1. Outline social cognitive theory, making reference to one relevant piece of research.
The social cognitive theory involves: attention, to learn a behaviour the learner must
pay attention to the model which may has certain factors that influence the attention such
as the attractiveness, authority or desirability or the behaviour; retention as the observer
must be able to remember the behaviour to be able to reproduce it; motivation as they
must want to copy the behaviour as they have seen the potential outcome of it ;and the
potential which means that the observer needs to be able to physically or mentally
reproduce the behaviour. The social cognitive learning theory argues that learning is most
likely to occur if the observer has high self-efficacy. This plays a major role in whether they
will imitate the behaviour of the model as those who has low self-efficacy will fear failure
and will not attempt to replicate the behaviour. A study that observes the social cognitive
learning theory is carried out by Bandura et al.
This study had two aims which are: to see if children imitate aggression modelled by
adults, and to see if children imitate same sex models. To carry out this study, a sample of
36 boys and 36 girls, ages 3 to 6, were chosen. The sample was divided into three groups
and matched to a level of aggression based on the evaluation of their teachers and parents.
The first group was exposed to adult models who showed aggression by either bashing an
inflatable “Bobo” doll or using verbal aggression toward the Bobo; the second group 2 was
exposed to a non-aggressive adult who assembled toys for 10 minutes; and the third group
was the control variable that did not see any behaviour. In the first and second group,
children observed some same-sex models and some of the opposite sex. After they
observed the models, the sample was placed in a room with toys, and then taken out and
placed into rooms with the “Bobo” doll. They told the sample that the toys were for other
children so they would experience some kind of frustration. They were then left to play with
the “Bobo” dolls in a room with a one-way mirror so their behaviours could be observed.
The results showed that the children who observed aggressive models where more verbally
and physically aggressive and showed clear signs of observational learning. In addition to
that, girls were more likely to observe and imitate verbal aggression whereas boys were
more like to take up physical aggression. When boys observed women being aggressively
violent, they often made comments showing how they thought women should not act like
that which further shows how children are more likely to imitate same sex adults.
To sum up all that has been said so far, the results of this study show how children
are more likely to imitate same sex adults as them. This is because the observer has a higher
self-efficacy as adults are seen as authority figures and if they are of the same sex , it
increase the desirability of the child to want to replicate the behaviour.
The social cognitive theory involves: attention, to learn a behaviour the learner must
pay attention to the model which may has certain factors that influence the attention such
as the attractiveness, authority or desirability or the behaviour; retention as the observer
must be able to remember the behaviour to be able to reproduce it; motivation as they
must want to copy the behaviour as they have seen the potential outcome of it ;and the
potential which means that the observer needs to be able to physically or mentally
reproduce the behaviour. The social cognitive learning theory argues that learning is most
likely to occur if the observer has high self-efficacy. This plays a major role in whether they
will imitate the behaviour of the model as those who has low self-efficacy will fear failure
and will not attempt to replicate the behaviour. A study that observes the social cognitive
learning theory is carried out by Bandura et al.
This study had two aims which are: to see if children imitate aggression modelled by
adults, and to see if children imitate same sex models. To carry out this study, a sample of
36 boys and 36 girls, ages 3 to 6, were chosen. The sample was divided into three groups
and matched to a level of aggression based on the evaluation of their teachers and parents.
The first group was exposed to adult models who showed aggression by either bashing an
inflatable “Bobo” doll or using verbal aggression toward the Bobo; the second group 2 was
exposed to a non-aggressive adult who assembled toys for 10 minutes; and the third group
was the control variable that did not see any behaviour. In the first and second group,
children observed some same-sex models and some of the opposite sex. After they
observed the models, the sample was placed in a room with toys, and then taken out and
placed into rooms with the “Bobo” doll. They told the sample that the toys were for other
children so they would experience some kind of frustration. They were then left to play with
the “Bobo” dolls in a room with a one-way mirror so their behaviours could be observed.
The results showed that the children who observed aggressive models where more verbally
and physically aggressive and showed clear signs of observational learning. In addition to
that, girls were more likely to observe and imitate verbal aggression whereas boys were
more like to take up physical aggression. When boys observed women being aggressively
violent, they often made comments showing how they thought women should not act like
that which further shows how children are more likely to imitate same sex adults.
To sum up all that has been said so far, the results of this study show how children
are more likely to imitate same sex adults as them. This is because the observer has a higher
self-efficacy as adults are seen as authority figures and if they are of the same sex , it
increase the desirability of the child to want to replicate the behaviour.
