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 Albert Bandura was born on December 4, 1925, in the small town
of Mundare in northern Alberta, Canada.
 He received his bachelors degree in Psychology from the
University of British Columbia in 1949.
 In the University of Iowa, he received his Ph.D. in 1952.
 In 1953, he started teaching at Stanford University.
 Bandura was president of the APA in 1973, and received the APA’s
Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions in 1980
 He collaborated with his first graduate student, Richard Walters,
resulting in their first book, Adolescent Aggression, in 1959.
 With its emphasis on experimental methods, focuses on variables we
can observe, measure, and manipulate, and avoids whatever is subjective,
internal, and unavailable. All this boils down to a theory of personality
that says that one’s environment causes one’s behavior.
 He suggested that environment causes behavior, true; but behavior
causes environment as well. He labeled this concept reciprocal
determinism: The world and a person’s behavior cause each other.
 He began to look at personality as an interaction among three
“things:” the environment, behavior, and the person’s psychological
processes.
 He is often considered a “father” of the cognitivist movement!
 Adding imagery and language to the mix allows Bandura to
theorize effectively, about two things that many people would
consider the “strong suit” of the human species: observational
learning (modeling) and self-regulation.
 Of the hundreds of studies Bandura was responsible for, one
group stands out above the others -- the bobo doll studies.
 He made of film of one of his students, a young woman,
essentially beating up a bobo doll.
 The woman punched the clown, shouting “sockeroo!” She kicked it,
sat on it, hit with a little hammer, and so on, shouting various aggressive
phrases.
 Bandura showed his film to groups of kindergartners.
 These children changed their behavior without first being rewarded for
approximations to that behavior!
 He called the phenomenon observational learning or modeling,
and his theory is usually called “SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY”.
 Social learning theory focuses on the learning that occurs within a
social context. It considers that people learn from one another,
including such concepts as observational learning, imitation, and
modeling.
 People can learn by observing the behavior is of others and the
outcomes of those behaviors.
 Learning can occur without a change in behavior. Behaviorists say
that learning has to be represented by a permanent change in behavior, in
contrast social learning theorists say that because people can learn
through observation alone, their learning may not necessarily be shown
in their performance. Learning may or may not result in a behavior
change.
 Cognition plays a role in learning. Over the last 30 years social
learning theory has become increasingly cognitive in its
interpretation of human learning. Awareness and expectations of
future reinforcements or punishments can have a major effect on the
behaviors that people exhibit
 Social learning theory can be considered a bridge or a transition
between behaviorist learning theories and cognitive learning theories.
 Social learning theory has numerous implications for classroom
use.
1. Students often learn a great deal simply by observing other
people.
2. Describing the consequences of behavior is can effectively
increase the appropriate behaviors and decrease inappropriate ones.
3. Modeling provides an alternative to shaping for teaching new
behaviors. Instead of using shaping, which is operant conditioning,
modeling can provide a faster, more efficient means for teaching new
behavior.
4. Teachers and parents must model appropriate behaviors and take
care that they do not model inappropriate behaviors.
5. Teachers should expose students to a variety of other models. This
technique is especially important to break down traditional stereotypes.
6. Students must believe that they are capable of accomplishing
school tasks. Thus it is very important to develop a sense of selfefficacy for students.
7. Teachers should help students set realistic expectations for their
academic accomplishments. In general in my class that means
making sure that expectations are not set too low
8. Self-regulation techniques provide an effective method for
improving student behavior.
 Many behaviors can be learned, at least partly, through modeling.
Examples that can be cited are, students can watch parents read, students
can watch the demonstrations of mathematics problems, or seen
someone acting bravely and a fearful situation. Aggression can be learned
through models. Much research indicate that children become more
aggressive when they observed aggressive or violent models. Moral
thinking and moral behavior are influenced by observation and
modeling. This includes moral judgments regarding right and wrong
which can in part, develop through modeling.
 Bandura mentions four conditions that are necessary before an
individual can successfully model the behavior of someone else:
1. Attention: the person must first pay attention to the model.
2. Retention: the observer must be able to remember the behavior
that has been observed. One way of increasing this is using the
technique of rehearsal.
3. Motor reproduction: the third condition is the ability to replicate the
behavior that the model has just demonstrated. This means that the
observer has to be able to replicate the action, which could be a problem
with a learner who is not ready developmentally to replicate the action.
For example, little children have difficulty doing complex physical
motion.
4. Motivation: the final necessary ingredient for modeling to occur is
motivation, learners must want to demonstrate what they have learned.
Remember that since these four conditions vary among individuals,
different people will reproduce the same behavior differently.
 Bandura mentions a number of motives:
a. past reinforcement, ala traditional behaviorism.
b. promised reinforcements (incentives) that we can imagine.
c. vicarious reinforcement -- seeing and recalling the model being
reinforced.
 Self-regulation -- controlling our own behavior -- is the other
“workhorse” of human personality. Here Bandura suggests three
steps:
1. Self-observation. We look at ourselves, our behavior, and keep
tabs on it.
2. Judgment. We compare what we see with a standard.
3. Self-response. If you did well in comparison with your standard,
you give yourself rewarding self-responses.
 Recall that behaviorists generally view reinforcement as effective,
and punishment as fraught with problems. The same goes for
self-punishment. Bandura sees three likely results of excessive
self-punishment:
a. compensation -- a superiority complex, for example, and
delusions of grandeur.
b. inactivity -- apathy, boredom, depression.
c. escape -- drugs and alcohol, television fantasies, or even the
ultimate escape, suicide.
 Bandura’s recommendations to those who suffer from poor self-
concepts come straight from the three steps of self-regulation:
1. Regarding self-observation -- know thyself! Make sure you have
an accurate picture of your behavior.
2. Regarding standards -- make sure your standards aren’t set too
high. Don’t set yourself up for failure! Standards that are too low, on
the other hand, are meaningless.
3. Regarding self-response -- use self-rewards, not selfpunishments. Celebrate your victories, don’t dwell on your failures.
 The ideas behind self-regulation have been incorporated into a
therapy technique called self-control therapy.
1. Behavioral charts. Self-observation requires that you keep close
tabs on your behavior, both before you begin changes and after.
2. Environmental planning. Taking your lead from your behavioral
charts and diaries, you can begin to alter your environment.
3. Self-contracts. Finally, you arrange to reward yourself when you
adhere to your plan, and possibly punish yourself when you do not.
MODELING THERAPY
 The therapy Bandura is most famous for, however, is modeling
therapy. The theory is that, if you can get someone with a
psychological disorder to observe someone dealing with the same
issues in a more productive fashion, the first person will learn by
modeling the second.