Social learning helps to explain changes in behavior.

Learning Approach

Psychology Notes

A Level/AS Level/O Level

Learning Approach

Learning Approach: How We Learn and Change

The Learning Approach is a way of explaining how we learn and change our behavior. It suggests that all behavior, even complex ones like emotions and thoughts, are learned through interaction with our environment. Unlike other approaches that focus on internal factors, the Learning Approach emphasizes the role of experience, observation, and rewards in shaping who we are.

Here's a breakdown of the key ideas in the Learning Approach:

1. Classical Conditioning: Learning by Association

Imagine your dog salivating at the sound of a can opener. That's classical conditioning in action!

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): Something that naturally triggers a response. In our example, the food is the UCS because it naturally makes the dog salivate.
Unconditioned Response (UCR): The natural response triggered by the UCS. The dog's salivation is the UCR.
Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A neutral stimulus that's paired with the UCS. The can opener is the CS because it's initially neutral, but paired with the food, it starts to trigger the response.
Conditioned Response (CR): The learned response to the CS. When the dog salivates just at the sound of the can opener, that's the CR.

Think of these examples:

Fear of the Dentist: A painful experience at the dentist (UCS) can lead to fear (UCR). If the dentist always wears a blue shirt (CS), that shirt can later trigger fear (CR), even without the painful procedure.
Advertising: A catchy song (CS) paired with a product image (UCS) can create positive feelings (CR) towards that product.

2. Operant Conditioning: Learning through Consequences

This is all about learning through rewards and punishments.

Reinforcement: Anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior happening again.
Punishment: Anything that decreases the likelihood of a behavior happening again.

Let's break down the types:

Positive Reinforcement: Adding something pleasant to increase a behavior. Giving a dog a treat for sitting on command is positive reinforcement.
Negative Reinforcement: Removing something unpleasant to increase a behavior. Taking away chores when a child gets good grades is negative reinforcement.
Positive Punishment: Adding something unpleasant to decrease a behavior. Yelling at a child for hitting a sibling is positive punishment.
Negative Punishment: Removing something pleasant to decrease a behavior. Taking away a teenager's phone for being late is negative punishment.

Real-world examples:

School: Good grades (positive reinforcement) might encourage a student to study more, while getting detention (positive punishment) might decrease disruptive behavior.
Work: A promotion (positive reinforcement) might motivate an employee to perform better, while a pay cut (negative punishment) might discourage laziness.

3. Social Learning: Learning by Observation

You don't always need to experience something directly to learn it! We can also learn by watching others.

Modeling: Learning by observing and imitating the behaviors of others. Children learn to eat with utensils by mimicking their parents, and we can learn new skills by watching tutorials.
Vicarious Reinforcement: Observing someone else being rewarded for a behavior can increase our likelihood of doing that behavior. If your friend gets a high score on a test after studying, you might be more likely to study hard too.

Social learning can explain:

Cultural differences: Different cultures have different norms and expectations, which we learn through observation.
Aggressive behavior: Watching violent movies or video games can increase aggression in some individuals.
Prosocial behavior: Seeing people helping others can inspire us to do the same.

In Conclusion:

The Learning Approach highlights the significant role of experience in shaping who we are. By understanding the principles of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning, we can gain valuable insights into how we learn new behaviors, form habits, and respond to our environment. It also provides practical tools for changing behavior, from training pets to improving our own habits.

Bonus Notes

Psychology Essay Questions: Brief Answers

1. Observational Learning and Bandura's Theory:

Bandura's Social Learning Theory emphasizes the crucial role of observational learning in shaping human behavior. Through observing others, we acquire new behaviors, attitudes, and values. This process involves attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation, with vicarious reinforcement playing a key role. Observational learning explains how we learn complex behaviors, adopt social norms, and develop our sense of self-efficacy.

2. Strengths and Limitations of Social Learning Approaches:

Strengths: Social learning approaches offer a comprehensive view of behavior acquisition, considering both internal and external factors. They explain the learning of complex social behaviors like aggression and altruism through modeling, reinforcement, and reciprocal determinism.

Limitations: Social learning theories sometimes overemphasize the role of the environment, underestimating the influence of innate predispositions. They also struggle to fully account for the complexities of internal cognitive processes that contribute to learning.

3. Social Interactions and Cultural Norms:

Social learning emphasizes the influence of social interactions and cultural norms on behavior development. Through observation, interaction, and social reinforcement, individuals learn and internalize social expectations, values, and behaviors. This shapes our understanding of what is considered "normal" and appropriate in different situations, impacting our actions and choices.

4. Ethical Implications of Social Learning Interventions:

Social learning interventions offer potential benefits, such as promoting prosocial behavior and reducing aggression. However, they raise ethical concerns regarding manipulating behavior and potential for coercion. Ethical considerations include informed consent, minimizing harm, and respecting individual autonomy.

5. Comparing Social Learning to Other Theories:

Cognitive Theories: While both emphasize internal processes, cognitive theories focus on mental representations and information processing, while social learning highlights environmental influences and social interactions.

Behavioral Theories: Both emphasize observable behaviors and environmental influences but social learning incorporates internal cognitive processes and observational learning, expanding on simple stimulus-response relationships.

Similarities: All learning theories acknowledge that learning involves change in behavior or knowledge.

Differences: They differ in their emphasis on internal vs. external factors, the nature of learning processes, and the complexity of human behavior.