Bandura - Social Learning Theory

by Saul McLeod published 2011, updated 2016

In social learning theory Albert Bandura (1977) agrees with the behaviourist learning theories of
classical conditioning and operant conditioning. However, he adds two important ideas:

1. Mediating processes occur between stimuli & responses.

2. Behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning.

Observational Learning
Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways. This is illustrated during the
famous Bobo doll experiment (Bandura, 1961).

Individuals that are observed are called models. In society, children are surrounded by many
influential models, such as parents within the family, characters on children’s TV, friends within
their peer group and teachers at school. Theses models provide examples of behavior to observe
and imitate, e.g. masculine and feminine, pro and anti-social etc.

Children pay attention to some of these people (models) and encode their behavior. At a later
time they may imitate (i.e. copy) the behavior they have observed. They may do this regardless
of whether the behavior is ‘gender appropriate’ or not, but there are a number of processes that
make it more likely that a child will reproduce the behavior that its society deems appropriate for
its sex.

First, the child is more likely to attend to and imitate those people it perceives as similar to itself.
Consequently, it is more likely to imitate behavior modeled by people of the same sex.

Second, the people around the child will respond to the behavior it imitates with either
reinforcement or punishment. If a child imitates a model’s behavior and the consequences are
rewarding, the child is likely to continue performing the behavior. If parent sees a little girl
consoling her teddy bear and says “what a kind girl you are”, this is rewarding for the child and
makes it more likely that she will repeat the behavior. Her behavior has been reinforced (i.e.
strengthened).

Reinforcement can be external or internal and can be positive or negative. If a child wants
approval from parents or peers, this approval is an external reinforcement, but feeling happy
about being approved of is an internal reinforcement. A child will behave in a way which it
believes will earn approval because it desires approval.
Positive (or negative) reinforcement will have little impact if the reinforcement offered
externally does not match with an individual's needs. Reinforcement can be positive or negative,
but the important factor is that it will usually lead to a change in a person's behavior.

Third, the child will also take into account of what happens to other people when deciding
whether or not to copy someone’s actions. A person learns by observing the consequences of
another person’s (i.e. models) behaviour e.g. a younger sister observing an older sister being
rewarded for a particular behaviour is more likely to repeat that behaviour herself. This is
known as vicarious reinforcement.

This relates to attachment to specific models that possess qualities seen as rewarding. Children
will have a number of models with whom they identify. These may be people in their immediate
world, such as parents or older siblings, or could be fantasy characters or people in the media.
The motivation to identify with a particular model is that they have a quality which the
individual would like to possess.

Identification occurs with another person (the model) and involves taking on (or adopting)
observed behaviors, values, beliefs and attitudes of the person with whom you are identifying.

The term identification as used by Social Learning Theory is similar to the Freudian term related
to the Oedipus complex. For example, they both involve internalizing or adopting another
person’s behavior. However, during the Oedipus complex the child can only identify with the
same sex parent, whereas with Social Learning Theory the person (child or adult) can potentially
identify with any other person.

Identification is different to imitation as it may involve a number of behaviors being adopted,

whereas imitation usually involves copying a single behavior.

Mediational Processes
SLT is often described as the ‘bridge’ between traditional learning theory (ie. behaviourism) and
the cognitive approach. This is because it focuses on how mental (cognitive) factors are involved
in learning.

Unlike Skinner, Bandura (1977) believes that humans are active information processors and
think about the relationship between their behavior and its consequences. Observational learning
could not occur unless cognitive processes were at work. These mental factors mediate (i.e.
intervene) in the learning process to determine whether a new response is acquired.

Therefore, individuals do not automatically observe the behaviour of a model and imitate it.
There is some thought prior to imitation and this consideration is called mediational processes.
This occurs between observing the behaviour (stimulus) and imitating it or not (response)
There are four mediational processes proposed by Bandura:

1. Attention: The extent to which we are exposed/notice the behaviour. For a behaviour to
be imitated it has to grab our attention. We observe many behaviours on a daily basis and
many of these are not noteworthy. Attention is therefore extremely important in whether
a behaviour has an influence in others imitating it.
2. Retention: How well the behaviour is remembered. The behaviour may be noticed, but is
it not always remembered which obviously prevents imitation. It is important therefore
that a memory of the behaviour is formed to be performed later by the observer.

Much of social learning is not immediate so this process is especially vital in those cases.
Even if the behaviour is reproduced shortly after seeing it, there needs to be a memory to
refer to.

3. Reproduction: This is the ability to perform the behavior that the model has just
demonstrated. We see much behaviour on a daily basis that we would like to be able to
imitate but that this not always possible. We are limited by our physical ability and for
that reason, even if we wish to reproduce the behaviour, we cannot.

This influences our decisions whether to try and imitate it or not. Imagine the scenario of
a 90-year-old-lady who struggles to walk watching Dancing on Ice. She may appreciate
that the skill is a desirable one, but she will not attempt to imitate it because she
physically cannot do it.

4. Motivation: The will to perform the behaviour. The rewards and punishment that follow
a behaviour will be considered by the observer. If the perceived rewards outweighs the
perceived costs (if there are any) then the behaviour will be more likely to be imitated by
the observer. If the vicarious reinforcement is not seen to be important enough to the
observer then they will not imitate the behaviour.

Critical Evaluation
The social learning approach takes thought processes into account and acknowledges the role
that they play in deciding if a behaviour is to be imitated or not. As such, SLT provides a more
comprehensive explanation of human learning by recognising the role of mediational processes.

However, although it can explain some quite complex behavior it cannot adequately account for
how we develop a whole range of behavior including thoughts and feelings. We have a lot of
cognitive control over our behavior and just because we have had experiences of violence does
not mean we have to reproduce such behavior.
It is for this reason that Bandura modified his theory and in 1986 renamed his Social Learning
Theory, Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), as a better description of how we learn from our social
experiences.

