Social Learning Theory

1061 Words3 Pages

Many theories have been thought of over the years to attempt to explain why people behave the way they do. Many questions were brought up when thinking about that and the social learning theory is a popular theory in explaining this. Nobody really thought of the social learning theory too much until Albert Bandura wrote his idea of it. He actually wrote a book called “Social Learning Theory.” In this book, he states that behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning(Saul McLeod). The social learning theory of Bandura stresses the importance to learn and observe the behavior, reactions and emotions of people(Bandura). He believed that if humans only depended on learning from their own actions that learning would be “exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous.” People learn from others everyday in many different ways, from watching your parents to watching a tv commercial. We are always observing the way others act, whether we realise is or not. Individuals that are being observed and imitated are considered models. Models are not just famous people in ads, they can be your parents, peers, teachers, and characters on your tv. All of these models can provide an example for how a masculine and feminine person would behave. Although it isn’t always the case, people are more likely to imitate a same-sex person and probably someone who they think of as similar to themselves. The behaviors that the person imitates is usually either punished or reinforced. For example, If a little girl is playing with a stuffed animal nicely and someone compliments her, the girl is more likely to repeat this imitated behavior. Her behavior has been strengthened. The reinforcement can be external or internal ... ... middle of paper ... ...influence children to be more violent. Knowing that trial and error can have a great effect on your future behavior, Bandura believes observing models have as much impact on your behavior as that. Although social learning is a way used to describe the general behavior of humans, a lot of people use it to explain the major effects of the media. He says that not only children but also adult’s attitudes, emotional responses and new behavior are influenced by television modeling. A man named George Gerbner proposed that television violence would cause a false climate of fear, but Bandura cautioned that television violence would be worth fearing for. There will probably never be a warning label on violent television shows or movies like ones on things that have more physical effects but Bandura thinks people should have a knowledge of what they can do to your behavior.

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