Learning approaches: Social Learning Theory

• Social Learning theory (SLT) was proposed by Bandura (1972) as a more nuanced explanation of behaviourism- still takes on core belief that people learn from their environment but refines it to included the idea that people learn from others through observation
• Behaviour learned through observation and imitation. Greater chance of learning behaviours when those observed doing the behaviour a considered ‘role models’- if there is a level of similarity with the observer and the model then they will identify with the other and be more likely to imitate the behaviour (same sex, similar age role model, and real celebs rather than a cartoon)
• 4 meditational processes necessary to learn a behaviour:

  • attention - stimulus focused
  • retention- rehearse encode
  • motor reproduction - physical capability
  • motivation- reward reinforcement
• Vicarious reinforcement: reinforcement experienced as a result of observing other people, rather than by receiving the reward oneself
• An example of Vicarious reinforcement:

  • The child observes a specific behaviour from a role model e.g. an aggressive parent
  • The child sees that the aggressive parent is rewarded e.g. they have power over the other parent
  • The child receives vicarious reinforcement from the parent getting a reward e.g. they got what they wanted, they feel good
  • The child identifies with the aggressive parent and internalises what they have just seen e.g. 'I want to feel like that'
  • Vicarious reinforcement- they believe if they repeat the action they will receive the same reward
• Vicarious reinforcement highlights the complexity of human nature and behaviour as it involves a degree of thought/ cognition- people required to process what they have seen and imagine themselves doing it and getting the rewards
• Strengths of SLT:

  • Provides more well- rounded explanation of how the environment shapes behaviour: less reductionist, less deterministic
  • Good application in the use of token economies in prison : good external validity
• Limitations of SLT:

  • cannot account for behaviours that are observed frequently and not imitated- only offering a. limited explanation or behvaviour
  • research that theory is built on is lab experiments: in controlled conditions therefore lacking in ecological validity
• Bandura’s research (1961) was to investigate if children would imitate aggressive behaviour of a role model. Aims:

  • investigate the effect of observed aggression on children’s behaviour
  • investigate the fact of a same- sex modelling on children’s behaviour

  Experiment consisted of 36 boys and 36 girls aged between 37-69 months.
• Three conditions of Bandura‘s experiment:

  • Aggressive model- role- model behaving aggressively towards the Bobo doll, using determined, standardised behaviours
  • Non- aggressive model- role- model behaved in a calm way towards the Bobo doll
  • Control group- no model present
• Bandura used a lab experiment with a matched pairs design as he asked the Stanford University nursery staff to rate the children’s aggressiveness and then they wear paired with a child with a simular aggressiveness to have an equal balance- allowing the independent variable to be the reason for the dependent variable (their behaviour)
• Bandura’s experiment procedure:

  each child observed the behaviour for 10 mins

  then taken into another room and told they could not play with the toys as they were being saved for other children (aggression arousal stage)

  then taken into another different room with the Bobo doll and aggressive toys (mallet, BB gun) and non- aggressive toys (crayons, farm toys)

  then observed for 20 mins through one way mirror
• Findings of Bandura‘s experiment:

  children who observed the aggressive behaviour were more likely to be aggressive to the Bobo doll

  boys more aggressive physically

  girls more aggressive verbally

  more likely to imitate the behaviour of the same- sex role model

  Therefore: aggression can be learned via the mechanisms of the SLT and imitation can occur after a singular exposure
• Strengths of Bandura's research:

  • well- controlled and had a standardised procedure meaning easily replicable
  • good reliability
  • good external validity as can be applied to children being exposed to violence through TV
• Limitations of Bandura’s research:

  • children don’t tend to learn behaviour in a lab setting- usually in familiar settings with familiar adults- less ecological validity
  • numerous ethical issues: aggressive rating from nursery workers could have been intrusive and encouraged bias, exposed to aggressive strangers which could have caused distress, aggression arousal may have upset the children and may have gone outside the experiment and displayed aggressive behaviours from there on out