Some criticisms of social learning theory arise from their commitment to the environment as the
chief influence on behaviour. It is limiting to describe behavior solely in terms of either nature or
nurture, and attempts to do this underestimate the complexity of human behavior. It is more
likely that behavior is due to an interaction between nature (biology) and nurture (environment).

Social learning theory is not a full explanation for all behaviour. This is particularly the case
when there is no apparent role model in the person’s life to imitate for a given behaviour.

The discovery of mirror neurons has lent biological support to the theory of social learning.
Although research is in its infancy the recent discovery of "mirror neurons" in primates may
constitute a neurological basis for imitation. These are neurons which fire both if the animal does
something itself, and if it observes the action being done by another.

This theory stipulates that there are several different types or levels of learning. The significance
of these classifications is that each different type requires different types of instruction. Gagne
identifies five major categories of learning: verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive
strategies, motor skills and attitudes. Different internal and external conditions are necessary for
each type of learning. For example, for cognitive strategies to be learned, there must be a chance
to practice developing new solutions to problems; to learn attitudes, the learner must be exposed
to a credible role model or persuasive arguments.

Gagne suggests that learning tasks for intellectual skills can be organized in a hierarchy
according to complexity: stimulus recognition, response generation, procedure following, use of
terminology, discriminations, concept formation, rule application, and problem solving. The
primary significance of the hierarchy is to identify prerequisites that should be completed to
facilitate learning at each level. Prerequisites are identified by doing a task analysis of a
learning/training task. Learning hierarchies provide a basis for the sequencing of instruction.

In addition, the theory outlines nine instructional events and corresponding cognitive processes:

1. Gaining attention (reception)

2. Informing learners of the objective (expectancy)
3. Stimulating recall of prior learning (retrieval)
4. Presenting the stimulus (selective perception)
5. Providing learning guidance (semantic encoding)
6. Eliciting performance (responding)
7. Providing feedback (reinforcement)
8. Assessing performance (retrieval)
9. Enhancing retention and transfer (generalization).
These events should satisfy or provide the necessary conditions for learning and serve as the
basis for designing instruction and selecting appropriate media (Gagne, Briggs & Wager, 1992).

Application
While Gagne's theoretical framework covers all aspects of learning, the focus of the theory is on
intellectual skills. The theory has been applied to the design of instruction in all domains (Gagner
& Driscoll, 1988). In its original formulation (Gagne, 1 962), special attention was given to
military training settings. Gagne (1987) addresses the role of instructional technology in
learning.

Example
The following example illustrates a teaching sequence corresponding to the nine instructional
events for the objective, Recognize an equilateral triangle:

1. Gain attention - show variety of computer generated triangles

2. Identify objective - pose question: "What is an equilateral triangle?"
3. Recall prior learning - review definitions of triangles
4. Present stimulus - give definition of equilateral triangle
5. Guide learning- show example of how to create equilateral
6. Elicit per formance - ask students to create 5 different examples
7. Provide feedback - check all examples as correct/incorrect
8. Assess performance- provide scores and remediation
9. Enhance retention/transfer - show pictures of objects and ask students to identify equilaterals

Gagne (1985, chapter 12) provides examples of events for each category of learning outcomes.

Principles
1. Different instruction is required for different learning outcomes.
2. Events of learning operate on the learner in ways that constitute the conditions of
learning.
3. The specific operations that constitute instructional events are different for each different
type of learning outcome.
4. Learning hierarchies define what intellectual skills are to be learned and a sequence of
instruction.

OCIAL LEARNING THEORY of Albert Bandura

If you've taken an introductory course in economics, you're
already familiar with the policy planner's dilemma of deciding
whether to allocate limited resources for guns or for butter.
The problem is usually posed to illustrate the impersonal market
forces of supply and demand, profit and loss. Yet planners are
people, and most individuals come to the war-or-peace decision
points of life having already developed preferred responses.
Northwestern psychologist Donald Campbell calls these tendencies
"acquired behavioral dispositions," and he suggests six ways
that we learn to choose one option over another.

1. Trial-and-error experience is a hands-on exploration that

might lead to tasting the butter and squeezing the trigger, or
perhaps the other way around.

2. Perception of the object is a firsthand chance to look,

admire, but don't touch a pistol and a pound of butter at close
range.

3. Observation of another's response to the object is hearing a

contented sigh when someone points the gun or spreads the butter
on toast. It is also seeing critical frowns on faces of people
who bypass the items in a store.

4. Modeling is watching someone fire the gun or melt the butter

to put it on popcorn.

5. Exhortation is the National Rifle Association's plea to

protect the right to bear arms or Willard Scott's commercial
message urging us to use real butter.

6. Instruction about the object is a verbal description of the

gun's effective range or of the number of calories in a pat of
butter.

Campbell claims that direct trial-and-error experience creates a

deep and long-lasting acquired behavioral disposition, while
perception has somewhat less effect, observation of response
even less, and modeling less still. Exhortation is one of the
most used but least effective means to influence attitudes or
actions.

Stanford psychologist Albert Bandura agrees that conversation is

not an effective way of altering human behavior, but he thinks
that classical learning theory's preoccupation with trial-and-
error learning is shortsighted. "Coping with the demands of
everyday life would be exceedingly trying if one could arrive at
solutions to problems only by actually performing possible
options and suffering the consequences."1 His social learning
theory concentrates on the power of example.
THE SPREAD OF TV VIOLENCE THROUGH MODELING

Bandura's major premise is that we can learn by observing

others. He considers vicarious experience to be the typical way
that human beings change. He uses the term modeling to describe
Campbell's two midrange processes of response acquisition
(observation of another's response and modeling), and he claims
that modeling can have as much impact as direct experience.

