social learning theory

• Assumptions:

  Suggested learning occurred directly through observation, and indirectly through operant and classical conditioning.
• Modelling: 

  Person finds a role model with similar characteristics as them. and inmates their behaviour. They can find their role model in person  such as their parents or media.
• Identification: 

  Happens most commonly with little children and they usually identify with the person they see as a role model and this can be due to good behaviour or the way that they act, or because they have similar characteristics.
• Imitation:

  Copying a person's behaviour.
• Vicarious reinforcement:

  It is where a person observes someone and imitates them if the behaviour performed is rewarding and would be vicarious punishment if the behaviour is not rewarding.
• It recognised the cognitive factors that play a part in learning, as neither classical or operational conditioning could provide an adequate account for learning on their own. Humans and animals store the behaviour of others to make a judgement of when it should be used. Bandura thought that behaviour was most;y to do with the impact and why it was performed. This suggests that it provides a more comprehensive explanation of human behaviour through the mediation process.
• On the other hand the weakness is that it does not take into account any biological roots in enough detail. He stated that natural biology has an impact on the potential of our learning, determining the environment was the highest factor of them all. Observational learning may result in mirror neurons. This suggests that it missed out biological depth.
• limitation as the evidence produced was in a lab because most of his evidence was gathered during an observation of young children behaviour, therefore they are more susceptible towards demand characteristics meaning they are more likely to do what the researcher wants them to do. The main purpose of the doll experiment was top strike it so the children thought that they were expected to do that. This suggests that the approach is less valid due to demand characteristics, and it shows less of how children learn aggression in everyday life as the environment is artificial.
•  role of mediational processes:

  Focuses on the mental factors that mediate within learning. These 4 factors are: attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation and these are to do with the storage of behaviour and the performance of them.
• this is shown to be a strength as it shows that a wide range of behaviours can be applied to the real world. It has the explanatory power as it is able to explain cultural differences in behaviour such as modelling and imitation etc.  It shows how children are able to learn from people around them and it can explain how cultural norms are transmitted in particular societies. Proving useful in understanding a wide range of behaviours such as understanding their gender role. This increases the value and importance of the approach as it can be applied to the real world.
• Study A: Children observed adults being abusive towards a doll and when left alone after observing this behaviour the children acted aggressively towards the doll compared to any other toy and children. This is because the children found them to be a role model and imitate their behaviour as they were not punished.
• StudyB: Children were split into 3 groups. Group one the children were shown a video where the behaviour of the adults being abusive towards the doll was praised/ Second group the behaviour was punished. Third group there was no consequence or praise involved. So the children were left to play and it  was found in aggression levels highest to lowest 1st, 3rd, and then 2nd. This was because the adults were seen as a role model; to the children so they were more likely to copy the behaviour.