Social learning theory

• Social learning theory

  Learning theory that suggests learning varies based upon the reactions of individuals to what they observe and experience
• Social learning theories

  • Based upon an individual copying the behaviour of others they are observing
  • Individuals will copy behaviour they perceive as socially desirable
• Bandura

  Psychologist associated with social learning theory and the Bobo doll study
• Bandura's Bobo doll study

  1. Exposed young children to adults acting violently towards a Bobo doll

  2. Children would imitate this behaviour when given the opportunity

  3. Tested 3 groups: aggressive model, non-aggressive model, no model

  4. More physical aggression observed in children exposed to aggressive model
• Rewarding the model for their behaviour


  Led to greater aggression in children
• Observational learning

  Learning by observing the behaviour of a model
• Vicarious reinforcement

  Observing the model being rewarded for their behaviour
• Rewarding children for copying the model's behaviour


  Made them more likely to copy the behaviours
• Observing criminal behaviour

  May normalise this behaviour and lead to imitation
• Observing rewards for criminal behaviour


  More likely to imitate criminal behaviour from family/friends
• Observing punishments for crime


  May make people less likely to commit crime
• Strength of Social Learning Theory

  • Proposed that criminality and other behaviours can be learned indirectly
  • From watching other people commit crime and observing the rewards or punishment
• Sutherland's differential association theory

  Suggests that people learn their values and behaviours from groups the associated themselves with
• Strength of Social Learning Theory

  • The study has been replicated and similar results have been found (standardised procedure) for McLeod, 2014
• Weakness of Social Learning Theory

  • The explanation is deterministic, meaning that it assumes we have no free will over our behaviour
• Weakness of Social Learning Theory

  • Fails to explain how people who have not witnessed crime commit crime, or why those who have do not