Social Learning Theory

• Social Learning Theory:

  • Most behaviourists suggest that much of our behaviour is learnt – rather than being biological.
  • Nature vs Nurture
  • Albert Bandura proposed another concept, that we learn through observation and imitation of others when in a social context.
• Imitation: AO1:

  • Copying behaviours: This is one aspect of social learning theory.
  • Social Learning Theory highlights the negative and anti-social side to imitation as well as the fact that children may imitate positive, social behaviour from observing the role models that they identify with.
• Vicarious reinforcement: AO1:

  • Reinforcement which is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour.
  • This is about observing the behaviour, but more importantly observing the consequences of that behaviour. This is also known as indirect learning.
  • Imitation is more likely to occur if the model is positively reinforced.
  • For Example, if a student receives a prize for doing their homework, another student may be more inclined to do so.
• Mediational processes: AO1:

  • Cognitive factors that influence learning and come between stimulus and response.
  • These mental cognitive processes are involved in learning. • They mediate and intervene with the learning process.
  • There are 4 key Mediational Processes:
  • Attention
  • Retention
  • Reproduction
  • Motivation
• Identification and modelling: AO1:

  • Imitation is more likely if we identify with the role model. This is known as modelling.
  • Similar gender, age, and characteristics that help you identify with them.
  • The younger the child the more influenced they are by identification.
• The Bobo Doll Study: 1961:


  • Bandura recorded the behaviour of young children who watched an adult behave in an aggressive way towards a Bobo Doll.
  • The adult hit the doll with a hammer and shouted abuse at it.
  • Sample: American Children, 36 boys, 36 girls aged 3-6.
  • Group 1:
  • 12 girls and 12 boys shown a model hitting a doll with a hammer and shouting
  • Group 2:
  • 12 girls and 12 boys showed non-aggressive actions towards the doll.
  • Group 3:
  • 12 girls and 12 boys were not shown a model, just the doll (control)
  • Then the children were taken to a room with some attractive toys but told not to play (aggression arousal).
  • Then children are taken individually into a room containing a Bobo doll, non-aggressive toys like pencils, and aggressive toys like a hammer and pistol.
• The Bobo Doll Study: Findings:

  • 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 behaviours that were displayed by the model.
  • Boys imitate more physically aggressive acts than girls. • There was no difference in the verbal aggression between the boys and girls.
  • This supports the SLT as it shows that children imitate the behaviour of the role model even if it is negative or aggressive.
• Social Learning Theory AO3: Weakness:

  • Overly reliant on laboratory research.
  • Statistically fabricated nature.
  • Demand characteristics.
  • Bobo doll study shows that the children might have hit the doll as they assumed this was what was desired of them.
  • However, to combat this, the study has been carried out multiple times – which highlights its reproducibility across a plethora of groups.
• Social Learning Theory AO3: Weakness:

  • Adopts a reductionist view towards learnt behaviour.
  • The social learning theory states that we only learn behaviours through classical and operant conditioning.
  • For example, in Bandura’s Bobo doll study (1961), the difference in aggression between boys and girls was not justified in their research even though group 1 had the same model and yet boys remained more physically aggressive with the doll.
  • The repeated Bobo Doll study in 1963 highlights that instead of environmental factors, components such as vicarious reinforcement can also have a major effect on the child’s behaviour.
  • For example, the 1963 study shows that imitation is more likely to occur when the model is positively reinforced – as the group that was exposed to the model being praised after their aggressive behaviour also displayed hostile behaviour.
• Social Learning Theory AO3: Strength:

  • It explores how cultural differences can affect behaviour.
  • Can account for how children learn from the other individuals around them, as well as through uncensored media.
  • Seen through the ‘Culture of Violence’ study (1967), by Wolfgang and Ferracuti which proposed that people respond differently in situations due to varying premeditated perceptions of aggression which have been instilled through observation from a young age.
  • However, this theory disregards the biological differences between girls and boys.
  • This is because if cultural differences were the sole driving factor behind such aggressive behaviours, then boys and girls from different cultures would not adopt similar reactions.