THEORIES OF LEARNING.

Current theories of learning

Current theories of learning

Introduction

Social learning theory is integration of distinctive association and behavioral learning theories. It entirely subsumes differential association theory by recasting it in the context of behavioral learning principles.

Chief among the criticisms of differential association theory was the charge that it neglected to specify the precise underlying learning mechanism involved in the process of becoming a criminal. At the time, Sutherland developed differential association theory, behaviorism in psychology, with its focus on learning, was in full swing. However, the behaviorism of the 1930s and 1940s largely excluded human cognition and the assignment of meaning to human action, principles at the core of the symbolic interactions foundation of differential association theory. The radical behaviorism of B. F. Skinner in the 1950s and 1960s further divorced behavior from mind; however, by the late 1960s, behaviorism had come increasingly under fire as cognitive psychology began to supplant it. Although Burgess and Akers claimed to draw on Skinnerian principles of operant conditioning, by 1973 Akers had tempered social learning theory with principles more consistent with the cognitive learning approach advocated by Albert Bandura (Black, 1998).

The behavioral principles involved in the social learning of deviant behavior—and conforming behavior as well—include but not limited to notions of operant conditioning, differential  reinforcement, and discriminative stimuli. Among cognitive learning principles, Akers incorporated concepts such as imitation, anticipated reinforcement, and self-reinforcement into social learning theory. As Akers presented the theory, he discussed how these principles illuminate the  mechanisms by which deviant behavior learned through association with others. In his earlier presentations of the theory, Akers devoted most of his attention to the cognitive and behavioral principles underlying the social learning process. It was not until he published an empirical test of the theory using original data that the concepts of social learning theory as it  known today emerged (Akers et al., 1979).

In its present form, social learning theory contains four key concepts: differential reinforcement, imitation, definitions, and differential association. Operant behaviors that are punished—that, followed by an adverse consequence (positive punishment) or the cessation of a pleasurable state (negative punishment)—will decrease in frequency. Akers argues that the consequences that follow an individual's behavior may be nonsocial, in the sense that they derive from the experience itself; for example, the ingestion of alcohol may be followed by a feeling of euphoria or nausea. However, because humans are also social beings who interact with other people, the consequences of their behavior may be social in origin, as well. Thus, a given behavior may be followed, for example, by encouragement or derision from others with whom one interacts. Consistent with the tenets of differential association theory, it is not simply a matter of whether a single consequence is reinforcing or punishing for a given behavior that determines its likelihood of repetition. Instead, it is important to assess the balance of reinforcements and punishments for a given behavior, since that behavior is likely to be followed by several consequences depending on the constellation of others with whom the ...