Social Comparison Patterns Affecting Performance

Albert Bandura’s theory of observational learning states that an individual learns certain behaviors by observing and imitating other people. Matthew did this when he was playing with my 6 year old sister, Katie, my 6 year old cousin, Aifa, and his 5 year old neighbor, Jaiden. They were all in the toy room. When the three older kids wanted to play pretend kitchen, Matthew dropped the action figure he was playing with to try to join them. He was at first confused on what to do, but when he noticed Jaiden putting fake food on pans, he then

Social comparison theory allows researchers to understand the connections women make with the models that are used in the fashion industry and magazines. The models that are used in the fashions magazines are considered a main factor in what sets the bar on the traits women should obtain in order to be perceived as beautiful and attractive. Women use this concept, so they can evaluate themselves and see whether or not they are fitting into the mold that the media and marketing companies are constantly creating. Women continually strive to uphold the criteria that the media creates as most desirable.

Much of our personality and the way we observe and learn derives from observational learning processes throughout development, by simply observing and watching others in our environment we learn a variety of tasks. This fundamental aspect of human behavior is the focus of Albert Bandura, a social cognitive theorist whose major work addresses the nature of observational learning as well as the manner in which the inner person and the demands of a situation combine to determine a person’s actions (Friedman, H. 2012).

Albert Bandura is one of the most well-known figures of Psychology. Bandura provided theories that gave insight on the fundamentals of human behavior and the mental process (Ortiz, 2015). He has had and continues to have a large impact on personality theory and therapy. Bandura is recognized for his unique behaviorist-like style that appeals to many individuals and practitioners. Other theorists respect Bandura for his action orientated and problem solving characteristics that led him to his contributes of social cognitive theory and the bobo doll experiment. Albert Bandura continues to be identified to be a part of the most influential psychologists of all time and is responsible to the education of many practitioners today.

Born in Alberta, Canada, Albert Bandura grew up in the small town of Mundare. As the youngest of six children, Bandura parents instilled in him the importance of education. He attended a school with limited resources; he saw this as an advantage. Impelled to rely own his own inquisitiveness, Bandura begin to form his own concepts. While studying psychology at the University of British Columbia, Bandura finished his BA in three years. He furthered his education at the University of Iowa where he earned his MA and PhD (Good Therapy, 2007). Contributing work to psychology, Bandura began his research endeavors by focusing on how human behaviors, thoughts, learning was influenced by others. After several studies, Bandura developed many of the principles of Social Learning Theory, which is now incorporate in classroom lessons.

The development of social cognitive is perhaps the most important part of developing and learning. I think Bandura came up with a good reinforcement to learning that goes direct to helping people learn by observation. There are three styles of vicarious learning that we expect to change our learning patterns by observation. They are modeling effect, inhibitory and disinhibitory effect, and eliciting effect. Modeling effect help you to duplicate the behavior you observe and it come from social learning theory. It’s occur when new behavior happen and the model doesn’t have prior knowledge of the behavior that is being displayed. I think this is the reason children follow parents and role models to eliminate their behavior. This is important because learning come with rewards and punishment and behavior both positive and negative follows.

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (Kretchmar, 2015) – proposes that people learn by observing the behavior of others. Bandura asserts that this process has four parts – attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation. Environmental and cognitive factors can influence the process as well. This theory has many practical applications for understanding behavior in the classroom, and in society more generally. However, despite its far-reaching impact, social learning theory is not without its critics.

Performance-reward relationships: Performance at a particular level will lead to the attainment of the desired outcome.

Bandura’s theory, “places special emphasis on the important roles played by vicarious, symbolic, and self-regulatory processes which receive relatively little attention even in the most contemporary theories of learning. These differences in governing processes carry certain implications for the way one views the causes of human behavior… virtually all learning phenomena resulting from direct experiences can occur on a vicarious basis through observation of other people’s resulting from direct experiences can occur on a vicarious basis through observation of other people’s behavior and its consequences for them.”

People learn through observation and interaction. In the 1960’s Albert Bandura expanded on social influences and social behaviors that effected learning, (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016) he outlined that “observational learning includes four elements: attention, retention, reproduction and motivation” (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016, p.317).

Albert Bandura’s theory of social learning has gained broad support within the psychological community as well as achieving successful application in the real world (Schultz, & Schultz, 2017, pp. 366-367). Bandura suggests that behavior is learned by observing others and then imitating their actions. His theory, as Van Gog and Rummel (2010) explain, understands that attempting to learn all of life’s lessons on one’s own without receiving knowledge that others have discovered would be “impossible,” even “dangerous” (pp. 155-156). Rather than making the same mistakes and reinventing knowledge, a more efficient method is to “borrow…knowledge from others” and adapt it to one’s current circumstances (Van Gog & Rummel, 2010, p. 156). Individuals learn through social interaction and observation. Although Bandura’s behavior modification techniques have had limited personal benefit, I recognize aspects of Bandura’s theory as relevant in my own life.

The social learning theory is one the most significant theories that came about in the 1960s by Albert Bandura as it made it clear as to how individuals acquire and develop new behaviors through modeling others' behaviors. As indicated by (Chavis, 2012), social learning theory is of great of importance due to its sheer influence on human development, and it's established in many of the fundamental concepts of traditional learning. The theory focuses on the social context in which learning takes place, and it suggests that people learn from each other (Chavis, 2012). Therefore, social learning theory helps us explain why individuals behave in a certain way. Bandura didn’t much agree with what behaviorists suggested about how human

“Self belief does not necessarily ensure success, but self disbelief assuredly spawns failure” (Bandura, 1997). Albert Bandura was affectionately described as the "jovial genius" by one of his former students for his wisdom, humility, and wonderful sense of humor. Albert Bandura believed that social learning formed the basis for personality development (Bandura, 1977). Bandura’s theory is perceived to be an “internal reward”, such examples include “pride, satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment” (Social Learning Theory: Understanding Bandura's Theory of Learning, n.d.). It is evident that internal thoughts and cognitions help connect learning theories with cognitive developmental theories. Bandura suggested that his concept surrounding the social learning theory could be considered a “social cognitive theory” (Social Learning Theory: Understanding Bandura's Theory of Learning, n.d.).

It considers that people learn from one another, including such concepts as observational learning, imitation, and modeling. There are three key components to Bandura’s social learning theory (Abbott, n.d.) observational learning, imitation, and behavior modeling (Bruner, 1990; Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976). Bandura’s social learning theory is based on the idea that observational learning involves the fact that humans often cannot learn for themselves. The learner has the power to influence their learning in new situations by controlling the surrounding environment — whether that environment is imposed, selected or constructed (Bandura 1999). (Hathaway, Muse, & Althoff, 2007, p.

•This manager rewarded employees solely based on individual performance (DuBrin, 2009, p.91). The result was that the strong employees stayed strong and weak never had a chance. Strong employees basked “in reflected glory” as an impression management tactic (DuBrin, 2009, p. 96).