Lecture Notes: Bandura and Social Learning Theory

Introduction

• Importance of behavior around children
  • Children can learn negative behaviors by observing adults.

Albert Bandura and the Bobo Doll Experiment

• Background: Famous psychological experiment by Albert Bandura.
• Purpose: Study if children learn violent behavior by observing.
• Setup:
  • Conducted in 1965.
  • Children observed a man acting aggressively towards a Bobo Doll.
  • The man shouted "Hit it! Kick it!" while attacking the doll.
• Outcome:
  • Many children imitated the aggressive behavior.
  • Some children were unaffected by the display.

The Follow-Up Experiment

• Modified Setup: Children watched a video of aggression with consequences.
  • The aggressor was punished.
• Observations:
  • Children were still aggressive towards the doll in some cases.
  • When bribed, children imitated the behavior even if they initially did not.
• Conclusion: Demonstrates the concept of "Learning Performance Distinction."
  • Learning a behavior and performing it are different.
  • Not performing a behavior does not mean it wasn't learned.

Implications for Violent Media

• Used in debates about violent video games and movies.
• Key point: Observing violence can lead to learning it, even if not immediately acted upon.

Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory

• Components:
  • Attention
  • Memory
  • Imitation
  • Motivation
• Example: Learning to draw a star.
  • Requires attention to observe, memory to recall, imitation to replicate, and motivation to do so.
• Mnemonic: "Am I motivated?" to remember the components.

Conclusion

• Understanding Bandura's theory helps explain how behaviors are learned and possibly acted out.
• Raises questions about the impact of media on learning and behavior.