Page 273 - Understanding Psychology

s Main Idea
Social learning, consisting of cognitive learning and modeling, involves how people make decisions and act upon the information available to them.
s Vocabulary
• social learning
• cognitive learning
• cognitive map
• latent learning
• learned helplessness
• modeling
• behavior modification
• token economy
s Objectives
• Cite the principles involved in cogni-
tive learning and modeling.
• Identify the principles of learning used
in behavior modification.
Social Learning
Reader’s Guide
Exploring Psychology
Would You Treat Bobo This Way?
Children were told to play while in another part of the room an adult “model” aggressively “played” with a 5-foot inflated Bobo doll. The model laid the Bobo doll on its side, sat on it, and punched it repeatedly in the nose. The model then raised the Bobo doll, picked up a mallet and struck the doll on the head, then kicked the doll around the room. Fol- lowing this experience, the youngsters were brought to a room that contained many attractive toys and the Bobo doll. The children exhibited a good deal of aggressive behavior toward the Bobo doll—behavior resembling that of
the adult model.
—adapted from “Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of Aggressive Models” by Albert Bandura, Dorothea Ross, and Sheila A. Ross, published in Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1961
Why did the children display such aggressive behavior? Albert Bandura performed the study above in 1961 to demonstrate
that the children learned aggressive behaviors simply by watching a model perform these behaviors. The study illustrated the third
type of learning, called social learning. Social learning theorists view
learning as purposeful—going beyond mechanical responses to stimuli or reinforcement. The two types of social learning are cognitive learning
and modeling. others
social learning: process of altering behavior by observing and imitating the behavior of
Chapter 9 / Learning: Principles and Applications 259