressive responses if the model was male, but more verbally aggressive responses if the model was female
  • Boys were more likely to imitate same-sex models than girls
  • Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls
  • There was little difference in verbal aggression between boys and girls