Comprehensive Notes on Social Learning, Cognitive Social Theory, and Learned Helplessness

Social Learning and Observational Learning - Social learning is also known as observational learning because it relies on the processes of observing and copying the behavior of others. - The imitation of a model is not automatic but depends on several specific factors: - Prestige and Importance: Individuals are more likely to copy a model who is perceived as important or prestigious. - Likability and Attractiveness: The degree to which a model is liked and their physical attractiveness significantly influences imitation. - Consequences of Behavior: Whether the model has been rewarded or punished for his or her behavior informs the observer's likelihood of replicating the act. # The Bobo Doll Experiment by Albert Pandora - This is one of the most famous studies demonstrating social learning, conducted by Albert Pandora. - The Bobo doll is described as an inflatable clown that wobbles around and flips back over when pushed. - Experimental Conditions: - First Group: Children observed a conservatively dressed adult acting aggressively towards the Bobo doll, which included hitting the doll and throwing it around. - Second Group: Children watched a non-aggressive model who behaved neutrally towards the doll. - Experimental Results: - The group that saw the non-aggressive model did not act aggressively toward the doll when they were later allowed to play with it. - The children who saw the aggressive model acted more aggressively towards the Bobo doll, specifically mimicking the actions of the model. - This aggressive response was intensified when children saw the adult being rewarded for the aggressive behavior. - Ventura (as referred to in the transcript) argued that this showed children learned through observation, specifically noting how similar the children's actions were to those of the adult model. # Four Key Principles and Processes of Social Learning - For social learning to occur, four processes must take place: - 1. Attention: The observer must pay attention to the model's behavior and the specific consequences that follow that behavior. - 2. Retention: The observer must retain the observed response in memory until a similar situation occurs. For example, if a child saw the behavior but did not interact with the doll until a year later, they might not remember the response well enough to reproduce it. - 3. Reproduction: The observer must possess the physical and cognitive ability to actually reproduce the observed response. - 4. Motivation: There must be a drive to reproduce the response, such as seeking social approval from adults. # Applications of Observational Learning - Survival and Adaptation: In the animal kingdom, observational learning is critical. For example, the bearded capuchin monkey solves the problem of a nut being too large to break by hand by placing it on a large flat rock and using another large rock to break it open. Other monkeys copy this behavior, providing the commission (capuchin) survival advantages by allowing access to food sources others cannot reach. - Behavioral Intervention Programs: Programs like Big Brother or Big Sister pair children who have behavioral problems with role models who attempt to model positive behavior. - Motor Skill Learning: Observing others, such as through YouTube videos, serves as a modern tool for learning complex physical or technical skills. # Cognitive Social Theory and Locus of Control - Cognitive social theory suggests that individuals form expectancies about the consequences of their behaviors. - Locus of Control: This refers to an individual's expectancy regarding whether fate or their own actions determine outcomes in life. - Internal Locus of Control: The belief that one's own actions determine fate. - External Locus of Control: The belief that life is governed by forces outside of one's control (e.g., fate). - Implications of External Locus: Expecting that one cannot escape aversive events can lead to a vicious loop where the individual does not believe they can affect change, leading to inaction, which results in no change occurring. # Learned Helplessness: The Seligman Experiment - Learned helplessness is defined as the expectancy that one cannot escape adverse events, which severely impacts motivation and learning. - Seligman's Experiment with Dogs: - Experimental Design: Dogs were placed in a harness so they could not escape receiving electric shocks in a pen-type contraption. - Day One observations: The dogs initially struggled but eventually gave up and stopped trying to escape. They showed signs of physiological distress, meaning they had not habituated or gotten used to the shock; they still felt it but stopped acting. - Control Condition: A separate group of dogs was not exposed to these inescapable shocks. - Day Two (The Shuttle Box): All dogs were placed in a box where they could escape the shocks by jumping through a gap to a safe section. - Results: The control dogs quickly learned to jump the gap to escape. The experimental dogs from Day One did not try to escape; they had learned to be helpless. # Revised Learned Helplessness and Explanatory Styles - Seligman modified the theory to include a person's thinking style as a factor in determining if learned helplessness would occur. - Individuals experiencing depression tend to use a pessimistic explanatory style compared to the more optimistic style of non-depressed people. - Response Styles to Failure (Exam Example): - 1. I'm stupid (Internal/Global/Stable). - 2. I'm just not good at math (Internal/Global/Stable). - 3. I was unlucky; it was Friday the 13th (External/Unstable). - 4. The math teacher is prejudiced (External). - 5. The math teacher just grades hard (External). - 6. I was feeling ill that day (Internal/Unstable). - 7. The math teacher gave me a hard test this time or I didn't have time to study (External/Specific/Unstable). - Pessimistic Attributional Style: Viewing negative events as internal, global, and stable (e.g., "I'm stupid"). This increases the likelihood of developing learned helplessness. - Optimistic Attributional Style: Viewing negative events as external, specific, and unstable (e.g., "The test was just hard this once"). - Impact of Prolonged Exposure: Continued exposure to uncontrollable and inescapable events can cause individuals to develop a pessimistic style, leading them to become apathetic, pessimistic, and unmotivated even if they were not initially predisposed to that style.