Download 2 marks each: 1 mark for the identification and 1 mark for the

Sample answer for the Classical
Conditioning application question (6)

This scenario suggests Jack has associated the nurse’s white clothes with the
injection Jack received at the doctors surgery. This can be explained using
classical conditioning. Jack has an automatic (unconditioned) fear of injections as
they are painful. Jack did not previously elicit any response when in contact with
the doctors surgery or nurses as he was not screaming when they arrived at the
surgery. We can therefore assume that the nurse was a neutral stimulus. The
pairing of the nurse with the injection induced a one-trail learning response of
fear as Jack did not stop crying until the nurse left the room. This suggests that he
associated the pain from the injection with the nurse, as even when she wasn’t
injecting him anymore, her presence was still eliciting a fear response
(screaming).

This conditioned fear then became a generalised response to any extension of the
original conditioned stimulus (nurse). Therefore the new white shirt Jack’s mother
wore the next morning, elicited the same fear response as he associated the white
shirt with the fear of the nurse. We can conclude that the fear response was
discriminated from all women and only to white shirts as Jack stopped screaming
when his mother removed the white shirt.
For the below examples decide whether it is operant
conditioning or classical conditioning being described and why?
(2 marks each: 1 mark for the identification and 1 mark for the
explanation.)
Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment building, the
shower becomes very hot and causes the person to jump back. Over time,
the person begins to jump back automatically after hearing the flush,
before the water temperature changes.
 Your father gives you a credit card at the end of your first year in college
because you did so well. As a result, your grades continue to get better in
your second year.
 Your car has a red, flashing light that blinks annoyingly if you start the car
without buckling the seat belt. You become less likely to start the car
without buckling the seat belt.
 You eat a new food and get sick because of the flu. However, you
develop a dislike for the food and feel nauseated whenever you smell it.

What does this advert suggest about
children’s behaviour?
Social learning
Learning by observation and imitation

Using the props in the room, come up with a way of investigating the Social
Learning Theory.
We imitate the behaviour of role models.
Who makes an effective role model?
Same gender
Same age
Higher status
Admired or/and respected
Why do we imitate?
Vicarious reinforcements
What???
Learning from
the successes or
mistakes of other
people
Self-Efficacy
The confidence
to carry out the
action
Bandura (1977) believed that four
criteria need to be met for imitation
to occur
1. Attention to the role
model
2. Retention of the
observed behaviour
3. Reproduction of the
target behaviour
4. Motivation to imitate
the observed behaviour
More likely to
ATTEND if???
Can I carry out the
behaviour? (selfefficacy)
Intrinsic/extrinsic
rewards or vicarious
reinforcement
Evaluation

Can you come up with some strengths and weaknesses of the theory?

Counter theory/evidence?

Supportive evidence?

Application/usefulness
Tasks:
1. Describe the Social Learning Theory. (6 marks)
Include key words such as: Modelling, Imitation, Vicarious Reinforcement and SelfEfficacy.
2. Explain one strength and one weakness of the Social
Learning Theory (6 marks)
Social Learning Theory

Homework – Write out the APRC for Bandura’s Original Bobo Doll Experiment.
Bandura (1961, 1963)
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=8ZXOp5PopIA
Lesson Two –

Create a film of the Bandura’s original Bobo Doll Experiment:

Characters – child (m/f) role model (m/f) experimenter

Use the following information to write out your scripts:

1)Introduction to the controls (previous aggression levels) and sample (how
were they split into groups?)

2) Modelling phase (what exactly did the children observe in the aggressive
and non-aggressive conditions?)

3) Arousal phase (How was the child provoked?)

4) Observation phase (what exactly did the experimenters measure? Act out
the results differences between non-aggressive and aggressive role models
and the sex of the model)

Homework – Comment on a strength and a weakness of Bandura’s Bobo Doll
study (6 marks)
Lesson Three

End goal - Evaluate Bandura’s (1965) Bobo doll experiment with vicarious
reinforcement (8)