Albert Bandura, born December 4, 1925 (Bandura 2013), is a very well known theorists in the world of psychology. A professor at Stanford University for much of his career, from 1953 until 2010, he has been recognized many times in this field (Bandura). His awards include, but are not limited to: the Lifetime Achievement award from the American Psychological Association, the James McKeen Cattell Award, the Grawemeyer Award and a Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Psychological Association (Olson, & Hergenhahn, 2012). He was also honored with the presidency of the American Psychological Association in 1973 (Olson, & Hergenhahn). Throughout his career he published six books, including Social Learning and Personality Development, and Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory, and was editor of three additional works which centered around self-efficacy and modeling (Bandura). Though some of his theories have been criticized, they have had a huge impact on our understanding of learning and completely changed the way people looked at learning during his time.
One of the criticisms about Bandura’s theories is that it is too broad and covers too many topics (Olson, & Hergenhahn, 2012). Most learning theories before Bandura had a more narrow scope and tried to focus in on a single aspect of learning or of the environment, but Bandura focused on memory, personality, language, media influence and more (Olson, & Hergenhahn), all of which can influence a person’s ability to learn and how well they learn something. The biggest criticism against Bandura was about his contribution of the concept of reciprocal determinism. Reciprocal determinism is the idea that “the person, the environment, and the person’s b...
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... the current century that children learn from what they see and repeat the behaviors and words that they observe those in their environment doing, Bandura was the first to show that learning occurred even if imitation did not occur and that learning was not dependent on reinforcement like many earlier theorists, such as Miller and Dollard, believed (Olson, & Hergenhahn). He was the first to study observational learning and place importance on its implications as some theoritsts, such as Thorndike, Watson, and Piaget, completely ignored or disregarded observational learning (Olson, & Hergenhahn).
Works Cited
Bandura, Albert. (2013). In Marquis Who's Who in America. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/marquisam/bandura_albert Olson, M. H., & Hergenhahn, B.R. (2012). An introduction to the theories of learning (9th ed.)
(pp. 312-340). USA: Pearson
Bandura’s theory uses the social- learning approach. This approach would explain that Antwone was a product of what he saw. This showed in the behaviors that he displayed. This approach derives from the behaviorist approach (Schultz & Schultz, 2013). Bandura would believe that one learns by observing what is taking place in his or her environment and the people that are around the individual (Schultz & Schultz, 2013). Modeling was very important to Bandura (Schultz & Schultz, 2013).
In 1977, Psychologist Albert Bandura adopted the Social Learning Theory making it an influential and important theory. Bandura believed that direct reinforcement could not account for all types of learning capabilities. Bandura argued that individuals could learn new information and behavior by watching other individuals and the type of leanings can be explained by a wide variety of behaviors. This theory acknowledges that just because something has been learned, it does not mean that it will result in a change in behavior. However, the influence from others can cause a change in
Annie, a fifth-grade student in Mr. Keller's class, is being quiet and sullen for the fifth day in a row. "I just can't do this writing stuff," she finally says in an appeal to Mr. Keller. "I'm not a good student. Give me P.E. or art over this stuff any day!" If we apply Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory in her comment "I just can't do this writing stuff" how does Bandura's theory help us to understand Annie? According, the Social Cognitive Theory of Albert Bandura which combines both behavioral and cognitive philosophies to form his theory of modeling, or observational learning states that human personality is an interaction between the environment and a person's psychological processes. With this interaction humans are able to control their behavior through a process known as self-regulation (Woolfolk, 2013, p. 400). He also assures that some factors like environment and personal experiences can encourage behaviors such as Annie, why? Because, in her case, it seems that Annie’s school achievement and personal interest in writing are not interacting; in addition, Annie may lack of motivation and reinforcement in her life that can be the cause of her frustration in writing. Consequently, she prefers school subjects like PE or art that she thinks, she will be successful. Woolfolk (2013) says that humans “may acquire a new skill or behavior through observation, but we may not perform that behavior until there is some motivation or incentive to do so” (p. 402). Therefore, the lack of motivation, feedback, modeling, and effort can be a few reasons why Annie seems to discourage about her writing skills.
McLeod, S (2011) Bandura - Social Learning Theory Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html (Accessed: 15 November 2013)
...and observing the consequences. The role of self-efficacy is also emphasized by Bandura; self-efficacy underlies people’s faith in their own abilities. Self-efficacy can be developed by paying close attention to past success and failures, positive reinforcement and encouragement from others also plays a role in developing self-efficacy. The social cognitive theory is unique among other learned personality theories in that the emphasis places on the reciprocity between individuals and the environments they find themselves in. Learning theorists have been accuses of oversimplifying personality to such an extent that is has become meaningless, this is because they ignore many of the internal processes that are inherently human. These criticisms are blunted somewhat by social cognitive approaches because it explicitly considers the role of the cognitive process.
There are several types of learning styles that are recognised. The basic form, which is well known, is associative learning, making new associations between events in the envi...
According to Social Learning Theory, Bandura (1989) suggested cognitive factors cannot be overlooked if learning is needed to be understood. Bandura has also noted that while reward and punishment substantially shape one 's personality, cognition has as much impact as they do. Also, the principles of behavioural approach have mainly been tested on animals. It implies some findings may not be applicable to a human being, which as a creature is much more complex than an animal.
Learning Theories Knowledgebase . (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2010, from Learning Theories Knowledgebase : http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html
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Driscoll, M. P. (2000) Psychology of Learning for Instruction. (2nd ed.) Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
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He further argued that some of the ancient method of learning which included punishments and laws of added support were relevant only to performance but did not lead to acquisition of knowledge. According to Bandura, one should not be limited within the boundaries of unpleasant physical sensations or sensual gratification so as to
There are four steps in the process of modeling for observational learning. They are attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. Attention is when you focus on what the person you are observing is doing. Retention is remembering what you observed. Reproduction is performing the behavior you observed, and motivation is wanting to actually do the behavior.(www.courses.lumenlearning.com) The psychologist that most strongly identifies with observational learning is Albert Bandura. He believed that observational learning was the result of cognitive processes that are, “actively judgemental and constructive,” not merely “mechanical copying.”(Bandura) According to Bandura there are three different models to observational learning. They are live model which is behavior in person, verbal model which is not doing a behavior but explaining or describing it, and symbolic model is when people or fictional characters demonstrating behaviors in books,
(McLeod) Bandura is best known for conducting the “Bobo Doll” experiment. He developed the social cognitive theory as well as the self-efficacy theory. The self-efficacy theory states one’s belief in his/ her own ability. Bandura found that people who believed in themselves were more likely to accomplish their goals. (Albert) He coined the “Behaviourist Model” in which the Stimulus (environment) > Black Box (which cannot be studied) > Response Behavior. And also the “Cognitive Model” which is the Input (in
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Rieber, R.W., & Salzinger, K.D. (1998). Psychology- theoretical-historical perspectives (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association. Wadeley, A. (1997).