Social learning

• Jean Piaget


  Swiss cognitive theorist, one of the most influential figures in the study of child development
• Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory


  Children actively construct knowledge as they explore and manipulate the world around them
• Piaget's theory of four stages of cognitive development is one of the most famous and widely-accepted theories in child cognitive development
• Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development


  1. Sensory Stage

  2. Preoperational Stage

  3. Concrete Operational Stage

  4. Formal Operational Stage
• Sensory Stage


  • Occurs from birth to age 2, infants "think" by manipulating the world around them using all five senses
  • Children develop object permanence between 5-8 months old
• Preoperational Stage


  • Occurs from age 2 to age 7, children use symbols to represent their discoveries
  • Language development and make-believe play begin
  • Children are very egocentric
• Concrete Operational Stage


  • Occurs from age 7 to age 11, children's reasoning becomes focused and logical
  • Children demonstrate a logical understanding of conservation principles
  • Children begin to organize objects by classes and subclasses, and can perform mathematical operations
• Formal Operational Stage


  • Occurs from age 11 to adulthood, children develop the ability to think in abstract ways
  • Children can think of abstract concepts and have the ability to combine various ideas to create new ones
  • Children develop logical and systematic thinking, are capable of deductive reasoning, and can create hypothetical ideas
• Scheme or schema


  An organized pattern of thought or action that is used to cope with or explain some aspect of experience
• Assimilation


  The process of taking in new information into our previously existing schemas
• Accommodation


  Involves altering existing schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or new experiences
• Equilibration


  The balance between assimilation and accommodation, which helps explain how children are able to move from one stage of thought into the next
• Albert Bandura


  Behavioral psychologist credited with creating social learning theory
• Reciprocal determinism


  Cognitive processes, behavior, and context all interact, each factor simultaneously influencing and being influenced by the others
• Observational learning


  Can teach completely new behaviors or can affect the frequency of previously learned behaviors, and can encourage previously forbidden behaviors
• The Bobo-Doll Experiment


  Demonstrated that children can learn merely by observing the behavior of a social model, and that observing reinforcement of the model's behavior could affect whether or not a behavior was emulated
• Four Conditions for Observational Learning


  • Attention
  • Retention or Memory
  • Initiation or Reproduction
  • Motivation
• Social learning theory has been applied extensively to the understanding of aggression and psychological disorders, and is the theoretical foundation for the technique of behavior modeling
• Television commercials


  • Suggest that using a particular product will make us popular and win the admiration of attractive people, which may lead us to model the behavior shown and buy the product
• Principles of Observational Learning


  • The highest level of observational learning is achieved by first organizing and rehearsing the modeled behavior symbolically and then enacting it overtly
  • Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if it results in outcomes they value
  • Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if the model is similar to the observer and has admired status and the behavior has functional value