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Cassandra Schroeder
EPSY 302
Mark Hawkes
April 15, 2014
Social Learning Theory: Albert Bandura
Children are young creatures waiting to be educated and molded by professionals
teachers. There are many questions a teacher must evaluate to become an effective teacher. One
of the specific questions a teacher must ask is What is the best theory on children learning?
There are three major theories: Constructivism, Behaviorism, and Social Learning Theory. Each
teacher will vary from these three theories. As professional teachers, we are in charge of
discovering how learning theories can best be applied in our classroom. As a teacher I will play
as the agent within my classrooms that focuses on learning by using the Social Learning
Theory.
On the fourth of December in 1925 Social learning theorist Albert Bandura was born on a
Canadian wheat farm. Bandura went to college for Social Learning and acquired his B.A. from
the University of British Columbia in 1949. In 1952, Bandura received his doctorate for Social
Learning at the University of Iowa. Banduras then did a clinical internship for Wichita Kansas
Guidance Center. Finally in 1953, Bandura achieved a teaching position at Stanford University.
Bandura is a brilliant mind; however, he did not gain an interest of learning and behaviorism
until he was at the University of Iowa:
cognitive psychology because of his focus on motivational factors and selfregulatory mechanisms that contribute to a person's behavior, rather than just
environmental factors. This focus on cognition is what differentiates social

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cognitive theory from Skinner's purely behavioristic viewpoint. Albert Bandura
focuses on the acquisition of behaviors. He believes that people acquire behaviors
through the observation of others, then imitate what they have observed. Several
studies involving television commercials and videos containing violent scenes
have supported this theory of modeling (Albert Bandura).
Bandura named his theory the Social Learning Theory; however, he created an additional
name to his theory, Social Cognitive Theory. Bandura is a theorist who has written
frameworks for his work such as Social Foundations of Thought and Action and has received
several honorary degrees from universities all over the world (Albert Bandura). Banduras hard
work and published theory is made of various learning components that make up the Social
Learning Theory of today.

Practically everything a person does in life is based personal goals or outcomes which
then leads to steps achieving those goals. Bandura focused his studies to the observational
learning or the modeling process. There are four main key points for the process: 1) attention 2)
retention 3) reproduction and 4) motivation. These four steps in the Social Learning Theory
were informed by both behavioral and cognitive philosophies: 1) self-observation 2) judgment
and 3) self-response. The most common known experiment that Bandura conducted is the Bobo
dolls with children. Bandera would give a group of kids a video to watch of an adult being
destructive to a Bobo doll, a different group of kids watched a video that showed compassionate
behavior to a Bobo doll, and a third group was modeling neither good nor bad behaviors toward
the Bobo doll. Each outcome of all three groups had a different result of how the children
behaved toward the Bobo doll. The group of children who were modeled to be aggressive to the

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Bobo doll were aggressive, the children that were modeled to be compassionate were
compassionate to the Bobo doll, and the children that were modeled to be neither good nor bad to
the doll also paid no attention to the Bobo doll. Bandura saw how a boy versus a girl exhibited
the modeled adults behavior to the Bobo doll. The children in all groups repeated the same
action of the modeled adult that was in the movie that the children viewed. However, the boys
were seen executing more physical abuse and the girls were seen executing more verbal abuse
toward the Bobo doll. The Bobo doll is one of Banduras biggest experiments that proved
Banduras theory that people learn by observing others.

Nothing in life is based off of one thing or is completely black or white, Bandura used
vicarious learning to strengthen his argument on the Social Learning Theory. Vicarious
learning is based off of instructional learning. There are various ways for students to learn
instructions and learning situations. Some major elements to exhibit vicarious learning is through
peer teaching, technology teaching (videos or recording), small groups, etc. There are a few
elements that have to be modeled for the vicarious learning to work.

There has to be a model who is appropriate for the students. The model has to
demonstrate the behavior you wish the students to learn, and the students have to
clearly observe this behavior happening. Students also have to observe the model
being reinforced immediately after and as a result of engaging in this behavior.
Finally, the reinforcement that the model with cities has to be something that the
student see as desirable and would like to receive themselves (Theory
Fundamentals).

Bandura uses vicarious learning to help teachers to model accurate skills for learning.

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As an older sibling, I am more aware that my actions and decisions are major factors of
how my siblings learned to make their own decisions in life. Through my own studies and
experiences, I have learned that students learn through observation and hands on experience. The
observation strategy I learned through observing a seventh grade Social Studies and English
class at the Madison Middle School. Students learn through images and/or observing
information; the ability to put a picture or task with instructions or facts. In my years of being a
student, there is only so much a person can learn through reading a book or sitting in a class
lecture. Learning from hands-on experience is another major factor of student learning. When I
was in high school I did an internship at the Brandon Valley Middle School in the seventh grade
special education department. I was given the opportunity to be teacher for the day. I gave a
lesson on human relations. Teaching about human relations is not an easy lesson to teach,
especially to middle school kids. Instead of deliver the outline, I first had the kids teach me what
they knew through classroom discussion than expanded by using a word find, images during the
lecture, and a poster presentation through research. Through studies on student learning and my
own personal experience I have developed an understanding and connection with Social
Learning Theory. My future employers will be able to depict that my classroom is revolved
around the Social Learning Theory.

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Reference
"Albert Bandura." Psychology History. Web.
Bandura, Albert. "Social Learning Theory." Www.esludwig.com. General Learning
Corporation/Stanford University, 1971. Web.
"Credo Reference Where Are You From?" Credo Reference Where Are You From? Web. "Credo
Reference Where Are You From?" Credo Reference Where Are You From? Web.
"Learning Theory." Learning Theory. Web.
Prati, Gabriele. "A Social Cognitive Learning Theory of Homophobic Aggression among
Adolescents." EBSCOhost. National Association of School Psychologists. Web.
"Skinner versus Bandura." Skinner versus Bandura. Web.
Snowman, Jack, and Robert F. Biehler. "Social Learning Theory." Psychology Applied to
Teaching. 10th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. 243-49. Print.