1. Lecture 5: Social learning

2. Historical Roots Skinner/Watson (behaviourists) believed that all of our behaviours were determined by direct experience BUT is direct experience necessary for learning to occur?

3. Social learning “Social learning occurs when an organism’s responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models”

4. Real Snake Lab-raised monkeys are not normally afraid of snakes. Big deal

5. Observational conditioning If a lab-raised monkey sees a wild monkey act afraid of a snake… ! Performer Observer

6. Observational conditioning … it will acquire a fear of snakes. ! Observer

7. ! Performer Observer = US CS ! UR = Observer ! CR =

8. Social Learning? Instrumental Conditioning (Trial and error) R  Pecking the lid Rft  Access to milk (Sd  milkman gone)

9. Social facilitation vs Social Learning? Goal Enhancement –Getting access to some wanted goal might facilitate later trial and error learning, e.g. access to cream which is not usually readily available Stimulus Enhancement –Observe others and are often more likely approach places that they are, e.g. the milk bottles Increased Motivation to Act –Try more new things in the company of friends and parents Contagious Behaviour –Mimicking an already learnt behaviour, e.g. yawning

10. Two-action test

11. OR

12. Capp et al (2005)

17. Social (instrumental) learning Mimicry –copying without reference to a goal Emulation –understanding there is a goal but not using the same method to gain access to the goal Imitation –copying with reference to a goal

18. Mimicry is a copied action that is made without reference to a goal, or that may not be reinforced by some consequence. Replicating the action regardless of result Mimicry

19. Emulation There is understanding of the goal but the specific response required to obtain the goal may not be well understood Eg. Chimpanzees obtaining food with a rake

20. Imitation Copied actions made with respect to the goal/consequence A replication of the same response(s) made by the ‘performer’. E.g. infants solving two-action tasks in the same manner the demonstrater did

21. Bandura, Ross & Ross, 1961

22. Modeling Children will not only imitate an adult’s specific behaviour but also model general styles of behaviour (e.g., aggressive vs gentle play). Suggested cognitive aspects of social learning: –People actively watch others to gain knowledge about the type of things that they do –Use that knowledge in situations where it’s useful, –Information is not always used immediately.

23. Bandura (1965) How does reinforcement influence modeling? Three groups 1)Model rewarded 2)Model punished 3)No consequence Model observed on TV Two tests; no incentive and positive incentive

24. Bandura (1965)

25. Modeling is reinforcement dependent Modeling can occur through TV, not just in person

26. Social cognition theory 1.Attention to the model, 2.Incorporate the model’s actions into memory, 3.Requires having the ability to reproduce the actions of the model, 4.The motivation to reproduce the actions of the model –Was the model reinforced? –Is the reinforcer currently desired?

27. Applications Advertising campaigns –Some real R-Rft associations, e.g. smoking, drink driving, weight watchers –Some manufactured R-Rft associations –Often a role of CC too Smacking a child…who has just bitten another child(?)