Social learning theory is a general theory of human behavior,

but Bandura and people concerned with mass communication have
used it specifically to explain media effects. Bandura warned
that "children and adults acquire attitudes, emotional
responses, and new styles of conduct through filmed and
televised modeling."2 George Gerbner (see Chapter 29) was
concerned that television violence would create a false climate
of fear. Albert Bandura cautioned that TV might create a violent
reality that was worth fearing.

Bandura's warning struck a responsive chord in parents and

educators who feared that escalating violence on TV would
transform children into bullies. Although he doesn't think this
will happen without the tacit approval of those who supervise
the children, Bandura regards anxiety over televised violence as
legitimate. That stance caused network officials to blackball
him from taking part in the 1972 Surgeon General's Report on
Violence.3 It is doubtful whether TV sets will ever bear an
inscription similar to that on packs of cigarettes: "Warning:
The Surgeon General has determined that TV violence may turn
your child into an insensitive brute." But if Bandura had been
picked as a member of the research team, the report would have
been more definitive in pointing out the causal link between
television violence and aggressive behavior.

Consider the case of Tyler Richie, a shy 10-year-old boy who has
been raised on a Saturday-morning diet of superheroes. After
school he's absorbed for an hour in helping Nintendo's Mario
Brothers fight their way out of danger. He then catches the last
half of a Rockford Files rerun on a local station and sees that
even mild mannered James Garner regards violence as the best
option when his Pappie is in trouble. After dinner, Ty laughs at
the fake fighting of roller derby and wrestling on sports cable.
He then slips a cassette of Dirty Harry into the VCR and settles
back for some hard-core violence. "Go ahead and make my day," he
drawls as Clint Eastwood appears on the screen.
The combined four hours that Ty spends in front of the screen
represent a typical day for boys in his class at school. Bandura
considers "gentle" Ty a likely candidate to someday clobber his
sister, shoot a prowler, or use criminal force to get his own
way. Social learning theory postulates three necessary stages in
the causal link between television violence and actual physical
harm to another: attention, retention, and motivation.

Attention: "I Never Thought of That Before"

Because advertising rates are tied directly to a program's share

of the market, television professionals are experts at gaining
and holding attention. Practitioners are committed to the
drawing power of dramatized personal injury and physical
destruction. According to Bandura, televised violence will grab
Ty's attention because it is simple, distinctive, prevalent,
useful, and depicted positively.

1. Simple. There's nothing very subtle about punching someone in

the face. Drawn-out negotiations and attempts at reconciliation
are complicated, but even a child can understand a quick right
to the jaw. In order to avoid confusion, the good guys wear
white hats.

2. Distinctive. The characters on the screen take risks that

don't fit the ordered pattern of Ty's life. That's why Action
Jackson pays his own way on commercial stations, while Mr.
Rogers' ten-minute sweater change requires a subsidy on public
television. Prosocial behavior like sharing, sympathy, control
of anger, and delayed gratification appears dull when compared
with violent action sequences.

3. Prevalent. Bandura cites Gerbner's index of violence (see

Chapter 29) to show that television portrays "the big hurt."
Over 80 percent of prime-time programs contain violent acts.
That figure rises to over 90 percent for weekend cartoon shows.
With Nintendo sweeping America and more than half of the
nation's families owning a VCR, violence on demand is easy to
arrange.

4. Useful. Social critics decry the gratuitous violence on

television, but Bandura denies that aggression is unrelated to
the story line. The scenes of physical force are especially
compelling because they suggest that violence is a preferred
solution to human problems. Violence is presented as a strategy
for life.
5. Positive. On every type of program, television draws in
viewers by placing attractive people in front of the camera.
There are very few overweight bodies or pimply faces on TV. When
the winsome star roughs up a few hoods to help the lovely young
woman, aggression is given a positive cast.

Using violence in the race for ratings not only draws an

attentive audience, it transmits responses that we, as viewers,
might never have considered before. The media expand our
repertoire of behavioral options far beyond what we would
discover by trial and error and in ways more varied than we
would observe in people we know. The unthinkable no longer is.

Retention: "I Figured Out What I Was Doing Wrong"

Bandura says it's fortunate that people learn from vicarious

observation, since mistakes could prove costly or fatal. Without
putting himself at risk, Ty is able to discover that a knife
fighter holds a switchblade at an inclined angle of forty-five
degrees and that he jabs up rather than lunging down. Ty can
pick up this bit of "street smarts" from an admired Harry or a
despised Scorpio, and learning takes place whether the fictional
model is rewarded or punished for his action. We hope that Ty
will never have an occasion to put his knowledge into practice.
It's certainly unlikely that he'll walk out of the house and
immediately mimic the action he has learned; instantaneous
reproduction is uncommon. In contrast to classical learning
theory, Bandura says we can learn novel behavior without any
practice or direct reinforcement for its consequences. The
action will lie dormant, available for future use, as long as we
remember it.

Memory is a cognitive function, so Bandura's theory moves beyond

mere behaviorism. Like most other communication theorists, he
believes that the ability to use symbols sets humans apart from
the limited stimulus-response world of animals. "Humans don't
just respond to stimuli, they interpret them."4

Bandura says that we store events in two ways-through visual

images and through verbal codes. Ty may have a vivid picture in
his mind of Clint Eastwood leveling an unswerving Colt .45
Magnum revolver. If so, repeated instant mental replays (with Ty
in the role of enforcer) will ensure that he remembers how to
point a gun in the future. The more he exercises the image, the
stronger the memory will be in the future.
Bandura is convinced, however, that major gains in vicarious
learning come when the observer develops a conscious awareness
of the technique involved. These insights are stored verbally.
Ty will take a giant step toward becoming a dead shot when he
can sort out the visual image of Clint Eastwood into generalized
principles:

"Hold the weapon with both hands."

"Don't jerk the trigger; squeeze it."

"Aim six inches low to compensate for the recoil."

Bandura says that learning through modeling is more a matter of

abstracting rules than mimicry. It's not simply "monkey see,
monkey do."

