Learning approaches: Social learning theory

What is the social learning theory?

A way of explaining behaviour that included both direct and indirect reinforcement, combining learning theory with the role of cognitive factors

Imitation

Copying the behaviour of others

Identification

A desire to be associated with a particular person or group, often because the person/group possesses certain desirable characteristics 

What is modeling?

1. From an observer’s perspective, modelling is imitating the behaviour of a role model

2. From the role model perspective, modelling is the precise demonstration of a specific behaviour that may be imitated by an observer 

Vicarious reinforcement

1. Key factor in imitation

2. Reinforcement which is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else reinforced for a behaviour

What are mediational processes?

Cognitive factors (i.e., thinking) that influence learning and come between stimulus and response

What are the theory’s assumptions?

1. Bandura agreed with the behaviourists that behaviour is learned from experience but his SLT proposed that people learn through observation and imitation of others (i.e., it’s social—involving others)

2. SLT suggested that learning occurs directly through classical/operant conditioning but also indirectly

What is vicarious reinforcement?

1. For indirect learning to occur, an individual observes the behaviour of others 

2. The learner may imitate this behaviour but imitation only really occurs if the behaviour is seen to be rewarded rather than punished, i.e., vicarious reinforcement occurs

3. The learner observes a behaviour and the consequences of it 

What is the role of mediational processes?

1. SLT focuses on how mental (cognitive) factors are involved in learning

2. These mental factors mediate (intervene) in the learning process to determine whether a new response is acquired

3. Bandura identified 4 mental/mediational processes in learning

4. Attention—the extent to which we notice certain behaviours 

5. Retention—how well the behaviour is remembered 

6. Motor reproduction—the ability of the observer to perform the behaviour 

7. Motivation—the will to perform the behaviour, often determined by whether the behaviour was rewarded or punished 

8. First 2 = learning, last 2 = performance; both do not occur together

9. Observed behaviours may be stored by the observer and reproduced at a later time

What is the role of identification?

1. People are more likely to imitate people they identify with

2. The person they identify with is called a role model and the process of imitating is called modelling (behaviour of a role model also called modelling)

3. A person becomes a role model when they are seen to possess similar characteristics to the observer and/or are attractive and have high status

4. Role models may not necessarily be physically present in the environment; this has important implications for the influence of the media on behaviour

What was Bandura’s 1961 research? (Study A)

1. Bandura et al. recorded the behaviour of young children who watched an adult behave in an aggressive way towards a Bobo doll

2. The adult hit the doll with a hammer and shouted abuse at it

3. When these children were later observed playing with various toys, including a Bobo doll, they behaved much more aggressively towards the doll and the other toys than those who had observed a non-aggressive adult

What was Bandura’s 1963 research? (Study B)

1. Bandura and Walters showed videos to children where an adult behaved aggressively towards the Bobo doll

2. One group of children saw the adult praised for their behaviour (told “well done”)

3. A 2nd group saw the adult punished for their aggression towards the doll, by being told off

4. The 3rd group (control) saw the aggression without any consequence

5. When given their own Bobo doll to play with, group 1 showed much more aggression, followed by the 3rd group, and then the 2nd 

AO3: Cognitive Factors

1. Strength of SLT = recognises the importance of cognitive factors in learning

2. Neither classical nor operant conditioning can offer an adequate account of learning on their own

3. Humans and animals store info about the behaviour of others and use this to make judgements about when it is appropriate to perform certain actions

4. Suggests SLT provides a more comprehensive explanation of human learning by recognising the role of mediational processes

5. CP = SLT is criticised for making too little reference to the influence of biological factors on social learning; observational learning may be the result of mirror neurons in the brain, allowing us to empathise with and imitate others, suggests biological influences within SLT underemphasised

AO3: Contrived Lab Studies

1. Limitation = evidence SLT based on gathered through lab studies

2. Many of Bandura’s ideas developed through observation of young children’s behaviour in the lab

3. Lab studies often criticised for their contrived nature where p’s may respond to DC’s

4. Suggested, in relation to Bobo doll research that as main purpose of doll is to strike it, children simply behaving in the way that they thought was expected

5. Suggests that research may tell us little about how children actually learn through aggression in everyday life

AO3: RWA

1. Strength = SLT can be applied to a range of RW behaviours

2. SLT has the advantage of being able to explain cultural differences in behaviour

3. SLT principles (modelling, imitation, reinforcement) can account for how children learn from others around them, including the media, which can explain how social/cultural norms are transmitted through particular societies 

4. Proved useful in understanding a range of behaviours, such as how children come to understand their gender role 

5. Increases value of the approach, as it can account for RW behaviour 

AO3: Reciprocal Determinism

1. Bandura emphasised reciprocal determinism—we’re not merely influenced by our external environment, but we also exert an influence upon it, through the behaviours we chose to perform

2. This element of choice suggests that there is some free will in the way we behave

3. Contrasts with the behaviourist approach, which denies the possibility of free will