SLT

Question 1

whats the social learning theory (SLT)

Answer 1

• Bandura, 1972
• behaviour is caused by learning in a social context (through imitating the behaviour of role models)

Question 2

process of SLT

Answer 2

role model —> symbolic/role models —> identification —> modelling (and observational learning) —> vicarious reinforcment (or punishment) + mediational processes —> imitation

Question 3

Role model

Answer 3

A person who carries out (or ‘models’) an attitude or behaviour to be learned. They become this when they are seen to possess similar characteristics to the observer or are attractive or of a higher status.

Question 4

Live model

Answer 4

A type of role model who is actually present in our environment e.g. teachers, parents, siblings etc.

Question 5

Symbolic model

Answer 5

A type of role model who are present in the media e.g. celebrities.

Question 6

Identification

Answer 6

The extent to which an individual relates to a role model and feels that they are similar to them, so want to be like a role model e.g. they may both be female, be about the same age, the role model may have something the observer really wants e.g. fame, fortune etc.

Question 7

Modelling

Answer 7

This is when a role model precisely demonstrates a specific behaviour so that it can be imitated by an observer

Question 8

Observational learning

Answer 8

Watching what the role model models and learning how to do it

Question 9

Vicarious reinforcement

Answer 9

Reinforcement that is not directly experienced, but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour. Vicarious punishment can happen too – you see a role model being punished so are less likely to imitate them.

Question 10

Imitation

Answer 10

Using someone as a model and copying their behaviour.

Question 11

assumptions of SLT

Answer 11

• Albert Bandura developed the SLT approach. He argued that classical and operant conditioning could not account for all human learning.
• SLT suggests that behaviour is learned from experience, but in a social context.
• Learning occurs through the observation of the behaviour of others (role models) and the rewards and punishments that they receive for their behaviour. Therefore, humans can also learn indirectly (as well as directly through behaviourism).
• He believed that there are important mental processes that lie between the stimulus and response proposed by the behaviourist approach. Therefore, it combines principles from both the behaviourist and cognitive approaches.
• This means that learning and performance are not the same activity – we could observe a behaviour and learn it, but choose not to perform it.
• SLT sees people as active manipulators of their own environment rather than passive receivers of experiences.
• It is concerned with human rather than animal behaviour.

Question 12

what are mediational processes

Answer 12

cognitive (mental) processes occur between stimulus (the observation of the role model’s behaviour) and response (imitation) that affect whether the learned behaviour is produced.

Question 13

what are the 4 mediational processes

MARR, similair to mars when u meditate u astral project —> go to mars

Answer 13

• Motivation – the will or desire to perform the behaviour (usually linked to vicarious reinforcement).
• Attention – noticing and paying attention to the behaviour of the person they want to imitate.
• Retention – remembering the behaviour so that they can do the same.
• Reproduction – consideration of our own ability to perform the behaviour.

Question 14

Bandura’s Bobo doll study

bobo- booboo like hurt so theyre hurting the toy ;)

Answer 14

procedure:
He experimented on children aged 3-5 years old. In the experimental group, an adult was in a room with a bobo doll and a bunch of toys and after a minute started acting aggressively towards the doll (e.g. hitting it, verbal aggression e.g. ‘pow’) for 10 minutes, which the child observed. The adult then left and the child was left in the room with the bobo doll and other toys. In the control group, the adult played calmly with the doll for the same time.
results:
All of the children in the experimental group were aggressive towards the doll. The closest imitation was when the adult was of the same sex as the child. 1/3 of the children also imitated the verbal aggression. None of the children in the control group were aggressive towards the doll. Essentially, the children did what the adult did.
what this means for SLT:
The adult is the role model as they are the person the child was looking up to. The adult is a live model because he/she is infront of the child and the child can see first hand the adult’s behaviour. The child identified with the adult because they are of the same gender. The adult models how to play with the bobo doll which the child watched and learnt via observational learning. When the adult was aggressive towards the bobo doll eg. hit it the adult showed joy and seemed to be enjoying themselves which acted as vicarious reinforcment for the children