The entire acquisition process described by Bandura is a

spectator sport. That's why television teaches violence so well.
Ty doesn't have to actually do the aggressive behavior; fantasy
rehearsal in his mind will keep the act a live option for the
future. If he ever does point a gun in anger, the act of force,
after years of mental role-playing, will set his acquired
behavioral disposition into granite. "The highest level of
observational learning is achieved by first organizing and
rehearsing the modeled behavior symbolically, and then enacting
it overtly."5

Motivation: "Why Not Do It? It Worked Out Fine for Them"

We observe many forms of behavior in others that we never

perform ourselves. Without sufficient motivation, Ty may never
imitate the violence he sees on TV. Bandura uses the term
motivation to refer to the rewards and punishments Ty imagines
will accompany his use of physical force. Would he go to jail
for blowing away an enemy, remain anonymous if he dropped a
brick from a highway overpass, or gain status for punching out a
jerk who was hassling a friend? Note that these questions
concern potential outcomes rather than sanctions already
experienced. Bandura cautions that "the widely accepted dictum
that behavior is governed by its consequences fares better for
anticipated than for actual consequences."6

Most reinforcement theorists recognize that Ty's expectations

for future rewards or punishment come in part from external
sources such as parents, friends, and teachers. Bandura says
that the effects of TV violence will be greatly diminished if a
youngster's parents punish or disapprove of aggression. He
contends that unconditional love and approval merely encourage
self-actualized tyrants.

Yet Ty also shares a responsibility for his own actions. The

latest version of social learning theory places increasing
emphasis on self-regulation. Bandura is uncomfortable with any
form of determinism. He doesn't believe that people are
"buffeted by environmental stimuli," nor does he accept the
notion that they are "driven by inner forces." He sees external
and internal rewards working together in a "reciprocal
determination" to influence behavior. But social learning theory
focuses on vicarious reward as a third factor which causes
acquired responses to break out into action.

Television models do more than teach novel styles of conduct.

When people on television are punished for being violent, that
punishment reinforces society's sanctions against acting above
or outside the law. But when other characters in the story
accept or applaud the use of force, that approval weakens
inhibitions the viewer may have about hurting people. Producers,
writers, and directors are quick to argue that action sequences
end up by showing that crime doesn't pay. Armed robbers,
rapists, murderers, and terrorists are brought to justice by the
final fade-out. But Bandura isn't worried about the bad guys
glorifying violence. It's the aggression of the good guys that
troubles him. Crime may not pay on television, but physical
force does.

Consider the potential encouragement of violence offered by the

1989 motion picture Batman. In the first week of its release in
the United States, over 10 million patrons watched the Joker's
creative sadism amid squeals of delight in the theaters. While
the average young male in the audience might have difficulty
identifying with the bizarre Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton
looked like Everyman in his low-key portrayal of the wealthy
young avenger. The producer, Jon Peters, wanted a story line
that would provide "a great opportunity to have this guy kick
some ass,"7 which Batman does. In the end, Bruce Wayne gets the
satisfaction of avenging his parents' murder, praise from the
grateful mayor of the city, and the adoration of the adorable
Kim Basinger. These vicarious rewards would seem to justify
almost any vigilante action. The filmmakers would claim that
Batman is mere fantasy; Bandura would probably call it an
effective classroom for life.

"YOU BIG BULLY, QUIT PICKING ON THAT CLOWN"

Bandura and his students ran a series of experiments to study
social learning of aggression through television. He used a
three-foot-high inflated plastic Bobo doll as the potential
victim. The clown figure had a heavy sand base that made it pop
back up after being knocked down. Nursery school boys and girls
saw a film in which an adult male or female model assaulted the
clown. The kids themselves then had a chance to "play" with the
Bobo doll without adult supervision.

Figure 31.1 shows two of the attacks the female model performed,
with typical matching behavior of a girl who saw the film. Since
children in the control group didn't normally say and do these
things, the experiment demonstrated that the youngsters had
acquired the new, aggressive behavior by watching the film.

Some children saw a version in which the adult model was

rewarded with candy, soda pop, and praise for being a "strong
champion." Others heard the model scolded: "Hey there, you big
bully, you quit picking on that clown." As the adult retreated,
he or she tripped and fell, and then received a humiliating
spanking with a rolled up magazine.

Consistent with social learning theory, Bandura found that

children exhibited more aggression when the adult models were
rewarded for their attack on the Bobo doll than when they were
punished. Yet given enough inducement by the experimenter, most
children were able to copy the hostile actions. Bandura
concludes that reinforcement doesn't affect the learning of
novel responses, but it does "determine whether or not
observationally acquired competencies will be put into use." He
discovered that the same antisocial learning took place when the
aggressor was a cartoon character (Herman the Cat), rather than
a human model. In other studies he discovered that removal of
restraint is greatest for boys when the model is male and
greatest for girls when the model is female. Consistent with
traditional gender-based roles, boys were more violent than
girls.

AROUSED OR DRAINED: TWO ALTERNATIVES TO IMITATION

Although Bandura discusses television violence in terms of

modeling, there are alternative interpretations of the effect
that dramatized aggression has on an audience. Dolf Zillmann and
other instigation theorists agree with Bandura that viewers are
aroused when they see simulated violence on the screen.8 But
arousal researchers note that people also get excited watching
suspense, comedy, or sexy bedroom scenes. If a viewer turns on
the set feeling somewhat angry, the emotions these programs stir
up can fuel a full-blown hatred that may spill over into
physical aggression. According to instigation theorists, it's
the arousal in the violent programs that stimulates aggression,
not the imitation processes Bandura emphasizes. Instigation is
an idea which sounds plausible, but an appeal to arousal fails
to explain how viewers learn new techniques. Nor can it account
for a violent action breaking out years after it was modeled on
television.

