According the encyclopedia of the social sciences, “Albert Bandura
was born on December 4, 1925 in Mundare, a small town located in Alberta Canada”
("Albert Bandura," 2008) . While in high school, Bandura made a decision
to take courses in psychology because is schedule left in him with spare time
in which he had nothing else to do. As a
result of him taking those psychology courses he developed a genuine interest
for the subject that caused him to further the study of psychology during
college. In 1952 Bandura received
Bandura his PhD in 1 from the University of Iowa ("Albert Bandura,"
2008). Bandura is known to many people
as the father of behavioral psychology because of his development of the social
learning theory.
Social learning theory is considered one of the most powerful
theories because it incorporates ideas of conventional learning theories and
the operant conditioning learning style developed by B.F. Skinner. According to the encyclopedia of Human Relations, “social learning is a
school of psychology that views personality as being shaped by the
interpersonal environments in which people are raised” (Mearns, 2009). In the beginning, social learning suggested
that learning occurred mainly through impersonating the actions of others. After more research “social learning now
refers more broadly to any kind of influence our relations with others have on
our behaviors, beliefs, and values” (Mearns, 2009).
While standing in line at the supermarket an individual notices
that some of the people in front of them are moving to the next line so they
decide to do move also, this is an example of observational learning. Observational learning is based on an
individual displaying a new behavior because they observed someone performing
the same behavior. Bandura believed that
observational learning may or may not result in someone imitating a specific
behavior. A car in front of an individual that hits a
pothole was used as an example, because that individual witnessed someone
hitting the pothole which prompted them to swerve to avoid the pothole. In this example the individual learned from
the observation but did not imitate the behavior so Bandura concluded that what
was learned was “information that was processed cognitively and acted on in a
way that was advantageous” (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2013 p. 316).
Bandura demonstrated the characteristics of the learning
performance during an experiment where he had children watch a film in which a
model was shown hitting and kicking a large doll. “In Bandura’s theory, a model can be anything
that conveys information, such as a person, film, television program,
demonstration, picture, or instructions” (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2013 p. 316). During this experiment “one group of children
saw the model reinforced for aggressiveness; a second group of children saw the
model punished for aggressiveness; and for the third group the consequences of
the model’s aggressiveness were neutral” (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2013 p. 316). Soon after the children observed the film
they were presented with the same doll and their level of aggressiveness
towards the doll was measured. The
children who witnessed the model reinforced for aggressiveness were more
aggressive; the children who witnessed the model being punished for being
aggressive were not aggressive towards the doll and the children whom witnessed
neutral consequences either were more aggressive or not aggressive at all. While the children did not directly receive
any type of reinforcement or punishment during this experiment, the experiment
showed that the children’s behavior towards the doll changed based on the experience
that was observed.
Bandura’s experiment was an important turning point in the study
of behavior because the theory of behaviorism stated that an individual’s
behavior was the result of rewards or punishment. During this experiment the children did not
receive any type of reward or punishment, they observed other’s interaction
with the doll and then they mocked the behaviors.
Bandura developed a modeling process to help understand that just
because an individual observes a specific behavior is does not mean that they
are effectively learning and also learning does not always result in a change
in their behavior. This model was
developed to determine the success of social learning. Attentional processes suggest that an
individual must pay attention in order to learn. Retentional processes suggest that in order
for the information that was observed to be of any use, it must be retained. Bandura argued that there were two
retentional processes through imagination and verbally. Once an individual is successful in paying
attention and retaining the information then they will be able to demonstrate
the behavior, which is known as the behavioral production process. During the behavioral production process
practice of the behavior is a very important component for improvement. In order for an individual to repeat the
behavior they have to feel motivated to do so, which is known as the
motivational process.
Bandura’s social learning theory has a major effect on education
because he believed that it is possible for learning to take place from
experience as well as observation.
Bandura believed that if the model was a highly respectable competent
individual then they would be more effective such as a teacher. “Teachers can be highly influential models
through careful planning of what is presented, they can do more than teach
children routine information” (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2013 p. 337). A teacher can demonstrate certain skills such
as how to solve a problem, moral conduct and rules that a student would benefit
from.
In conclusion, Bandura’s experiments helped him to develop the
social cognitive theory that put emphasis on the fact that most of the
information an individual gain is a result of the contact they have with
others.