Question 15

weakness of SLT edit this ho

Answer 15

• Many of Bandura’s ideas were developed through the observation of young children’s behaviour in lab settings. Lab studies are often criticised for their contrived nature where participants may respond due to demand characteristics. For example, it has been suggested that because the main purpose of the Bobo doll is to strike it, the children were simply behaving in a way that they thought was expected THERFORE the research may tell us little about how children actually learn aggression in everyday life. Consequently, we can’t use the lab studies to strongly support the validity of the SLT explanation of behaviour as the results may be affected by extraneous variables.
• By focusing mainly on external behaviour, Bandura makes little reference to the impact of biological factors on social learning. In the Bobo doll experiments, it was consistently found that boys were more aggressive than girls. This could be explained by hormonal factors such as testosterone, where the higher levels in boys may be linked to increased aggressive behaviour THEREFORE this means that this important influence on behaviour is not accounted for in SLT and so it cannot be considered a complete explanation of all behaviour.
• SLT cannot explain why people act differently when exposed to same role models and behaviours. For example, why vicarious reinforcement of offender behaviour leading to one person becoming an offender but another not. Additionally, it cannot account for all behaviour e.g. why someone might become a criminal when he/she has not associated with criminals and/or observed criminal behaviour. - his suggests that SLT cannot account for individual differences and therefore cannot be considered a completely valid explanation of all behaviour

Question 16

strentghs of SLT, ho edit this down btw x

Answer 16

• Bobo doll Bandura - valid explanation of behaviour as the children imitated the behaviour of the role models (adults) that they identified (same gender) with as a result of vicarious reinforcement (the adults appeared to have fun).
• uccessfully applied to many areas of psychology. For example, modelling has been used to help to treat anxiety disorders, e.g. showing a role model interacting happily with a phobic object. A vicarious association is made between the positive feelings demonstrated and the object. In forensic psychology, social skills training may include the use of modelling to provide offenders with appropriate skills in social interactions to avoid behaviour that will get them into trouble. In gender development, social learning theorists see gender-related behaviour as acquired by reinforcement, modelling and imitation. Aggression is thought to be the result of observational learning. An influential model who behaves in an aggressive way and is seen to be rewarded for such behaviour may be imitated by others. EXTRNAL VALIDITYas they suggest that the principles can be used to explain a wide range of behaviours and help to support treatments.
• mostly relies on the experimental method, using controlled conditions e.g. the use of the playroom in Bandura et al.’s study. He was able to manipulate the independent variable (the modelling by the role model) to accurately measure the effects on the dependent variable (the child’s behaviour). THEREFORE able to establish cause and effect relationships between the vicarious consequences of behaviour (positive or negative) and the frequency of its future occurrence in the observer, supporting the internal validity of the approach. The focus on observable behaviour within controlled lab settings emphasises the importance of replication and objectivity. Therefore, SLT has helped to give psychology credibility and status as a scientific discipline.
• opeanrt and clasicla conditionign cant explain ebetytbing Humans and many animals store information about the behaviour of others and use this to make judgements about when it is appropriate to perform certain actions. Bandura argued that it would be boring and dangerous to only learn from the consequences of our own behaviour. By observing others, we form an idea of how new behaviours are performed and we can use these on later occasions. THEREFORE suggests that SLT provides a more comprehensive explanation of human learning by recognising the role of mediational processes.
• SLT has the advantage of being able to explain cultural differences in behaviour. Social learning principles can account for how children learn from other individuals around them, as well as through the media, and this can explain how cultural norms are transmitted through societies. This has been useful in understanding a range of behaviours e.g. how children come to understand their gender role THEREFORE supports the external validity of the approach as an explanation of behaviour as it can explain why behaviours are different across cultures due to expose to different role models and vicarious reinforcement.