social learning theory

• social learning theorists agree with behaviourist principles (learning from experience)

  but argue that human behaviour couldn't be fully understood without including cognitive processes that occur between stimuli and response
• meditational processes - attention,retention,reproduction and motivation

  must happen between observing a model perform a behaviour (stimuli) and imitating that behaviour (response)
• vicarious reinforcement: when we see someone rewarded for a behaviour, we are more likely to imitate it

  observing others serves as a template for our actions
• vicarious punishment - witnessing someone punishes for an action makes us less likely to imitate that behaviour
• modelling: individuals we observe and imitate are called models; live models include parents, friends, family members. we can also learn from symbolic models, characters from movies or books
• identification: we are more likely to imitate models with similar characteristics such as gender and age or poeple perceived to be attractive or high status
• bandura procedure - participants were children aged 3 to 6

  one group observed an adult demonstrating physical and verbal aggression towards a bobo doll

  the second group watched an adult play non-aggressively

  findings: children exposed to an aggressive model were more likely to be aggressive themselves (imitation) and boys were more likely to mimic an aggressive male model (identification)
• SLT supported by robust evidence e.g the bobo doll study has high internal validity due to its laboratory setting. this study ensured environmental control by having participants follow the same procedure ✅
• the bobo doll study's ecological validity can be questioned, as the aggression observed in a controlled lab setting may not directly translate to real-world scenarios, such as imitating televised violence in school environments 🚫
• research supporting SLT like the bobo doll study, relies on inferences. processes such as identification with a model, vicarious reinforcement and mediating cognitive factors are not directly observable but are inferred from behaviour 🚫
• SLT is a less reductionist approach than behaviourism; SLT acknowledges the roles of consciousness and rationality, providing a more believable explanation for complex behaviours like aggression ✅
• SLT's concept of 'reciprocal determinism' is a potentially more valid perspective than simpler deterministic approaches. bandura argued that behaviour is not only influenced by the environment but also shapes it