Favored by media apologists, catharsis theory, on the other

hand, suggests that the depiction of physical force actually
reduces aggression.9 The theory maintains that many viewers are
filled with pent-up anger, hostility, and tension. Like excess
steam vented from a boiler, these destructive impulses are
safely drained off through exposure to fantasy violence. (The
catharsis theory sees Rambo and psychiatric counselors as
serving the same function.) The notion that violent drama can be
healthy traces back to Aristotle's belief that Greek tragedy
served to purge feelings of grief and fear. The problem with the
catharsis claim is that there is no evidence to support it. Most
efforts to demonstrate that a heavy dose of televised violence
reduces aggression end up showing the opposite. People may feel
better, but they get worse.

CRITIQUE: A POSITIVE, BUT WEAK, CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP

Bandura states that "theories must demonstrate predictive

power." Social learning theory's claim that fantasy violence
teaches and encourages real aggression tests out splendidly in
the laboratory, where other factors can be held constant, but
only passably in the field. One ten-year study tracked 460
third-grade boys until they were 19 years old.10 The young men in
the study who had watched a great amount of televised violence
as children were more aggressive than those who had been
occasional viewers. However, those who were more aggressive as
kids showed no tendency to watch more televised violence when
they grew up. The twin findings support Bandura's claim that
fantasy aggression leads to the real thing. But childhood
viewing habits accounted for only 10 percent of the difference
in later aggression.

Although this 10 percent figure may sound rather small, even a

small effect from media violence can add up to a significant
social problem when a program has an audience of 30 million
people. If only 1 out of every 10,000 viewers imitates an act of
violence, the fictional drama had produced at least 3,000 new
victims.

Social learning theory shares the problem of almost all

reinforcement theories-it doesn't predict what the learner will
regard as positive. Ty may be turned off by the machismo of John
Wayne ("A man's got to do what a man's got to do"), yet relish
the lean intensity of Clint Eastwood. Forecasting taste is risky
business. Bandura's theory is also vulnerable to the charges of
Stuart Hall, which were presented in the previous chapter.
Bandura's research epitomizes everything in the American media-
effects tradition that Hall disdains. Yet social learning theory
is relevant to many of the crucial cultural issues Hall and
other social theorists discuss.

Modeling clarifies why highly publicized suicides and drug

overdoses (Marilyn Monroe, Ernest Hemingway, Janis Joplin, John
Belushi) are followed by sharp upswings of self-inflicted
death.11 It also helps us understand why political assassinations
(Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X) occur in
clusters. Vicarious observation explains the spread of Gandhi's
innovative tactics of militant nonviolence to racial and antiwar
protest.

The theory predicts that publicizing airline hijackings and

terrorist kidnappings will result in increased political
violence. It implies that news coverage of urban riots will
promote further disorder when it shows video clips of joyous
looters rather than the human misery of a destroyed
neighborhood.

Social learning theory also has useful observations about the

antisocial results of pornography. Vicarious reinforcement
explains how men can maintain a "rape myth" in the face of
overwhelming evidence that women are angered and sickened by the
mere idea of sexual assault. The pornographic portrayal of
abducted females stirred to sexual ecstasy by their captors
encourages men to hang on to a dehumanizing rationalization that
women secretly want to be taken by force. Although sexually
explicit films are used beneficially by dysfunction clinics to
lower inhibitions and teach foreplay technique, Bandura warns
that continuous exposure to erotic fantasy may hinder sexual
satisfaction. The simulated wild passion portrayed in every
encounter sets up an unreasonably high expectation that normal
lovemaking can't match.
Bandura doesn't advocate tight artistic censorship or
governmental controls on news reporting, but his concern with
these issues shows social learning theory's usefulness in
matters of death, power, and passion. Bandura doesn't claim that
television is the only way people acquire behavioral
dispositions. But he has established that the media are an
important ingredient in the formative mix. Ty is learning today;
perhaps he will be acting out tomorrow.

Gagné Conditions of Learning

Gredler (1997) praised that Gagné's condition of learning has shifted the study of learning in the
lab to the study in real-world settings and explained that such changes was a results of training
needs in World War II:

 From the observations of the students' learning, he thought that the cause of their failure
in learning was the gaps in their knowledge of the sub-components of the tasks, i.e. the
prerequisite skills. Thus, he assumes a cumulative organization of learning events based
on prerequisite relationships among learned behaviors. In other worlds, instruction should
provide a set of component tasks and sequence those tasks to ensure the learners' mastery
of each component task and the optimal transfer of the final task
 Gagné's principal assumption is that there are different kinds of learned outcomes, and
that different internal and external conditions are necessary to promote each type.
Gagné's original work (Gagné, 1965) was based on the experimental learning psychology
of the time, including paired associate learning, serial learning, operant conditioning,
concept learning, and gestalt problem solving.
 Recent versions (Gagné, 1985) have incorporated ideas from cognitive psychology, but
the essential characteristics of the original work remain.

What is learning to Gagné?

1. Learning is cumulative. Human intellectual development is the building of increasing

complex structures of human capabilities.
2. Learning is the mechanism by which an individual becomes a competently functioning
member of society
3. Learning results in different kinds of human behaviors, i.e. different human capabilities,
which are required both from the stimulation from the environment and the cognitive
processing undertaken by the learners.

The underlying assumption derived from Gagné's ideas about learning and instruction:

1. Because learning is complex and diverse, different learning outcomes (capabilities)

requires different instructions, prerequisites and processing by the learners. In other
worlds, the specific operations that constitute instructional events are different for each
different type of learning outcome.
 2. Events of learning operate on the learner in ways that constitute the conditions of
learning. The internal states required in the learner to acquire the new skills are internal
conditions of learning, and the environmental stimuli required to support the internal
learning process are external conditions of learning. Learning hierarchies define what
intellectual skills are to be learned and a sequence of instruction.

