The social learning theory was developed by Albert Bandura, this theory suggests that behaviour is learned through observation and imitation. It also says that learning is a cognitive process that will take place in a social context. Bandura believes that humans are active information processors and think about the relationship between their behaviour and its consequences. Observational learning could not occur unless cognitive processes were at work. According to this theory, we are also more likely to copy someone if they are rewarded for their actions, this is known as vicarious reinforcement.
Albert Bandura combines both behavioural and cognitive philosophies to form this theory of modelling, or observational learning. He sees the human personality as an interaction between the environment and a person 's psychological processes.
Bandura had created 2 experiments to explain the social learning theory. Children in the experiment saw adults beating up a Bobo doll in a video. Some of the adults were rewarded, some were punished, and some received no consequence for the behaviour. Bandura demonstrated that while the children who saw the adults being rewarded for beating up the doll were more likely to later repeat the behaviour. These experiments were called the Bobo Doll Experiments 1961. Bandura, Ross, and Ross 1961 carried out a study where there were 3 groups of children.
Before this experiment, “The researchers pre-tested the children for how aggressive they were by observing the children in the nursery and judged their aggressive behaviour on four 5-point rating scales. It was then possible to match the children in each group so that they had similar levels of aggression in their everyday behaviour. The experiment is therefore an example of a matched pairs design” according to http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html.
Group 1 – This group of children watched a adult behaving aggressively towards a bobo doll. (This would include