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Environmental factors that influence child development
Environmental factors that influence child development
Essays on social learning theory
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Bandura was a psychologist who developed the social learning theory and the idea that children learn through conditioning & observing behaviours from role models around them and copying such behaviours. This was demonstrated through the Bobo Doll experiment where there was groups of children who had different role models and different behaviours shown towards the doll; the children were then put in a room with the same doll and their behaviours were mainly those which they had seen from the role model they had witnessed. There are 4 stages of this theory; attention, retention, reproduction and motivation. Children need to notice what the adult is doing, the chance of them doing this is influenced by factors such as sex, age, status and what
All of these theories have to do with the way children learn the instructions that are given to them. The “watch me” theory is when a teacher, parent, or caregiver say to the child that is learning “watch me” and shows them how to do the task. “ It is vitally important to support and encourage self-directed activities by the infant and young child. Even if those activities appear meaningless to us, they can have great purpose and significance for the child” (Elkind, 92). When a child is given an opportunity to create their own learning they will be able to understand more information around them. Next, is the “little sponge” theory is the idea that children can learn as fast as adults around them do. That is not true at all children learn at a lower level than adults and that is okay. They are pure to the world and are interested in the things that adults take for granted. Last, is the “look harder” theory which is pretty self explanatory. When children do not see what adults do, adults tell them to “look harder.” (Elkind, 99). Children see the world very differently then what adults see it. They have to learn so much when they are so young that they are becoming overstimulated and are wanting to give
Piaget proposed that cognitive development from infant to young adult occurs in four universal and consecutive stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations (Woolfolk, A., 2004). Between the ages of zero and two years of age, the child is in the sensorimotor stage. It is during this stage the child experiences his or her own world through the senses and through movement. During the latter part of the sensorimotor stage, the child develops object permanence, which is an understanding that an object exists even if it is not within the field of vision (Woolfolk, A., 2004). The child also begins to understand that his or her actions could cause another action, for example, kicking a mobile to make the mobile move. This is an example of goal-directed behavior. Children in the sensorimotor stage can reverse actions, but cannot yet reverse thinking (Woolfolk, A., 2004).
In the first stage, sensorimotor, the child starts to build an understanding of its world by synchronising sensory encounters with physical actions. They become capable of symbolic thought and start to achieve object permanence.
In 1977, Psychologist Albert Bandura adopted the Social Learning Theory making it an influential and important theory. Bandura believed that direct reinforcement could not account for all types of learning capabilities. Bandura argued that individuals could learn new information and behavior by watching other individuals and the type of leanings can be explained by a wide variety of behaviors. This theory acknowledges that just because something has been learned, it does not mean that it will result in a change in behavior. However, the influence from others can cause a change in
Bandura’s social learning theory (Kearns, 2010) plays a major role in children’s learning and development as it provides opportunities for children to self-reflect on their own learning, behaviour and social interactions through observing their peers and gaining valuable feedback. Learning by observation gives the child the ability to gain self confidence in their own abilities and learn new skills.
Bandura’s theory uses the social- learning approach. This approach would explain that Antwone was a product of what he saw. This showed in the behaviors that he displayed. This approach derives from the behaviorist approach (Schultz & Schultz, 2013). Bandura would believe that one learns by observing what is taking place in his or her environment and the people that are around the individual (Schultz & Schultz, 2013). Modeling was very important to Bandura (Schultz & Schultz, 2013).
Social learning therapy was developed by the one of the most influential social learning theorists, Albert Bandura. Social learning therapy provided emphasis on how people learn by observing and modeling others (Bandura, 2006). A well-known example of social learning therapy is the Bobo doll experiment, which showed children who saw an adult abuse a doll were more likely to manifest aggressive behavior rather than children who do not witness abuse. Later, Bandura found behavior could be learned and changed through observation as well. In addition, modeling not only has impact on behavior, but it can change cognitions and abilities to improve self-efficacy. The theory behind self-efficacy is that people perform certain tasks based off of beliefs and how competent an individual is, as well as the consequences of doing it. “People develop a sense of their own competency at a given task. This sense of competency shapes future attempts” (Bandura, 1977). Social learning theory seeks to help strengthen self-observation and self-judgement of the
Different developmental theories are used to describe the process of development. The psychoanalytic theory focuses on the unconscious mind. Freud posited that development occurs in five stages throughout childhood and how we learn to resolve conflicts within those stages determines one’s ability to thrive in adulthood. Alternatively, Erikson believed that development is a psychosocial process that occurs over eight stages in which crises occurs that increase both one’s vulnerability and enhanced potential. In contrast, cognitive theories focus on conscious thoughts. Piaget explained child development as occurring in four stages (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational) that shape their worldview and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory placed emphasis on culture and social interactions as they relate to learning processes. Similarly, the Information-Processing theory suggests that individuals analyze their learning experiences as a means to acquire further complex skills. The behavioral theories of Skinner focus on punishment and rewards and the ecological theories of Bowly describe behavior as a biological component. The eclectic theoretical orientation utilizes the most effective elements of all
Furthermore, well-renowned psychologists like John Locke and Albert Bandura set out to find the answer. Their ambitions have taken them far, Albert Bandura proposed the theory of observational learning, which is referred to as shaping or modeling. Even though, observational learning can be learned throughout any stage in life, it tends to occur more in the way that children act. Bandura demonstrated that we are prone to engage in observational learning, and demonstrated this through the fact that children as young as 21 days old, will attempt to mimic facial expressions and movements, which demonstrates how impactful observational learning can be at such a young age. Bandura also conducted an experiment, Bobo doll experiment, in which children observed a film that showed an adult repeatedly beating a bobo doll aggressively. However, after viewing the film, the children were permitted to play with a real bobo doll, with no supervision. Therefore, Bandura concluded that children were most likely to mimic the actions of an adult ("What Is Observational Learning?"). Furthermore, the Bobo doll experiment also relates well to the ideology of the British philosopher, John Locke. Locke refuses to believe the ideology of Descartes, that human beings know certain things naturally without being taught it. Therefore, Locke created the theory of “Tabula Rasa” or clean slate, in which he believed that infants know nothing at birth and that all ideas develop come from experience ("John Locke's Theory of Tabula Rasa"). Thus, demonstrated that since children’s minds are blank at birth, it demonstrates how much the environment has a significant impact on the development of personality. Therefore, John Locke and Albert Bandura both proved that the environment in which children occupy themselves in, are what overall influences their
“Most human behaviour is learned observationally through modelling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviours are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action”, this summary of social learning theory (SLT) was formulated by Albert Bandura, a psychologist responsible for many contributions in the field of social psychology, to mention a few. This behaviour of learning from observations and use it as a guide for action is something most humans possess, and can be applied to any situation or existent system.