Taxonomy of Human learning capabilities

Gagné identifies five major categories of learning: verbal information, intellectual skills,
cognitive strategies, motor skills and attitudes. Different internal and external conditions are
necessary for each type of learning. The following matrix is abstracted from Gredler's (1997)
descriptions of Gagne's condition of learning:

Types of Conditions Principles for

Human
Capabilities
Verbal Retrieving stored information:
Information the internal conditions to
support this learning include
 Preexisting of
organized knowledge
 Strategies for
processing the new
information
Instructional Events
 Provide meaningful
context of information
for encoding
 Provide elaborations,
imagery, or other
encoding cues
 Organize information
so that it can be learned
in chunks

Intellectual Skills Metal operations that permits  Provide varied concrete

individuals to respond to examples and rules
conceptualizations of the  Provide opportunities
environment: for interacting with
examples in different
 Discrimination ways
 Concrete and defined  Assess learners in new
concepts situations
 Rule using
 Problem solving:
combining subordinate
rules in order to solve a
problem

The internal conditions to

facilitate this type of learning
include:

 Recalling prerequisite
skills
 Interacting in a variety
of ways with the new
learning
 Applying the new skills
to range and variety of
 different situations and
contexts

Cognitive An internal process by which  If task-specific,

Strategies the learners plans, controls, and
monitors his/her won ways of
thinking and learning, including
 Task specific
 General
 Executive
describe the strategy; if
task general,
demonstrate the
strategy.
 Provide opportunities
for strategy specific
practice with support
and feedback

Attitude An internal state, i.e.  Provide respected

predisposition that affects an models who enact
individual choice of action positive behavior and
reinforce the model
 When learner enacts
the behavior, provide
reinforcement

Motor Skills Capability to perform a  Establish executive

sequence of physical subroutine and provide
movements. It involves three for mental rehearsal.
stages:  Arrange several
repetitions of skills
 Learning the sequence with correct feedback
of the movement
 Practicing the
movement
 Refining the movement
from the feedback from
the environment

Gagné indicated nine events of instruction

The instructional events do not produce learning, but support the learner's internal process. Three
phases of the nine events are described (Gagné & Briggs, 1974):

1. Preparing for learning: gain attention, inform objectives, and stimulate recall of prior
knowledge
2. Acquisition and performance: present stimulus material, provide learner guidance, elicit
performance an provide feedback
3. Transfer of learning: assess performance and enhance retention and transfer process

The nine events are:

 Gain Attention: it is related to the processing of perception

 Inform objectives: it builds up expectancy
  Stimulate recall of prior knowledge: it initiates the retrieval from working memory
 Present stimulus material: it focuses on selectively perceiving stimulus
 Provide learner guidance: it related to the encoding process
 Elicit performance: the focus is response
 Provide feedback: the focus is reinforcing response
 Assess performance: it establishes cueing retrieval
 Enhance retention and transfer: it requires generalization process

Gagné's learning theories have had a positive influence on the evolution of the systems approach
to designing instruction. The features of systems model for instruction design are (Gredler,
1997):

1. Goal-directed: instruction is designed for specified goals and objectives

2. A closed-loop process: a iterative process of design, try out, and revision to achieved the
desired goals.

What Is Social Learning Theory?

Social learning theory combines cognitive learning theory (which posits that learning is
influenced by psychological factors) and behavioral learning theory (which assumes that learning
is based on responses to environmental stimuli). Albert Bandura integrated these two theories
and came up with four requirements for learning: observation (environmental), retention
(cognitive), reproduction (cognitive), and motivation (both). This integrative approach to
learning was called social learning theory.

One of the most famous experiments performed by Bandura is the famous bobo doll experiment.
Children observed as adults modeled either violent or passive behavior towards the doll, and this
observation was found to influence the manner in which the children subsequently interacted
with the dolls. Children who observed violent behavior behaved violently toward the doll and
vice versa.

) Gaining attention
When students arrive at class, their attention can be directed toward many other things, so in
order for any learning to take place, first their attention must be captured and their interest should
be aroused. Here are some examples:

1. An abrupt stimulus change, such as gesturing or speaking loudly

2. Starting the lesson with a thought-provoking question or interesting fact.
3. Providing an interesting visual or sound stimulus. Depending on the audience,
multimedia (like PowerPoint slides) can be used to combine photographs, pictures, and
sound.
In our session, combining items 2 and 3 is a good starting point: a case scenario of a patient with
ascites can be presented together with relevant investigations/images, asking the learners about
the case. There is no doubt that curiosity motivates students to learn.

Go to:

(II) Informing the learner of the objective

Early in each lesson students should encounter a list of learning objectives. This initiates the
internal process of expectancy and helps motivate the learner to complete the lesson.

A direct statement can be used in our session: “upon completing this lesson you will be able to”:

 Consent the patient for insertion of a peritoneal drain

 Identify the correct anatomical point
 Identify the equipment required
 Prepare, position and monitor the patient
 Understand and perform the correct technique for insertion of a peritoneal drain under
fully aseptic condition
 Understand the principles of securing, dressing and connecting the drain
 Understand the importance of appropriate analgesia post procedure
 Complete the appropriate documentation in patient's medical notes

Go to:

(III) Stimulating recall of prerequisite learning

Associating new information with prior knowledge and personal experience and getting the
learners to think about what they already know can facilitate the learning process.

In our session, 20-30 minutes should be allocated for interactive discussion of the following:

Asking questions about previous observations and experiences, indications of inserting a

peritoneal drain, relevant anatomy, findings on examination and relevant tests before the
procedure to confirm the diagnosis (e.g. abdominal ultrasound)

Go to:

(IV) Presenting the stimulus material

This event is where the new content is actually presented to the learner. Content should be
organised meaningfully, and explained and demonstrated using a variety of media.

In our session, different steps of the procedure should be explained:

How to consent the patient, monitoring, equipment needed, positioning the patient, the technique
of peritoneal drain insertion and how to secure the drain. Finally, tests needed after the procedure
(biochemistry, cytology and microbiology tests on the fluid sample), and appropriate analgesia
should be explained.

