Social Learning theory & Alcohol addiction

• 1. Attention


  Observes a model with a higher status and popularity and pays attention to excessive drinking
• 2. Retention


  Remembers drinking behaviour by retaining how the model drank
• 3. Reproduction


  Reproduces drinking behaviour when they have access to alcohol and imitate the excessive drinking
• 4. Motivation

  Sees peer praised for drinking so they imitate due to vicarious reinforcement and may repeat behaviour. Experience intrinsic motivation (drink causes relaxation) and extrinsic motivation (gets likes on Instagram when they post videos excessive drinking)
• PARAGRAPH 1


  AO1

  - observation + role model

  AO3 +

  - Mundt

  Development point +

  - Mundt's data was collected longitudinally allowing for analysis of how alcohol consumption changes over time

  AO3 -

  - alternative explanation: A1 variant
• PARAGRAPH 2


  AO1

  - attention + retention + reproduction

  AO3 +

  - holistic: encompasses elements from different approaches (cognitive - retention/attention, behaviour - reinforcement, social - peers)

  AO3 -

  - Connor: A1 variant

  Development point -

  - used self-report data measures = socially desirable answer = low validity
• PARAGRAPH 3

  AO1

  - imitation

  AO3 -

  - takes the nurture side

  - fails to acknowledge interaction between nature and nurture

  AO3 +

  - genetic predisposition for addiction which may later be triggered by stressors in the environment
• CONCLUSION

  AO3 +

  - led to health campaigns such as drinkaware - useful applications

  - demonstrates use of psychology in society - informs adults about danger of imitation

  AO3 -

  - unable to explain continued use

  - biological explanation would be more plausible in explaining why the individual would continue