Bandura Social Learning Theory

This learning occurs from observation, imitation or modeling of another person or role model. Modeling is the process of imitating. We can also learn new behavior from individuals we meet or from the media. This is also known as observational learning developed by Albert Bandura. Individuals, groups and culture have an effect on the behavior of people in the society. A feature of a person/model that may influence us to imitate is; gender, similarity to ourselves, social status, fame, competence and prestige.

One of the central tenants of Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, which is also called Social Cognitive Theory, is that “aggression in children is influenced by the reinforcement of family members, the media, and the environment” (Bandura, 1975, pp. 206-208). Evans (1989) suggested that the basis for Bandura’s theories came from work completed by researchers Miller and Dollard (1941) who suggested that human development is actively influenced by “response consequences” (Evans, 1989, p. 4), but regardless of the impetus for Bandura’s work, he is most known for his work regarding aggression in children. This paper will focus on why the principles of Bandura’s Social Learning Theory will benefit leaders in school environments as they

Throughout this course, we have explored a vast amount of theories, however, Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (SLT) has been the one that intrigued me the most. Bandura’s SLT “strongly emphasized the importance of observational learning and cognitive variables in explaining human behavior (Powell, Honey, & Symbaluk 2017).” According to our readings Bandura agrees with the behaviorist learning theories of classical and operant conditioning, he proposes that the SLT is a result of both person and situation, which does not have the same effect from either component on their own (Powell, Honey, & Symbaluk 2017). One of his most well-known studies involves a bobo doll. In which Bandura demonstrates that when someone observes violent behavior it increases the chances of violence of the spectator, and

Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory describes the process through which people acquire new info, forms of behavior, or attitudes from others firsthand or vicariously. The likelihood of a behavior presenting itself will rely on the amount of reinforcement it receives and the value that the individual associates to it. While some behavior may be rewarded, others may produce unfavorable responses. An individual will learn from the consequences of these actions and when a similar situation arises, they will alter their behavior according to what was most successful in the past.

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).

Social learning theory, developed by Bandura, discusses how people learn from one another through observation, modeling, and imitation bridging an individual’s attention, memory and motivation. Social learning theory identifies the importance of cognition, observable behavior, individual self-efficacy, and the extent of how the events surrounding an individual affect them; their locus of control. Social learning theory also looks at individual problem behavior being influenced by positive or negative reinforcement (Ashford & LeCroy, 2012).

The contributions Albert Bandura made to the understanding of social learning have led to further investigation and new findings. Social Cognitive Theory is Bandura’s greatest contribution to social, cognitive, and abnormal psychology. It has led to a greater understanding of human behavior and how humans learn behavior in a social context. Ultimately, modern research found that while Albert Bandura and other social learning theorists uncovered many aspects of learning and perception, there are factors that need further scrutiny, (Martin, Ruble, and Szkrybalo, 2001). The ability to produce more

Bandura (1977) uses a four-step approach when implementing learning consisting of four phases: Attentional , Retention, Reproduction, and Motivational. The attentional phase is when the learner observes the role model. The processing and memorization of the observations takes place in the retention phase. The learner performs the learned action or behavior in the reproduction phase. Lastly, the motivation phase focuses on the learner's motivation to perform the behavior depending on their perception of reward or punishment as a consequence. This is known as vicarious reinforcement (Bastable , 2008).

There are three core concepts in social learning, first learning through observation, mental state is essential part of the process and the theory also recognises that just because something is learnt doesn’t mean it will result in a change in behaviour.(cited in Burns 1995)Positive reinforcement is far more effective than negative reinforcement. Bandura believed that observation and direct reinforcement could

According to Bandura (Wortley, 2011), people acquire behaviour through a process of observation and imitation called modelling. There are three main models for observational learning: familiar models in which a person imitates the behaviour of a family member, subculture models in which a person imitates the behaviour of a member of one’s subculture, and symbolic models where an individual imitates the behaviour represented symbolically through words and pictures such as television. Furthermore, Bandura claimed that there were four factors required for the success of modelling: attention, retention, reproduction, and reinforcement. First, an individual must show attention to a model. The more attention shown depends on the frequency the

In this essay, I will try to evaluate Social learning theory as originated by Albert Bandura. I am going to use three pieces of evidence, in a form of case studies, which have been done previously to support or contradict Bandura’s theory. I will demonstrate my knowledge of these studies throughout their analysis, trying to highlight their strengths and limitations.

Akers and Sellers (2013) has stated that social learning theory is an expanded theory of differential association processes and improves it with differential reinforcement and other principles of the behavior theory. They added classical conditioning (the sharpening of involuntary reflex behavior); discriminative stimuli (internal stimuli that lead to signals for behavior); schedules of reinforcement (rewards and punishment ratio following behavioral feedback); and other theories of behavior (Akers & Sellers, 2013).

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.

Albert Bandura is considered the developer of social learning theory, which is also known as social cognitive theory (Corey, 2013; Feist et al., 2013; Thoma et al., 2015). Badura’s theory, while based upon the principles of behaviorism, departs from the traditional behavioral model and leaves room for the exploration of unobservable mental states and their influence on behavior (Corey, 2013; Thoma et al., 2015). Social Cognitive theory bases its theory of learning on two types of learning processes: observational learning and enactive learning (Feist et al., 2013). In contrast to Skinner’s belief that reinforcement is required for learning, Bandura believes that learning is possible simply by observing the behavior of others; while reinforcement facilitates learning, it is not a necessary requirement (Feist et al., 2013). Enactive learning is learning through direct experience, and is similar to the concept of operant conditioning; people determine appropriate behaviors by evaluating their behavior and the potential consequences thereof (Feist et al., 2013). Where behavioral theory adopts the ABC approach to behavior, social cognitive theory uses a BPE approach known as Triadic Reciprocal Causation. In TRC, BPE stands for behavior, person variables, and environment (Feist et al., 2013). Within the TRC, the term person encompasses many variables including memory, judging, anticipation, gender, social position, physical attributes, and planning; the belief is that

Based on Bandura’s social learning theory, human development is continuous. This concludes that people are constantly changing, developing, gathering skills, watching and performing. Using Ben as an example, he gradually learned certain things in the ESL classroom. As I previously mentioned, writing was very difficult for him upon arriving to the U.S. Ben first learned how to hold a pencil properly, overserving from others and pictures that we provided to him, then he learned how to write his ABC’s, next he learned how to spell his name, and lastly proceeded to form words and write out short paragraphs independently. This demonstrates a smooth process, which Ben had to perform before attempting to write short papers in class.