Go to:

(V) Providing learning guidance

This event means showing what appropriate actions constitute correct performance, plus
additional suggestions, including use of examples, case studies, graphical representations, and
mnemonics to help learners encode information for long-term storage, or in simple terms, “make
the stimulus as meaningful as possible”.

As this is a practical procedure, if learners first observe the procedure they are in a better position
to perform it themselves. The teacher shows the equipment and performs the procedure on a
dummy, including the sterile technique, explaining it step by step. While performing the
procedure, useful tips and hints can be provided.

Go to:

(VI) Eliciting the performance (practice)

The action now turns to learners. In this event, the learner is required to practice the new skill or
behaviour. Eliciting performance provides an opportunity for learners to confirm their correct
understanding, and the repetition further increases the likelihood of retention.

In our session, each one of the learners should get familiar with the equipment, demonstrate the
sterile technique and perform the procedure on the dummy under direct supervision.

Go to:

(VII) Providing feedback

While observing each learner performing the procedure, individual and immediate feedback and
guidance can be provided and any questions can be answered. In addition, feedback from other
learners observing the performance is very helpful.

Go to:

(VIII) Assessing the performance

At this point, the students demonstrate what they have learned without receiving additional
coaching or hints. However, a single performance does not ensure that the new capability has
been reliably stored and additional practice is needed.

In our session, this will constitute demonstration of the whole procedure by the learner without
prompt or guidance. The main issue here is time and resources. If there is enough time, or if an
additional session is organised, they can practice the procedure a few times and at the end
demonstrate their performance. It is not possible to assess the desired outcome, insertion of a
peritoneal drain on “a real patient” in the same session but during on-calls and on the wards, the
learners get a chance of performing the procedure. Due to invasive nature of the procedure, they
“must” be supervised and assisted initially and after practicing a few times, they will be able to
perform it independently.

Go to:

(IX) Enhancing retention and transfer

Once we are reasonably sure that the new capabilities are reliably stored, we can increase the
likelihood that they will be retained over a long time period by providing practice and spaced
reviews. The repetition of learned concepts is an effective mean of enhancing retention, although
often disliked by students. Additionally, transfer of knowledge and skills to new problems and
situations is a goal of most instruction, but classroom time constraint makes it more difficult to
achieve.

To enhance retention, the learners should practice the procedure on a dummy a few times. More
frequent practice broken by rest periods is more effective. The transfer of knowledge constitutes
applying their skills in a clinical setting, while initially being supervised. The session can be
closed by reviewing the key points, answering the questions and asking for learners’ feedback.

In designing a session like this, several factors need to be considered, including the nature of
objectives, setting, time, available resources, institutional constraints, content, number of
learners, their characteristics and their preferences. The most effective way to achieve
psychomotor objectives is to get the learners to perform and practice the activity after preparing
them with some lectures or demonstrations. The session should cover the 3 areas that are
necessary for teaching psychomotor skills: 1) Before practice: objectives, performance criteria
and how it should be performed by an expert. 2) During practice: critical cues and how to use the
information. 3) After practice: feedback, enhancing retention and transfer

Go to:

Conclusions
Gagne's theories provide a great deal of valuable information to teachers. Applying Gagne's
nine-step model is an excellent way to ensure an effective and systematic learning program as it
gives structure to the lesson plans and a holistic view to the teaching. We need to keep in mind
that the exact form of these events is not something that can be specified in general for all
lessons, but rather must be decided for each learning objective.

The performance most frequently required of students is to remember, while our intent is most
often to help them understand, and by putting more structure into the objectives of the lesson
plans we will be able to achieve this aim. As Gagne himself says, “organisation is the hallmark
of effective instructional materials”.

Robert Mills Gagné (1916 – 2002) was an American educational psychologist best known for
his 1965 monograph "Conditions of Learning". Much of Gagné's research is focussed on issues
related to the sequencing of learning and instructional events in the classroom, and how learning
objectives might be better connected to appropriate instructional designs and strategies.

Gagné suggests that learning tasks for intellectual skills can be organized in a hierarchy of
learning events according to complexity: stimulus recognition, response generation, procedure
following, use of terminology, discriminations, concept formation, rule application, and problem
solving. The primary significance of the hierarchy is to identify prerequisites that should be
completed to facilitate learning at each level. Prerequisites are identified by doing a task analysis
of a learning/training task. Learning hierarchies provide a basis for the sequencing of instruction.
According to Good & Brophy (1990), Gagne's nine events are meant to be "... taken into account
when designing instruction. Although some steps might need to be rearranged (or might be
unnecessary) for certain types of lessons, the general set of considerations provide a good
checklist of key design steps."

Intellectual framework
While Gagné's theoretical framework covers many aspects of learning, the focus is on the
development of intellectual skills. The theory can be applied to the design of instruction in many
subject areas and domains (Gagner & Driscoll, 1988). In its original form (Gagne, 1962), there
was considerable attention given to using the framework in military training. By 1987, Gagné
had moved firmly into addressing the multifaceted role of using instructional technologies and
their role in learning. Some of Gagné's work is based on cognitive modelling where learning
occurs sequentially in the framework. Here, instructors and designers can see for themselves how
adult learners are led through stimulating content and presented with opportunities to engage in
the classroom. Gagné nine instructional events suggests that there are contiguous levels (or
events) and that specific instructional approaches are needed to enact them. The cognitive
processes in the nine events serve as a foundation for instructional design, even today. Some
critics, however, contend that Gagné's models are out of date, and no longer speak to the
demands of 21st century learners; still others suggest that the nine events of instructional design
are timeless and form a foundation for all instructors.

