Social learning theory, including imitation, identification, modelling, vicarious reinforcement, the role of mediational processes and Bandura's research.

What this dot point is asking

AQA wants you to explain social learning theory, including imitation, identification, modelling, vicarious reinforcement, mediational processes and Bandura's research. The key exam skill is to show how SLT bridges behaviourism and the cognitive approach by adding cognitive mediating processes between observation and imitation.

Key concepts

Social learning theory accepts the behaviourist idea that behaviour is learned from the environment, but it argues that learning is not only direct (through our own reinforcement) but also indirect, through observation of others. We observe the behaviour of models, and we are far more likely to imitate models with whom we identify, for example those who are the same sex, of similar age, or of high status. Crucially, observation does not lead to imitation automatically; it depends on vicarious reinforcement. We watch the consequences a model receives, and if the behaviour is rewarded we are more likely to copy it, while if it is punished we are less likely to. This explains why behaviour can be learned even though it is not performed straight away (learning and performance are distinct in SLT). It also explains how social and cultural norms spread, from aggression to gender roles, without each person having to experience the consequences directly.

Mediational processes

The four mediational processes are what make SLT more than just behaviourism, because they insert cognition between the stimulus (observing the model) and the response (imitation). Attention determines whether the behaviour is noticed in the first place. Retention determines whether it is remembered, often as a mental representation. Motor reproduction is whether the observer is physically capable of reproducing the behaviour. Motivation, influenced by vicarious reinforcement, determines whether they actually choose to perform it. The first two relate to the learning of behaviour and the last two to its performance, which is why a behaviour can be learned but only performed much later when the conditions are right. Bandura's Bobo doll studies (1961, 1963) provide the empirical support: children who watched an adult act aggressively towards a Bobo doll imitated that aggression, and imitated it more when they had seen the model rewarded (vicarious reinforcement). The lab method gives high control, but it has been criticised for demand characteristics and low ecological validity, since hitting an inflatable doll is not the same as real interpersonal aggression.