Psychology : Semester I : Learning and Memory

Sections:

Introduction  |   Section 1  |  Section 2  |   Section 3 | Section 4 | Section 5

Psychology : Learning and Memory : Section Three Social-cognitive learning B.F. Skinner was only interested in what he could observe and measure.  He believed learning to be somewhat mechanical.  Cognitive psychologists take into account what is going on mentally.  They believe that learning can occur by thinking about situations or by observing others. This was first reported by a psychologist named E.C. Tolman. He noticed that all rats did not always learn the maze even when food was placed at various spots along the path. Days later, the rats would show signs of being able to travel the maze without the food along the path and get to the end.   This type of learning is called latent learning. Latent learning is learning that appears not to have been retained at the time of conditioning but it is displayed at a later time. This research opened the door to look at the cognitive (mental) aspect of learning.  Albert Bandura (man pictured above) came up with a theory of learning called observational learning or learning by watching others.  His classic experiment had children observe angry adults hitting bobo dolls (inflatable dolls that bounce back when punched) when they were frustrated. He then showed the children toys that were separated from them by a gate and unobtainable.  This easily frustrated the children.  When the children saw the bobo dolls in their room, they reacted to them the same way the angry adults did.  He believed that they learned how to respond by watching the adults.  Observational learning accounts for much human learning.  When you go to a place that you have not been, you probably watch how others act and behave accordingly.  Think of fads and advertising. People do and buy what they see others doing and buying. Bandura’s research has sparked concern about the amount of violence and sex that children are exposed to. This could potentially have negative effects and possible desensitize children to violence.  Because of his research and parental concerns, a rating system for video games, movies, and music has been implemented as a guide for appropriateness for children.   ≡ Classical Conditioning Association between neurtal stimulus and unconditioned stimulus--Ivan Pavlov. Operant Conditioning Consequences of behavior either strengthened or weakened. B.F. Skinner Social-Cognitive learning? What we think about what we observe. Albert Bandura Go on to the next section.

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