Social learning theory (Social cognitive theory)

By Mr Daniel Hansson

Social Learning Theory

 According to Bandura, personality is shaped by an interaction among cognitive factors, behaviors and environmental factors. This interaction is termed

reciprocal determinism

.

Cognitive factors

 Our

dispositional

factors: beliefs, expectations, values, intentions, social roles, emotional makeup and biological and genetic influences

Questions for discussion

1.

2.

3.

4.

What are you good at?

What are you not good at?

What are you bad at?

Take the locus of control test. We will discuss the test in class.

Behavioural factors

  Our skills, practice and self efficacy

Self efficacy:

Similar to confidence. The belief that one is capable of performing a certain behaviour to attain a certain goal

Environmental factors

 Our social, political and cultural influences and personal learning experiences

Explanation of learning

Learning comes from observing other’s behaviour and observing the consequences of the behaviour

1.

Attention.

The learner must attend the behaviour 2.

Retention.

behaviour The learner must remember the 3.

Motor reproduction.

act what she has seen The learner must be able to 4.

Motivation.

The learner must feel motivated to demonstrate what he/she has learned

Factors that may influence learning    

Consistency.

The model (

the person the learner is imitating

) behaves in a way that is consistent across situations

Identification:

The learner can identify with the model

Rewards/punishment.

We can learn from the consequences of the models’ behaviour. (

vicarious learning

)

Liking:

The more we like the model, the more likely we are to imitate his or her behaviour

Supporting/challenging studies

    Bandura (1961) Eron (1986) Kimball and Zabrack (1986) Becker (1995)

Bandura, Ross & Ross (1961)

  Children watched a model being aggressive to a bobo doll Children imitated the model – were aggressive to the bobo doll

Evaluation of study

     Ethical problem of using children (cannot give consent, were taught aggressive behaviour) Study was well controlled (children were matched with children of equal aggression, age and same gender) Children’s aggressive behaviour was quantitatively measured by two observers (teacher of the children and the model) through a one way mirror glass Possible demand characteristics Problems of ecological validity and generalizability

Evaluation of theory - strengths

   Empirical support (

e.g. studies, mirror neuron research, animal observations of social learning

) Application (

education, therapy

)  To understand learning, aggression, depression, to predict behaviour Interactionistic – emphasizes dispositional, situational and sociocultural factors

Evaluation of theory - limitations

   Empirical challenges (e.g.Kimball and Zabrack 1986) Methodological problems of studies Not all behaviour is learned through social learning. There are other types of learning (

operant conditioning, classical conditioning, direct instruction

) There is a hereditary factor for many behaviours

Links to the bobo doll experiment

   http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Bandura/bobo.

htm (original article on the Bobo doll experiment) http ://www.holah.karoo.net/bandura.htm

(information on the Bobo doll experiment) http ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTB-I L3YIE (video about Bobo doll experiment)

Social learning activity

   Teach a partner a simple skill that you know how to do Your partner must be unable to do the skill  You must be able to teach the skill within a short time span (5-10 minutes) and without harming anyone At the end of the activity your partner should be able to perform the skill. It is voluntary if he/she wants to show it to the rest of the class

Examples of skills that you can teach        A simple nursery rhyme Song (you may only recite it, you do not have to sing it) Poem Some vocabulary from another language Dance steps Computer game or program A simple motor movement

Discussion

 What cognitive, environmental and behavioral factors affected the outcome and success of learning the skill?

 How could teaching/learning have been improved?