Social Learning Theory

Social Learning Theory

Key assumptions of SLT:

• Learning takes place in a social context
• we observe behaviour from people in social situations.
• other people act as role models for the observer and will be imitated depending on their characteristics
• observation doesnt always lead to imitation.
• conscious thought is used in producing behaviour.
• combines behaviourist and cognitive psychology.

expextancy and forethought: behaviour will only be imitated if there is an exprection of being reinforced for doing so (vicarious reinforcement)

Vicarious Reinforcement: observing positive concequences of role models behaviour and feeling compelled to do the same.

self-efficacy: belief a person has about whether they are capable of reproducing the behaviour to contol events and what will happen if they do.

Bandura's Four stages of Observational learning:

Bandura believed that we learn in 4 stages, these are as follows:

• Attention -concentrating on model and relveant behaviour.
• Retention-keeping what is stored in memory
• Motor Reproduction- being abloe to reproduce the behaviour seen
• Motivational processes- the presence of reinforcement (or punishment) motivates the individual to imitate or not

Bandura's study :

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