Social Learning Theory (SLT)

• What does SLT involve?


  Learning behaviour through observation and imitation.
• What is imitation?


  When an individual observes a behaviour from a role model and copies it. It is an attempt and may not actually be copied.
• What is identification?


  People are much more likely to imitate the behaviour of people we relate to.
• What is modelling?


  Role model demonstrating behaviour - potentially resulting in imitation.
• What is vicarious reinforcement?

  Operant conditioning - more likely to imitate if there is a reward, less likely for a punishement.
• What is the mediational process?

  Cognitive factors that influence learning and come between stimulus and response
• What are the four mediational processes?

  Attention, Retention, Reproduction and Motivation
• Explain attention as a mediational process

  In order for behaviour to be imitated it has to grab out attention. We observe many behaviours it influences the imitation.
• Explain retention as a mediational process

  A behaviour may be noticed, but is not always remembered which prevents imitation. Retention is the memory.
• Explain reproduction as a mediational process

  The act of imitation - it is not copying as the reproduction may not be a copy.
• Explain motivation as a mediational process

  The rewards and punishment that follow the behaviour are considered as motivation. If the reward outweigh the perceived costs then the behaviour will be more likely to be imitated.
• What is the Biological explanation of SLT?

  Bandura makes little reference to the impact of biological factors on social learning. One consistent finding in the Bobo doll experiment was that boys were often more aggressive than girls. This may be explained by hormonal factors such as

  differences in levels of testosterone.
• How does acknowledging cognition support SLT?

  The social learning approach takes thought processes into account and acknowledges the role

  that they play in deciding if a behaviour is to be

  imitated or not.

  Therefore SLT provides a more comprehensive

  explanation of behaviour than we have looked at

  so far in the behaviourist or psychodynamic

  approaches

  This is because it combines the behaviourist and

  cognitive approaches.
• How is SLT unscientific?

  The only problem with mediational processes is

  that they have to be INFERRED and this is

  UNSCIENTIFIC and unreliable! (think back to

  Wundt-introspection- we can't SEE other people's

  thoughts- we guess them)
• Explain how SLT is not a comprehensive explanation?

  Not ALL behaviour can be explained using SLT. Fairness, justice etc are abstract notions which

  cannot be "imitated" yet we demonstrate

  these concepts from a fairly early age.
• Explain the research evidence of SLT

  Examples are Bandura's Bobo doll studies, that

  highlight how aggression can be learned through

  observation and imitation.

  Philips study on adults that showed adults can learn aggressive behaviours through media.

  Kung San which are aggression-less cultures, highlighting the importance of SEEING a behaviour in order to exhibit it.

  All of these studies show the value of the Learning

  approach in Psychology.
• Explain the procedure of Bandura's Bobo doll experiment.

  Bandura tested boys and girls aged 3 -5.

  Half were exposed to adult models interacting

  aggressively with a bobo doll and half exposed

  to adults that were non aggressive/passive

  (playing with jigsaw etc)

  The model in the aggressive condition

  displayed distinctive physical and verbal

  aggression towards the doll
• Explain the findings of Bandura bobo doll experiment

  Children in the aggressive condition reproduced both verbal and physical aggression from the adult model. "POW! SOCK HIM IN THE NOSE!" Children in the passive condition exhibited virtually no aggression towards the doll.
• Explain the conclusions for Banduras Bobo doll experiment?

  This study shows that children can learn aggression DIRECTLY through observation and imitation.
• Explain the procedure of Bandura's second study?

  This time, the children were divided into three groups, and watched a film where an adult used physical and verbal aggression on the bobo doll.

  Group 1 (control)- aggressive model was neither rewarded nor punished

  Group 2 (reward) aggressive model was rewarded by another adult (7up and sweets)

  Group 3 (punishment) aggressive model was punished by a second adult (told off)

  After watching the film, each child was observed in a playroom with the doll and other toys.
• Explain the findings of Banduras Bobo doll experiment

  Condition 1 (control) and 2 (reward): marked

  tendency for the child to show spontaneous

  aggressive acts

  Children in condition 2 (reward) behaved most

  aggressively

  Children in condition 3 (punishment) behaved

  least aggressively
• What were the issues of Banduras studies

  Ethics- psychological harm and informed

  consent (youtube)

  Quotes from children- demand characteristics-

  "Mummy, there is the doll I have to hit!!"

  Purpose of doll (advertised on tv)
• Explain how SLT was applied to adults?

  Phillips (1986) applied SLT to adults- can aggression be imitated by adults in a similar way?

  He found that daily homicide rates in the USA almost always increased in the week following a major boxing match, suggesting that viewers were imitating behaviour they had seen and that SLT is present in adults as well as children.
• Explain further evident for SLT?

  If SLT is correct then we should also be able to

  find evidence for it in non aggressive cultures.

  If children are NEVER exposed to aggression because their culture/ environment is utterly

  non-aggressive, then it follows that they too

  will never exhibit aggressive behaviour

  Evidence for this can be gleaned from two

  totally different cultures- the Amish and the

  !Kung San.