PSYCHOLOGY - SLT

assumptions

- can learn behaviour indirectly as well as directly through our own experiences

- considers some mental processes that occur between a stimulus and a response which is ignored by behaviourists

vicarious reinforcement

occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for an action

role models

a person in an environment w/ a high status. children learn from them through identification

identification

children imitate behaviour of the role model when they identify w/ them

bandura bobo doll

- demonstrated aggression towards the bobo doll infront of children and then left them alone w/ the doll and the children imitated the behaviour. However, when the adult was being punished for being aggressive they didn't imitate the behaviour.

- found that children's behaviour is impressionable and they learn through reinforcement

who was it developed by?

Albert Bandura

internal mental processes

things take place within the organism that mediate between stimulus and response. The person's internal mental processes will affect their behaviour

what are the 4 mediational processes?

1. attention

2. retention

3. reproduction

4. motivation

mediational processes

Cognitive factors that influence learning and come between stimulus and response

strengths of social learning theory

-The approach can account for cross cultural differences in behaviour= increases validity e.g. Mead's research of cross cultural differences in gender related behaviour demonstrated the environment to be influential rather than genes producing universal behaviour.

-The approach has scientific validity= predictions are tested in lab experiments, measuring observable behaviour e.g. Bobo doll

-The approach presents a more comprehensive view of human behaviour than the Behaviourist approach e.g. recognising importance of cognitive factors rather than just observable behaviour.

- real life application by explaining how children learn, can be used in schools

- emphasised reciprocal determinism= shows elements of free will in behaviour

weaknesses of social learning theory

too reliant on lab study evidence. participants may respond to demand characteristics

underestimates biological factors (bandura makes little reference to the impact of biological factors on social learning. consistent finding in bobo doll experiments = boys were more aggressive than girls. may be explained by hormonal factors e.g. diff levels of testosterone which is linked to aggressive behaviour.

more focused on nature or nuture?

nurture