While rooted in many of the basic concepts of traditional learning theory, Bandura believed that direct reinforcement could not account for all types of learning. His theory added a social element, arguing that people can learn new information and behaviours by watching other people. Known as observational learning, this type of learning can be used to explain a wide variety of behaviours. Basic Social Learning Concepts There are three core concepts at the heart of social learning theory. First is the idea that people can learn through observation.
a boy may not cook dinner even though they observe their mother carrying out this behaviour). Support for social influences on gender roles comes from Bandura’s bobo doll study. The study involves an adult model influencing a child’s behaviour which supports the modelling aspect of SLT. On the other hand, Bussey et al found that the influence of modelling on children and the development of their gender roles is limited by existing stereotypes. Bussey came to this conclusion when he found that children imitate same sex models but do not imitate same sex models that are gender inappropriate.
However Jean Piaget (1932) believed that children’s moral development was based on the cognitive processes, and therefore conducted several studies to generate a better understanding of a child’s thought process and how that effected there moral judgment. Unlike Bandura who’s research did not focus much on age, Piaget, as a result of his research, divided children into three age brackets, he believed children aged 0-5 years old were in a ‘Premoral Stage’ and therefore had very little or no moral judgement, 5-9/10 year olds were in a stage of ‘Heteronomous Morality’ or ‘Moral Realism’ and showed signs of moral judgement, and finally children ages 10 years and over were in a stage of ‘Autonomous Morality’ or ‘Moral relativism’ and showed signs of significant development in moral reasoning (cited Gross 1996, pg.693). Piaget’s first stage of moral reasoning ‘Heteronomous Morality’ is defined as children believing that rules are made by an external source and can not be broken under any circumstances. One of Piaget’s studies, his marbles study (1932) suggests that children in the heteronomous morality believe that if you break the rules you must then be punished. There would be immanent justice either from an adult or another external source and if you were not punished at the time of the crime you would be punished later by an external source, for example adult, the police or God.
Outline and evaluate one or more social psychological theories of aggression? The social learning theory suggests that children learn aggressive behaviour from other significant individuals acting aggressively. A way in which children learn is called vicarious reinforcement and it’s when someone is rewarded for being aggressive. As a result they also act aggressively when reward follows however they will also learn not to act aggressively when punishment will be a consequence of their actions. In order for social learning to take place, the child must form a metal representation of the behaviour he/she observed.
Single sex education is also beneficial because boys and girls build their confidence and self-esteem up when learning in separate classrooms, boys and girls have different learning skills, and there is no sexual pressure within single sex schooling. Single sex education is just as beneficial as co-education. "One of the key arguments supporting single-sex programs is that they create an institutional and classroom climate in which female students can express themselves freely and frequently, and develop higher order thinking skills (Salomone, 2006)." Within a co-education classroom, students worry about what others think of them so they cannot express their feelings in class discussions; or they are afraid to raise their hand to ask a question because they do not want to be teased or ridiculed. According to girlslearndifferently.com, in a single sex education classroom, students develop cognitive skills and they feel free to express themselves in class discussions.
Social Learning Theory The social learning theory proposed by Albert Bandura has become perhaps the most influential theory of learning and development. While rooted in many of the basic concepts of traditional learning theory, Bandura believed that direct reinforcement could not account for all types of learning. His theory added a social element, arguing that people can learn new information and behaviors by watching other people. Known as observational learning (or modeling), this type of learning can be used to explain a wide variety of behaviors. General Principle of Social Learning Theory 1.
Having Fun With Operational Definitions Adapted from teachpsychscience.org Directions: Identify and operationally define the independent and dependent variables in each of the following research ideas. Research Idea #1: A social psychologist was interested in whether people are more likely to exhibit conformity when they are in situations that make them feel nervous and unsure of themselves. What is the independent variable? How would you define it operationally? What is the dependent variable?
The first group of children mirrored the aggressive behaviour on the doll, whereas the second group showed little aggressive behaviour towards it. The experiment shows that children are influenced by adults’ actions, and that they need to be positive role models. As a result they may have poor housing and debt due to the parents spending the money on alcohol or smoking. During the age of 10 – 18 years, drug and alcohol abuse in the child may occur. This is due to the fact that the child wants to fit in with their friends and not feel left out.
The second stage is “gender stability”. By the age of 3 to 5 years, most children recognise that gender stays the same for life, but rely on superficial, physical signs to determine gender. E.g. children may believe that a woman who has her head shaven becomes a man. This is supported and was shown by McConachy’s study of gender stability where they asked young children to identify the sex of a doll.
Learning Theory 3 The social learning theory is the behavior theory most significant to criminology. Albert Bandura alleged aggression is erudite through a curse of action called behavior modeling. He believed that individuals do not actually inherit violent tendencies, but they modeled them (Bandura & Ribes, 1976). Albert Bandura and other theorist argued that individuals, especially children, learn aggressive responses from observing others, either personally or through the media and environments (Bandura, 1976). He stated that many individuals believed that aggression will fabricate reinforcements.