It looks closely on the effects on the change of behaviour as a result from a stimulus response made by a learner, usually a role model or someone of close significance. This is a form of conditioning and reinforcement. Bandura’s Social learning theory, focuses on the belief that all kinds of behaviour is learned through observation of a role model, depending on the consequences of the role model’s actions then determines whether the behaviour is imitated. Bandura et al (1963) shows children an adult model behaving aggressively towards and inflated bobo doll the adult was either rewarded by sweets or punished by being shouted at. The control group witnessed the model behave aggressively with no consequence, positive or negative. The children were then allowed to play in the room which contained the bobo doll, those who had seen the model punished for their behaviour were less likely to imitate their actions. Research was carried out, showing that the majority of children learn behaviour through observation but only imitate when behaviour is not punished. This study does prove that observing violence brings about imitation and can be applied to real life as it could be the reason why there are age restrictions on violent video games and movies, as it has more effect in young children Griffiths, DR. (2000).Video games: cause for concern. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1036088.stm. Last accessed 13th Oct 2015. However the study is unethical as it does not take the effect on physical and mental changes of participants into
This theory is focuses on how human learn and imitate new information and behaviors by observing other people. The social learning theory is also known as observational learning which can be used to explain various type of behaviors including on how human reacts to their social and environment that can affect physical health in a person. Physical health can be directly effected by the environment in which human live. According to Bandura’s famous Bobo Doll Experiment, children can learn and imitate behaviors that they observe in other people. There are three basic models of observational learning. First is a live model that involves on an actual individual acting out a behavior. Next model is the verbal instructional model that involves description
They focus on what they see, what they are doing, and interactions with their general environment which then moves onto the Preoperational Stage During this stage young child are able to think about things such as symbols. Their language use becomes more fluent. The children also are able to develop imagination and being able to have some clue on what their dreams consisted off, which allows them to understand the difference between past and future which altogether is a huge leap from the Sensorimotor stage. The third stage cognitive devolvement, Concrete Operational Stage, involves secondary school age Children’s thinking becoming less childish and they are increasingly aware of various events around them. They start to realise their own thoughts and feelings and are able to decide if they should be shared by other people. Finally the last stage of cognitive development, the Formal Operational Stage consists of children aged 15 and above is able to use symbols related to different thoughts and ideas, such as Pythagoras and different methods of mathematical calculations they can come up with their own unique conclusions and are able to think of different possibilities. They can also develop relationships and concepts such as injustice and justice
Dr. Bandura’s has been utilized in numerous studies, in diverse countries, on various age groups, and on different genders. His theory has been cited in several articles, which implies that the social cognitive theory generates empirical research, and it is also widely generalizable. I believe that Bandura’s social cognitive theory is indeed advantageous for myself along with other individuals as well. This approach can be applied to life’s practical problems. For instance, Bandura argues that a person cannot learn how to swim if they drowned first. Thus a person must observe a model swimming first to learn the basis of swimming. In order to learn, Bandura suggests the observer pays attention to the models. In this context, the observer would pay attention to the skilled swimmer. Upon watching the skilled model swim, the observer is able to retain the models behavior in order to imitate their behavior at a later time. This is what Bandura referred to as the retention process. Upon retaining the information, the observer put the performance into effect by transforming the obvious actions, which is the production process. During this process the observer actually display the learned behavior. Subsequently, the individual learns by observing someone else vicariously. This performance also goes along with driving a car, one must learn through vicarious reinforcement, not direct reinforcement. If a person learns by direct reinforcement, trial-and-error will be induced. Learning through trial and error is dangerous because it can result in death (Schultz & Schultz, 2013).
The third stage would be “The Concrete-Operational Stage” which occurs between the ages of seven to eleven years old. “During Piaget’s concrete-operational period, children rapidly acquire cognitive operations and apply these important new skills when thinking about objects and events that they have experienced. A cognitive operation is internal mental activity that