Albert Bandura

The learning theory selected for this essay is the social learning theory proposed by Albert Bandura during the 1960s. The theory was influential in explaining how learning takes place in a social environment. This theory helped to emphasize the role of the social environment in the learning process. According to the social learning theory, an individual learns through the influences of the environment on the mind. The sense impressions from the environment are instrumental in shaping perceptions and connections that promote

Noteworthy due mostly to the work of Albert Bandura, social learning theory attempts to explain behavior through the interaction of three variables: the environment, the behavior, and psychological processes. With his model, Bandura stepped away from strict behaviorism and opened the doors for the cognitivist movement. His premise is that human behavior and learning is influenced by a complex network of observations made about the behaviors, beliefs, and emotional responses of those in our

Albert Bandura's studies concluded that environment causes behaviour but that behaviour causes environment, too. He referred to this idea as "reciprocal determination," believing that an individual's actions and the actions of the world around him are intertwined. As his work progressed, he further stated that personality is an interaction of outside influences behaviour, and an individual's psychological processes. Bandura's early research work focused primarily on observational learning which is simply learning from observing the actions of others. He believed that once someone had witnessed another's behaviour, they may be inclined to adopt this behaviour as their own, ultimately building it into their personality profile. Parents who raise children in a caring, supportive environment can certainly contribute to their children's abilities to develop good self-esteem, enabling the children to better deal with outside situations and influences that they are sure to encounter in their life.

He also recognizes that character traits within a person can influence behavior, but does not believe traits alone can explain behavior and learning. Instead, Bandura expanded upon these theories and developed the concept of reciprocal determinism, which posits that the person, their environment, and behavior all influence one another. Bandura argued that personal factors affect behavior, which alters the environment, and that environment is not only a cause of behavior, but also an effect of behavior, and these all operate “as interlocking determinants of each other” (Bandura, 1978, p. 346). Therefore, if we are going to attempt to understand human behavior, all of these factors and their mutual influences must be recognized. (Cloninger, 2007, p.353).

Science degree in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Batastini has recently authored or co-

Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory explains psychological functioning in terms of triadic reciprocal causation. Triadic reciprocal causation is a system assuming human action as a result of an interaction with the environment, behavior, and a person. Bandura explains "person" as being a cognitive factor such as memory, anticipation, and planning. It is because of these cognitive capacities that some people can select or restructure their environment.

Bandura believed that not only is children’s behaviour shaped by its consequences, but also that children learn by watching the behaviour of people around them. In contrast to Behaviourism, Bandura’s social learning theory emphasized the importance of children imitating the behaviour, emotions and attitudes of those they saw around them .

Bandura quickly learned that classical and operant conditioned theories could not explain human learning within its complex forms and he found that when someone possessed the required sills for certain behaviors, he or she could learn to extend a repertoire of skills by observing a model performing those behaviors. During the 1960s and 70s, Bandura showed through several studies that humans can learn through modeling. It was not until the 1970s that Bandura extended his theory into a sociocognitive one, and he theorized about a process called reciprocal determinism, which is behavior determined by the complex interaction of personal, behavioral, and situational or contextual factors; this is also called triadic reciprocality, meaning that behavior, cognitive processes, and environmental variables interact. Another aspect of Bandura’s theory is the concept of self-efficacy or a client’s perception that he or she can successfully perform certain behaviors to produced desired outcomes (Sapp,

Albert Bandura (1977), the originator of social learning theory, focused his research on the process of how people learn through observation. Social Learning stems from a cognitive and behavioral theory model. This is demonstrated through the well-known Bobo Doll experiment. The experiment entailed a child observing an adult being aggressive towards the Bobo Doll (Pavlov et al., 1961). The results indicated that children imitated the observed behaviors of being aggressive towards the doll (Pavlov et al., 1961).

Effective social learning theories do not just explain behaviors, they build bridges. Few experts believe that social or even biologically determined actions arise in isolation: they come about as a result of a variety of factors that may be located inside or outside of the subject, but eventually they come together in combination. It is this recognition that has formed the basis (at least in retrospect) for the long-lasting impact of Bandura's social learning or now social cognitive theory of behavior. It is a theory that can be its own agent for building a better self (Bandura, Agentic, n.d.).

Albert Bandura Born 1925 social learning theorist accepts the principle of conditioning but believe there are other ways of learning such as learning by watching. Social learning theorists think that people also learn by observing others. This is called ‘observational learning’. Early years workers have seen children copy other children or adults. This is spontaneous children will naturally learn by copying rather than someone showing or teaching them. Research shows that children and young people can only copy something but not others. Cognition seems to play an important part in this as children need to be able to notice the activity and also be able to remember it fully. Bandura calls this ‘social cognitive theory’

The boy first saw the other boy whom we can assume was his brother or friend doing this behavior and then initiated the same behavior. Besides this, the young boy also showed characteristics of this theory in the beginning when he pointed at the carousel and said “horsee,” shortly after it was said after the other boy. Bandura’s theory stressed that one can acquire a wide range of behaviors and thoughts through observing others behaviors. In this case, one boy observed the other boy point at the carousel, say “horsee,” and repeated the same behavior. Similarly, while riding the carousel, the boy observed the other boy making clicking noises with his tongue and saying “neigh, neigh,” and repeated the same behavior. This can be classified as cognitive, observational learning. Bandura’s most recent model of learning and development, highlights three elements; behavior, the person/cognition, and the environment. An individual’s confidence, the fact that he can control his success is an example of the person factor. The strategies he uses are examples of cognitive factors. Behavior, cognitive and environmental factors are interactive. Behavior can influence cognitive and environmental factors and vice versa. In this observation, there is a link between person and cognitive

Albert Bandura, a 20th century American pszchologist, proposed a very important and probably the most influential theory of development and learning. He believed that: “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

In 1958, Bandura gathered up with Richard H. Walters, publishing a paper on aggression delinquents. A year later (1959) their book Adolescent Aggression developed. Since that accomplishment Bandura had been publishing plenty of subjects. His best influential books are: Social Learning Theory published in 1977, Social Foundations of Thoughts and Action published in 1986, and Self Efficacy: The Exercise of Control being published in

Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory is a theory that includes development theories in order to understand how children learn. Bandura’s theory is based on how people can learn by observing others, how internal mental states influence people, and how learning something does not change one’s behavior every time. Bandura was able to find out that people learn by three observational models. The first model is the live model which includes observing how someone demonstrates the behavior, the verbal instruction model which learning occurs through auditory directions, and the symbolic model where modeling occurs through media sources such as internet, movies, and books.