Social learning theory in psychology

• Social Learning Theory


  Theory put forward by Bandura suggesting we learn by observing behaviour of other people
• Social Learning Theory


  • Emphasises the importance of vicarious reinforcement - we learn our behaviour partly by observing the positive and negative consequences of other peoples' behaviour
  • Suggests modelling occurs when an individual observes the behaviour of a role model (e.g. parent, teacher, celebrity)
  • Reinforcement/punishment model experiences informs observer of likely consequences of their own behaviour & contributes to their decision to imitate (copy) the model
  • Imitation is more likely to happen if individual identifies with the model (model similar to observer/wish to be like them)
  • Emphasises importance of mediating processes - thought that occurs prior to imitation that intervenes between stimulus & response e.g. attention, retention, motor reproduction & motivation
• Bandura was criticised for ignoring fact that in his research, boys were more aggressive than girls which suggests that there is a biological component to aggression