Social Learning Theory

• Bandura agreed with behaviourists that behaviour is learned from experience. However, his social learning theory proposed a different way that involves other people.
• Part 1: Vicarious reinforcement

  • For indirect learning to take place, an individual observes the behaviour of others
  • The learner may imitate this behaviour but usually, imitation only occurs when behaviour is seen to be rewarded (reinforced) rather than punished leading to vicarious reinforcement
• Vicarious reinforcement, pt 2

  • Vicarious reinforcement builds on from the ideas introduced in operant conditioning as it extends the ideas of positive and negative reinforcement and punishment
  • Vicarious reinforcement is a key factor in imitation, because by observing other people’s behaviour being reinforced, we learn how to act in different situations
• Part 2: The Role of the Mediational Process

  SLT is often described as the ‘bridge’ between behaviourism and the cognitive approach because it considers how mental processes are involved in learning. There are four processes were identified by Albert Bandura
• 4 stages of the mediational process

  1. Motor Reproduction - This refers to the ability to perform the behaviour
  2. Attention - This refers to the extent to which we notice certain behaviours
  3. Motivation - This refers our will to perform the behaviour, which is often determined by if the original behaviour was punished or not
  4. Retention - This refers to how well the behaviour is remembered
• Identification

  • People more likely to imitate those they individually with: person identification with is the ‘role model’ & the process of imitating a role model is called modelling (behaviour a role model is also modelling)
  • A person —> a role model if they seemingly possess similar characteristics to the observer and/or an attractive and have high status