Key Approaches: the Social Learning Theory Debate Essay

Outline and appreciate genial scholarship theory. In your answer, make comparisons with at least angiotensin-converting enzyme other approach in psychology. 12 marks Social skill theory states that demeanor is acquired through the observational accomplishment from habit models where a person identifies with that person and imitates their demeanour. This means that the behaviour of a model base influence the behaviour of all those that model the person and is particularly parkland with tiddlerhood celebrity role models.When a person identifies with the role model, the cognitive factors to the study occur in 4 key stages attention when the idiosyncratic notices the action, retention as the person memorises the behaviour, judgement whereby the person is receptive to if they are able to imitate the behaviour themselves and motivation which is when the individual is reinforced whether right away or vicariously to repeat this behaviour based upon their own caricature of it and their confidence of success.So for example with motivation, if a tykes role model is a footballer who swears at another player and is displace off, vicarious reinforcement will occur and will dissuade the peasant from repeating this behaviour due to the negative consequences of it. When compared to the behaviourist approach which assumes behaviour lays between the stimulus and response and does not account for the mediating cognitive factors, social learning theory apologises the cognitive factors involved in the process of learning behaviour and bridges the gap between traditional behaviourism and the cognitive approach. A study into the social learning theory was conducted by Bandura with his bobo hoot experiment whereby he was investigating whether children would imitate behaviour based upon what they had witnessed beingness aggressive behaviour or non-aggressive behaviour towards the doll, as well as a withstand group whereby the child was left with the doll without an bountiful present.The results shown that in the presence of aggressive conditions, there was a clear affix in the incidence of aggression towards the doll in the children. In addition, higher(prenominal) physical aggression was noted in boys than girls but not oral aggression. It was also shown that with a male model that aggression increased for some(prenominal) sexes and children in the non-aggressive category demonstrated lower levels of aggression than children in the control group. The study was conducted in a controlled environment so can be credited for reducing the possibility of extraneous variables, but as a result also could be criticised for the lack of ecological validity. Another realm of psychology where social learning theory can be find is through gender formation when a child imitates the behaviour of their models, ofttimes shown through how they act and dress.For example, girls modelling their mother are often shown as playing with their mothers makeup s ets and trying on various shoes, whereas boys can typically be seen playing football often with their father and friends of the same sex. some(prenominal) behaviourist theories are often very reductionist and do not consider the mediating cognitive factors, specifically in the acquisition of new behaviour and does not account for behaviour which has not been directly taught.For example, if a child sees a juggler and attempts to copy the behaviour, behaviourism cannot explain wherefore the child attempted to imitate the behaviour to begin with, whereas social learning theory can accredit it to the child modelling the juggler for having exceptional skills the child does not. Overall, social learning theory demonstrates the role of cognition in learning and also how complex social behaviours can be acquired. Furthermore, it makes use of the data-based method to test theories and insists on the use of human research. However, social learning theory also neglects the role of biology an d hereditary and does not explain the process by which abstract ideas can be learnt.