Austin Fontaine 
Megan Novelli Two years ago I took cognition and learning and in that class we watched the bobo experiments video. When we did so our professor asked us how the learning described here was different and even contradictory to the ideas found in other theories. I ventured a guess and I was right. I love being right and when I’m right about something I remember it for along time which also has the effect of making me think a lot about the subject that was at hand at the time, so in this case social learning theory. The right answer was because there was no necessarily designated reinforcement. That idea has been a sem-frequent subject of my thoughts ever since.
Is that true? In social learning is there no reinforcement? I have never been able to get away from the idea that there might be, which I know is just ridiculous because I’m just not about to know better than Bandura. Still though, I think about it often. It seems like there is reinforcement and the only difference is that it is internal. When I see something done that I like and I recreate it then I usually like the way I feel when I do it. I feel cool. Is this not a reinforcement? I have no idea, but I think there’s at least minimal debate over this that takes place that I’m not a part of so I don’t feel too ridiculous for wondering this.
Amy McCarty
12:56 pm, 10.11.10
I agree that there is a difference between intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. I also agree that social learning is intrinsically reinforced.
Alyssa Bowyer
1:24 pm, 10.11.10
I also agree. The feeling one gets after copying someone else, as you said, can be positive or negative depending on if whatever you copied worked for you. There have been several times growing up where I have tried to copy someone else and I continued or discontinued by how i felt afterward(cool, awkward, indifferent, etc).
Danielle Urias
1:52 pm, 10.11.10
I took that class as well, but I missed that distinction. This is a question I’ve never addressed, but I definitely think you’re right, there seems to be some sort of underlying reinforcement in the social learning theory. Interesting.
Morgan Myer
2:09 pm, 10.11.10
The fact that you really remember something and think about it for a long time whenever you give the correct answer seems to me to be a sort of reinforcement. You feel proud and victorious, therefore are reinforced and want to feel that way again so you try to say the right thing. You say the right thing, feelings of victory come. This is a really interesting idea. Good thoughts, Joshua.
Amy McLean
2:56 pm, 10.11.10
Nice thought, Josh. I agree with you that social learning is internally motivated. The way we feel when we imitate others is a huge reinforcement.
Austin Fontaine
3:40 pm, 10.11.10
Another way to look at the existence of a reinforcement woudl be that the exposure to a new stimuli or situation is confusing, uncomfortabel or even outright distressing. The reinforcement of mimicry then, is that there is no longer a responsibility placed on you persoanlly to do the right thing. Social learning is actually a defense mechanism against unknows in order to relieve a percieved strain.
Stephanie Bell
11:24 pm, 10.13.10
I think that no matter what you do there is always some type of reinforcement. Like when you do something that no one else knows about you still have yourself to provide reinforcement. And internally there are hormones and other chemicals that help to provide reinforcement and make us feel “good”, which is really the only reason external reinforcements work.