social learning theory

• vicarious reinforcement: children's and adults observe other peoples behaviour and take note of its consequences, behaviour that is rewarded is much more likely to be copied than is punished
• 4 mediational processes:

  • attention- whether behaviour is noticed
  • retention- whether behaviour is remembered
  • motor reproduction- being able to do it
  • motivation - the will to perform the behaviour
  • first 2 relate to learning of behaviour whereas the last 2 are to do with the performance of the behaviour
• identification with role model is important: children are more likely to imitate the behaviour of people with whom they identify, such role models are similar to the observer, tend to be attractive and have high status
• imitation of aggression:

  • Bandura research 1 : children watched adults either behaving aggressively towards a bobo doll or behaving non-aggressively towards a bobo doll
  • when given their own bobo doll, children who had seen aggression were much more aggressive towards the doll
• Bandura research 2:

  • children saw an adult who was ither rewarded, punished or neither rewarded or punished
  • when given their own doll to play with, the children who saw the aggression rewarded were much more aggressive
• the bobo doll studies suggest that children are likely to imitate(model) acts of violence if they observe these in adult role model

  • it is also seen the case that modelling aggressive behaviour is more likely is such behaviour is seen to be rewarded (vicarious reinforcement)
• one strength of SLT approach is that it recognises the importance of cognitive factors in learning

  • this can be seen through key SLT concepts like observation and imitation
  • because they show us how mental cognitive factors are involved in learning as the information observed is coded and later transmits through serving as a guide for a behaviour through imitation
  • as a result the SLT provides a more comprehensive explanation of humans learning by recognising the role of mediational process
• one limitation of the SLT is that evidence on which it is based on was gathered through lab studies

  • lab studies are often criticised for their contrived nature where PPTS may respond to demand characteristic
  • this is because children were simply behaving in way they thought was expected
  • this implies that research may tell us little about how children actually learn aggression in everyday life
• another strength of the SLT is that it has been applied to a range of real world behaviours

  • SLT has the advantages of being able to explain cultural differences
  • SLT principles such as modelling and imitation and reinforcement can account for how children learn from others around them eg media, it explains how cultural norms are transmitted through particular societies
  • as a result this proved an understanding in the range of behaviours , this increases the value of the approach as it can account for real world behaviour
• another weakness of the SLT approach is that they make little reference to the influence of biological factors on SLT

  • Bandura thought that learning itself was determined by the environment
  • recent studies show that observational learning maybe the result of minor neuron in the brain which allow us to empathise with and imitate others
  • this means that biological influences on social learning were under emphasised in SLT