AO1

• SLT also differs from behaviourism as SLT suggests that certain internal mental cognitive processes (mediational factors) that need to take place between the stimulus and the response for learning to occur
• mediational factors are:

  • Attention
  • Retention
  • Reproduction
  • Motivation
• Imitation is more likely to occur if the model (the person who performs the behavior) is positively reinforced. This is called vicarious reinforcement.
• Learning takes place in a social context due to exposure to other behaviour's
• We learn from models

  • Live models are real models, for example a parent or teacher
  • Symbolic models are fictional, for example a celebrity or TV character
• Identification - characteristics of models influence the likelihood of imitation of the behaviour. Models we relate to are more likely to be imitated
• If a model is rewarded the behaviour is more likely to be repeated this is vicarious reinforcement
• Bandura et al.'s Bobo doll study in 1961 involved:

  • American children, 36 boys and 36 girls aged between 3-6 years old who were matched for aggression levels
  • Half were shown a model hitting the doll with a hammer and shouting at the doll
  • The other half were shown a non-aggressive model
  • There was also a group that wasn't shown a model (control group)
• After being exposed to the models, the children were taken to a room with attractive toys but were instructed not to play with them (aggression arousal)
• In the final stage, the children were individually taken to a room containing a bobo doll, non-aggressive toys like pencils and plastic farm animals, and aggressive toys like a hammer and a pistol
• The Bobo doll study - Bandura et al. (1961)

  • Results: The children who had observed the aggressive model (group 1) were more aggressive than the children from the other two groups. Group 1 imitated specific aggressive acts that were displayed by the model. Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls. There was no difference in the verbal aggression between boys and girls.
• The Bobo doll study - Bandura et al. (1961)

  • Conclusion: This supports SLT as it shows that children imitate behavior of role model even if the behavior is aggressive.