Social Learning Theory

• Bandura agreed with the behaviourists that behaviour is learned from experience. However his social learning theory proposed people learn through observation and imitation.
• Vicarious Reinforcement = reinforcement which is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour.
• Mediational processes:

  • Attention
  • Retention
  • Reproduction
  • Motivation
• SLT is often described as the ‘bridge’ between learning theory and the cognitive approach because it considers how mental (cognitive) factors are involved in learning.
• The mediational processes determine whether a new behaviour is acquired.
• Attention= the extent to which we notice certain behaviours
• Retention= how well the behaviour is remembered
• Motor Reproduction = the ability of the observer to perform the action
• Motivation= the will to perform the behaviour (often determined by whether the behaviour was rewarded or punished)
• Identification= when an observer associates themselves with a role model and wants to be like the role model
• Modelling = imitating the behaviour of a role model
• People are more likely to imitate people they identify with.
• Bandura’s research:


  He recorded the behaviour of young children who watched an adult behave in an aggressive way towards a Bobo doll. Children who had observed an aggressive adult behaved much more aggressively towards the Bobo doll than other toys compared to the children who observed a non-aggressive adult.
• Bandura and Walters:


  Showed videos to children where an adult behaved aggressively towards a Bobo doll. One group saw the adult praised for their behaviour, a second group saw the adult punished for their aggressive behaviour and a third group saw the aggression without any consequence. The first group showed the most aggression towards the Bobo doll later, followed by the third group, and then the second.
• A strength of the SLT is that it recognises the importance of cognitive factors in learning. Neither classical nor operant conditioning can offer an adequate account of learning on their own. This suggests that SLT provides a more comprehensive explanation of learning by recognising the role of mediational processes.
• However, SLT has been criticised for making too little reference to the influence of biological factors on social learning. Although Bandura claimed natural biological differences influence our learning potential, he thought that learning itself was determined by the environment. Recent research shows observational learning may be the result of mirror neurons in the brain. This suggests the biological influences on social learning were under-emphasised in SLT.
• SLT is based on evidence gathered from lab studies (which are often influenced by demand characteristics). It has been suggested that In relation to the Bobo doll research because the main purpose of the doll is to strike it, the children were simply behaving in a way that they thought was expected. This suggests that the research may tell us little about how children actually learn aggression in everyday life.
• Another strength of SLT is that it can explain cultural differences in behaviour. Modelling, imitation and reinforcement can account for how children learn from others around them (including the media) and can explain how cultural norms are transmitted through particular societies.
• SLT suggested that learning occurs directly through classical and operant conditioning, but also indirectly.
• For indirect learning to take place an individual observes the behaviour of others. The learner may imitate this behaviour but, in general, imitation only occurs if the behaviour is seen to be rewarded rather than punished (vicarious reinforcement).
• Vicarious reinforcement:

  The learner observes a behaviour but most importantly also observes the consequences of a behaviour.
• SLT is often described as the 'bridge' between behaviourist learning theory and the cognitive approach because it focuses on how mental factors are involved in learning. These mental factors mediate in the learning process to determine whether a new response is acquired.
• Mediational processes:

  • attention
  • retention
  • motor reproduction
  • motivation
• People are more likely to imitate people they identify with (identification). The person they identify with is called a role model and the process of imitating a role model is called modelling (the behaviour of a role model is also called modelling).
• A person becomes a role model if they are seen to possess similar characteristics to the observer or have high status. Role models may not necessarily be physically present in the environment, and this has important implications for the influence of media on behaviour.