Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory

Albert Bandura is known as one of the most prominent psychologist of all time. He is the creator of the social learning theory. Bandura believed that learning happened in more ways than direct reinforcement. He studied the influence that people seem to have on each other, and how social behaviors are acquired. His theory proposed that learning could occur through observation of others, hence observational learning was born. This paper will give details about Albert Bandura’s concepts in social learning theory and observational learning. The paper will also take look at his ideas of operant conditioning and imitation. Bandura’s social learning theory is considered by many people to be the most significant theory of development and learning. Social learning theory is defined as learning that takes place involving, or as a result of social interaction. Social learning involves learning what behaviors are socially acceptable and expected in social settings. Bandura believed that learning could occur by people observing the actions of others. When the subject social learning is introduced, then the question of “how do we learn what is socially appropriate behavior” arises. Acceptable

The modeling effect shows how a subject might learn a different behavior or new skills by observing the actions of others. If there is an action in the subject’s memory, in which he has been punished for performing in past actions, he may be less willing to imitate that behavior performed by someone new. One of the most important functions of the modeling effect is that during observation a model rewarded for a certain behavior can also serve to disinhibit the same actions. An example of the modeling effect would be if a child watched a wrestling match, then tries some of the moves on his friend that he saw