Social Learning Natalie Dolan, Tayler Lenart, Joe Letke, Melanie Battaglia, Kelly Schreuder, Max Jansons
Types Of Learning Classical Conditioning: Learning by association Operant Conditioning: Learning through reinforcement Social Learning: Learning by observing and imitating Cognitive Learning: Learning through mental processing
Social Learning Learning from the behavior of others “Watch and Learn” Most research today has moved away from classical and operant conditioning Some believe that both of these fall short of explaining complex learning processes
Observational Learning We learn from patterns of behavior by watching others and deciding what to imitate From the parent, a child learns speech patterns, personal habits, and how to react to others Differences between Observational and Social Learning Social Learning refers to all learning in a social situation Observational Learning is one of the processes used for social learning
Albert Bandura Social Learning's most prominent theorist Claims that the most important aspect of learning was missed by Pavlov, Watson and Skinner Between the stimulus and the response is the complex “inner person” who is able to analyze events and make decisions before a response is given Believes that there is a need for more complex explanation for behavior when we analyze group, social and living We directly imitate the activities of those around us
Bundura’s Experiment He saw that children who watched aggressive adults became aggressive themselves He made children watch adults hitting plastic dolls When left alone, the children would do the same http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHHdovKH DNU&feature=related
Bandura’s Experiment Cont. Important notes about the experiment: the child did not require a specific reinforcement such as food, toys or any other type of reward, for the learning to happen Social Learning can occur just by exposure and imitation alone
Breaking Bad Habits There are 5 methods that can be used to break habits 1. Remove, avoid or delay reinforcement- no snacks until 30 minutes after you have finished your homework 2. Do not remove reinforcement, but find a new behavior to get that reinforcement- instead of watching TV after school, read a book 3. Narrow or avoid the stimuli (or cues) that precede the habit- not going to the grocery store when you are hungry 4. Break the chain- avoid distractions 5. Monitor the bad habit- focus on your bad habit