Social Learning Theory

Social Learning Theory

1. Development of behaviourism - focuses on thought and emotion

   • Copying and imitating role models and parents

2. Development of SLT Albert Bandura (1960s)

   • proposed as a development of the behaviourist approach
   • argued that classical and operant conditioning could not account for all human behaviour

3. Forms a bridge between traditional behaviourism and the cognitive approach

4. Assumptions

   • concerned with human rather than animal behaviour
   • SLT sees people as their own manipulators of the environment rather than passive receivers of experiences
   • learning occurs through the observation of role models
   • observational learning can take place without reinforcement
   • reinforcement may be direct or indirect
   • observational learning uses cognitive processes such as memory
     • occur between stimulus and response - mediational processes
   • 2 types of models
     • live - present in own environment (parents
     • symbolic - in the media (celebrities)
   • Modelling
     • 1. Attention - noticing the behaviour
     • 2. Retention - remembering the behaviour
     • 3. Motor reproduction - physically possible
     • 4. Motivation - reason to want to copy role model

5. Bobo Doll (1960)

   • Children observe adults beat doll
     • imitated behaviour - more if same sex
   • Children observe adults not beating doll
     • did not beat doll (imitated)
       • Mediating cognitive factors must intervene between observation and behaviour

6. Strengths

   • considers cognitive approach
   • based on lab experiment
   • less deterministic and reductionist
   • explains learning of complex behaviours e.g. aggression
   • effective at explaining specific imitated behaviour

7. Weaknesses

   • ignores role of biology
   • concentrates on external behaviour
   • does not fully explain individual differences
     • reinforcement in one person does not fully explain it in another
   • labe experiments artificial - lack eco validity
   • does not account for all behaviour - criminals may have never assosciated with/observed criminals