AP Psychology AMSCO Guided Notes
3.9: Social, Cognitive, and Neurological Factors in Learning
AMSCO Guided Notes
AP Psychology Guided Notes
AMSCO 3.9 - Social, Cognitive, and Neurological Factors in Learning
Essential Questions
- How do social learning, cognitive factors in learning, and neurological factors in learning apply to behavior and mental processes?
A. Social Learning
1. What is social learning theory and how does it differ from radical behaviorism's view of learning?
2. How can observational learning occur without direct reinforcement or punishment?
B. Observational Learning
1. What is observational learning and what are the key elements required for it to occur?
2. How do vicarious conditioning and vicarious reinforcement differ, and what role do they play in observational learning?
3. What is reciprocal determinism and how does it explain the relationship between organisms, their environment, and cognition?
4. What are the three types of models for imitation and how does each one function in observational learning?
C. The Bobo Doll Experiments
1. What was the design and procedure of Bandura's original Bobo doll experiment?
2. What did Bandura's findings reveal about the relationship between observing aggressive models and children's subsequent behavior?
3. What are the four steps in Bandura's social cognitive theory that explain how observational learning occurs?
D. Implications of Observational Learning
1. How does exposure to aggressive and violent behavior in media relate to aggressive behavior in children and teens?
2. What are mirror neurons and how do they explain observational learning at the neurological level?
3. How does repeated exposure to violence affect mirror neuron activity and what does this suggest about desensitization?
E. Insight Learning
1. What is insight learning and how does it demonstrate that learning involves more than stimulus-response conditioning?
2. How did Sultan the chimpanzee's behavior in Köhler's experiment illustrate the role of cognitive processes in problem-solving?
F. Latent Learning and Cognitive Maps
1. What is latent learning and why did Tolman's rats not demonstrate their learned behavior until they were reinforced?
2. What is a cognitive map and how does it allow organisms to acquire, store, and recall spatial information?
3. How do Tolman's findings about latent learning challenge the behaviorist view that reinforcement is necessary for learning?
G. Neurological Factors in Learning
1. What are neurological factors in learning and how do they relate to the brain's structure and function?
2. How do neuroplasticity and neural connections contribute to the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of information?
Key Terms
cognitive map
insight learning
latent learning
models
observational learning
social cogitive theory
social learning theory
vicarious conditioning