Learning

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Social Learning Theory

Learning is a relatively permanent change in an organisms behaviour due to experience.

Behaviourism (Classical and Operant) views the brain as a black box, with responses that can be observed and measured and ignoring processes that may be occurring in the brain.

SLT focuses on learning within a social context. It includes people learning from one another and includes observational learning, imitation and modelling. It claims learning can occur without a actual change in behaviour and the cognition plays a role in learning. It can be viewed as a transition between behaviourist and cognitive learning theories. SLT does include the ideas of reinforcement and punishment, claiming they have indirect effects on learning, influencing the extent to which an individual exhibits a behaviour. The expectation of reinforcement influences cognitive processes which promote learning.(Types of reinforcement: by the model, by a third person, behaviour has consequences, vicariously). The effects modelling can have on behaviour include teaching new behaviours, changing the frequency of a behaviours, encouraging previously banned behaviours or increasing the frequency of similar behaviours to that being modelled. there are other factors involved in slt. People are more likely to reproduce a behaviour if they believe they are capable of doing so successfully, this is self-efficacy.Self-regulation also plays a part. This is when an individual has their own ideas of what is appropriate and innapropriate behaviour and imitates behaviours according to this code ( Setting standards, self observation, self judge and self reaction).

Cognitive factors:

Learning without performance - difference between learning through observation and actually imitating. (Bandura)

Cognitive processes during learning - e.g. attention is critical

Expectations - result of reinforcing, expectation on future consequences.

Reciprocal causation - the person, the behaviour and the environment can all effect each other.

Types of modelling :

Live - actual person demonstrating behaviour

Verbal instructional - descriptions and explanations of behaviour

Symbolic - e.g. television, films, computer programs

Nessecary Conditions for Effective Modelling

Attention ~ pay attention to model

Retention ~ able to remember what has been observed

Reproduction ~ ability to replicate the behaviour

Motivation ~ must want to demonstrate what has been learned

Bandura, Ross & Ross ~ Bobo dolls

One of the leading supporters of this theory is Albert Bandura. Bandura said that a more complex explanation for behaviour was needed as classical and operant conditioning ignore the inner person. His 1961 experiment supports SLT.

Aims: To investigate whether exposure to an aggressive model would increase aggression in children.

Procedure: 72 children 9male/female) in 8 experimental groups and one control group. All matched. Control group didn't see a model, experimental groups saw aggressive/non-aggressive, same/opposite sex model.