Learning approach: Social Learning Theory

Learning approach: Social Learning Theory

1. Bandura agreed with the behaviourists

   • behaviour is learnt through experience however he proposed a different mechanism than conditioning. He argued that we learn through observation and imitation of others’ behaviour

2. STAGES OF SLT

   • Attention: The individual needs to pay attention to the behaviour and its consequences and form a mental representation of the behaviour.
   • Retention: Storing the observed behaviour in LTM where it can stay for a long period of time. Imitation is not always immediate.
   • Reproduction: The individual must be able (have the ability and skills) to reproduce the observed behaviour.
   • Motivation: Individuals must expect to receive the same positive reinforcements (vicarious reinforcement) for imitating the observed behaviour that they have seen the model receiving.

3. The Bobo doll study - Bandura et al. (1961)

   • Method: It was a lab experiment.
     • Group 1: 12 girls and 12 boys were shown a model hitting the doll with a hammer and shouting at the doll.
     • Group 2: 12 girls and 12 boys were shown a model shown a non-aggressive model
     • Group 3: 12 girls and 12 boys (control group) were not shown a model. Then the children were taken to a room with some attractive toys but were told not to play with the toys (aggression arousal). Then the children were taken individually in a room containing a bobo doll, non-aggressive toys like pencils and plastic farm animals and aggressive toys like a hammer and a pistol.
   • Sample: American children, 36 boys and 36 girls aged between 3-6 years old
   • Results: The children who had observed the aggressive model (group 1) were more aggressive than the children from the other two groups. Group 1 imitated specific aggressive acts that were displayed by the model. Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls. There was no difference in the verbal aggression between boys and girls.
   • Conclusion: This supports SLT as it shows that children imitate behaviour of role model even if the behaviour is aggressive.

4. Bandura and Walters (1963)

   • The bobo doll experiment was repeated, but this time the three groups were exposed to an aggressive model and saw different consequences for the model: Group 1: the model was praised Group 2: the model was punished (told off) Group 3: no consequences for the aggressive behaviour
   • Results: When left on their own to play the children in group 1 showed the most aggression followed by group 3. Group 2 was the least aggressive.
   • Conclusion: This shows that imitation is more likely to occur when the model is positively reinforced, demonstrating the importance of vicarious reinforcement.

5. Applications (AO1) This theory is used to explain the influence of the media on behaviour. This has been used in court in the case of Jamie Bulger’s murder(1990). The perpetrators, who were themselves children, claimed that they had been influenced by the film Child Play 3. However these children came from a disturbed family where they might have witness real life violence and social deprivation.