Gagné’s 9 Events of Instruction

Gagné created a nine-step process called the events of instruction, which address various
conditions of learning. These nine steps can be very useful for academic librarians in their design
of instructional workshops, seminars and classrooms to support their work in information
literacy: In addition, the theory outlines each contiguous instructional event and corresponding
cognitive processes:

1. Gain attention of learners (reception)

2. Inform learners of learning objectives (expectancy)
3. Stimulate recall of prior learning (retrieval)
4. Present the content (stimulus), and break it down into components to avoid
information overload (selective perception)
5. Provide "learning guidance" (semantic encoding)
6. Elicit performance (practice/ responding)
7. Provide feedback to learners (reinforcement)
8. Assess their performance (retrieval of information)
9. Enhance knowledge retention and transfer to real-life, authentic work
(generalization)

Strengths & weaknesses

Strengths
~ Gagne's conditions of learning are similar to
guidelines; more heuristic than prescriptive
~ The nine events form the background
structure to build lessons on; students master
one step before moving on to the next;
retention and transfer leads to durable learning
~ Gagne explains lessons should follow
instructional events but sequence can be
changed
~ Gagne's events is a process-oriented model;
you won't miss any major parts of the process
Weaknesses
~ The systematic approach is comprehensive
but Gagne does not allow step for planning
~ With nine steps, the model can feel long &
arduous
~ Some goals are easy to classify as learning
outcomes but many are not
~ Repetition may not be well received by
learners; may feel inhibited by it

'Applying' Gagne in the classroom

The following table suggests how the nine events can be applied to designing different technology-
supported learning platforms:

Gagne's
Course Management
Nine (9) Online gaming Learning modules
System| CMS/LMS
Events
#1 – Gain  use quality  send an email or
 use animation, video, audio
attention video clips & social media
 audio  tell a story, pose a question invitation
 provide a space
for
introductions
for learners
 use graphics

#2 – Inform  discuss how  give overview, rules &  give overview

learner of to 'win' tasks/quests of goals
objective(s)
 relate past
module content
 draw on  incorporate pre-tests
#3 – to new material
learners'  draw on information from
Stimulate  provide module
background previous module(s)
recall reviews
 use pre-tests

 present material
that is clear, up-
to-date &
accurate
 use clear, current &
 provide paper-
accurate material
based support &
 use ideas that  put user-controlled, easy to
link to online
#4 – Present encourage navigate content &
articles, videos,
material yet challenge information front & centre
audio etc.
 provide animation and 3D
 consider
models
information
literacy &
media literacy
skills

 provide email
contacts
 set-up chat-
rooms and
 offer hints, threaded
pop-ups,  provide "help" guides and discussions
#5 – Provide
alternates, tutorials  offer answers to
guidance
suggestions FAQ
 include links to
supporting
references/gloss
aries
  assign
meaningful
tasks &
activities
 give clear &
concise
instructions
 incorporate
 encourage
 assign group and
#6 – Elicit interactivity
tasks/quests/challenges/prob 'buddy' work
performanc among
lems  try social
e learners
media,
Facebook,
Twitter
 provide a means
for posting
 include element
of individual
responsibility

 include "you've
now
 add up completed..."
scores messages,
 provide  add up scores encouragement
reward for  give written and verbal  encourage
achieving feedback instructor use of
#7 – Provide
level  use animated rewards for discussion
feedback
 plan for correct answers threads
written  provide corrective feedback  incorporate
and/or audio assignment
feedback drop-off
box/feedback
tools

 incorporate
EPortfolio into
 ensure  track scores/best scores
#8 – Assess process
achievement  incorporate score reporting
performanc  monitor & track
is assessed (via email)
e student
participation

#9 –  ensure skills  note transferable  suggest further

Enhance are information in feedback readings
retention & transferable  suggest websites for further  provide real-
transfer between information world examples,
levels  provide material optional tasks
 ensure sequentially  make
knowledge is connections
transferable with other
across genres courses &
networks

How to Incorporate Social Learning Theory

into Classroom Activities
By Kristyn Hammond

Social learning theory requires consistent class management and positive reinforcement.

By incorporating social learning theory into your classroom you can develop an encouraging
classroom environment, which in turn inspires students to engage your lesson and enjoy the
learning experience. Social learning theory suggests that students learn through observation,
developing traits and habits based on the environment in which they are in. This includes seeing
other students participating in class and choosing to participate as well. The negative side of
social learning theory also suggests that some actions you take as a teacher can deter your
students from participating and restrict their engagement in your lesson.

Step 1

Plan a series of rewards for specific actions in class. Include candy rewards for younger students,
bonus points on future exams or quizzes and a few class parties during the semester. Select
rewards appropriate to the grade level and class maturity, as bonus test points are worth more to
older students and treats to younger ones.

Step 2

Design specific ways for students to earn these rewards; this can include participating in class
regularly or a high group average on a test. Include numerous opportunities to receive a reward,
such as weekly awards, monthly awards and smaller daily rewards. Also be sure to design
individual as well as group rewards, so that students are encouraged to participate and thrive
individually as well as collectively.

Step 3

Create an encouraging atmosphere in class by staying positive and reacting positively to student
questions and comments. Regularly praise students for insightful comments and compliment
questions, which show a high degree of individual understanding about a topic.

Step 4

Develop a positive technique for reacting to student failures or misunderstandings, such as a

positive way to explain to a student that her answer was wrong without sounding discouraging.
Explain the positive points of these works while suggesting a different perspective she can use to
reach the correct answer.

Step 5

Demonstrate new concepts clearly, and praise students when you see them demonstrating the
right method to address a question in class. Give your students a positive example of how to
address an issue and work towards a solution.

Step 6

Provide a strong moral example for your students, encouraging them to incorporate those morals
into their lives. Demonstrate these morals in your speech as well as your actions in class. For
instance, if you have to leave during an exam, tell your students the positive statement, “I have to
step out, but I trust you to continue your exam quietly,” rather than the negative command, “I’ll
be gone for a moment, so you are not to cheat or talk to each other while I am gone.”