Learning Theories of Albert Bendura - Research Paper Example

Learning theories Introduction The learning theories of Albert Bendura have been instrumental in bringing about radical changes to the way human learning and cognition was understood by behavoralist theorists who preceded him. As a theorist, Bandura emphasized on how human beings think (cognition) and how people are motivated to imitate or model certain actions done by others in the society. While the behavioral school of psychology conceived human behavior in terms of the stimulus-response sequences, Albert Bandura went a step further to unearth how cognitive, emotional and social factors influence one’s behavior. Similarly, Bandura held that all sorts of learning cannot be products of reinforcement and held that social and psychological factors are associated with the process of learning. He propagated the theory of social cognitive learning and emphasized on observational learning and modeling. Similarly, Bandura also introduced several other important concepts, including reciprocal determinism, self-efficacy, self-regulation which have been beneficial to the understanding of human learning and subsequent behavior formation. In short, Bandura advocates behavior modeling and observational learning whereby a person observes and then imitates the behavior of people who are around him and whose actions motivate him. Reciprocal Determinism While the behavioralists held that it is the environment that causes one’s behavior, Bandura went a step forward and propagated his reciprocal determinism whereby he argued that “behavior causes environment” just as environment causes behavior (Boeree 2006). He viewed human personality as an interaction of three factors-“the environment, behavior, and the person’s psychological processes” and believed that man’s cognitive faculties play a pivotal role in the formation of one’s personality (Boeree 2006). The psychological processes comprise of one’s ability to entertain images in minds and language. Bandura thus believed that learning occurs in the social context and that people learn from one another. The Social Learning Theory: Observational Learning and Modeling The social learning theory has been considered as Bandura’s major contribution to the field of psychology and learning. The social learning theory blends together cognitive and behavioral frameworks and the theory stresses on the importance of observing and modeling on the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. For Engler (2008), Bandura maintains an agentic perspective in his socio-cognitive view of personality. To quote his own words, “whereas earlier learning theories primarily depended on principles of reinforcement to account for how human behavior is developed or changed, Bandura has increasingly viewed people as agents, or originators, of experience” who are much more than ‘reactive organisms shaped by their environment’ (Engler, 2008, P. 258). Bandura’s social learning theory underlies the fact that one can learn more quickly and effectively through observation rather than relying solely on the effects of one’s own actions. New behaviors of individuals are highly influenced by the attitudes, the outcomes of the behavior of others and these acts as coded information on later occasions. According to Bandura four conditions are essential for an individual to successfully develop and model on the behavior of some one else. Thus, for him successful observational learning includes four necessary components such as attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation. Paying attention to the model includes “distinctiveness, affective valence, prevalence, complexity, functional value” while retention involves remembering the behavior that is comprised of “symbolical coding, mental images, cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal” and motor rehearsal (Social Learning Theory (Bandura). Similarly, the individuals need to remember and recollect what they have paid attention to through their ‘physical capabilities and self-observation of reproduction’ and there should be sufficient motivation for the individual to imitate such actions. Motivation, for Bandura, is an important prerequisite for new behavior to take place; unlike the Behavioralists Bandura held that all learning need not necessarily contribute to new learning. Bandura conducted a number of studies among children and identified that the aggressive behavior of children result from social cognitive learning. Similarly, the television commercials and their potentiality to influence the buying behavior of individuals are a typical instance for how social learning theory is at work today. For Bandura there can be different types of modeling varying from live models, verbal instructional models to symbolic models and his studies proved that children learn aggressive behavior by observing and getting exposed to violent models who display aggression in the media or in the real life (Social Learning Theory). On the other hand, one should keep in mind the fact that observation and modeling can also contribute to the development of moral behavior in one’s personality. Self-efficacy The concept of self-efficacy is an offshoot of Bandura’s understanding that “people are more likely to engage in certain behaviors when they believe they are capable of executing those behaviors successfully” (Social Learning Theory). There is no doubt that individuals put more effort to develop successful behaviors and this in turn will contribute to more effective learning and subsequent achievements. As far as the learning of children is concerned, fostering the self-efficacy of the learners has become a major priority and challenge for the teachers in the teaching-learning process. One of the ways to foster the self-efficacy of the learners, in this regard, is to encourage students to repeat their successful behaviors through carefully planned activities; Bandura’s theoretical formulations on social learning, observation learning and modeling offer key insights to teachers in this respect. Self-Regulation Bandura emphasizes the concept of self-regulation in his social learning theory. For him, an individual tends to display self-regulation when he or she has “his own ideas about what is appropriate or inappropriate behavior and chooses actions accordingly”; self-regulation stems from setting standards and goals, self-observation, self-judgment, and self-reaction (Social Learning Theory). Self-monitoring and self-reinforcements are two major prerequisites for one to exert self-regulation to control one’s behavior. Thus, in social learning theory ‘behavior is regulated not only by directly experienced consequences arising from external sources, but also by vicarious reinforcement and self-reinforcement (Bandura, 2006, p. 46). In this regard, Banduara rightly identified that intrinsic reinforcement was equally significant to that of external and environmental reinforcement: he held that the internal thoughts and cognitions of an individual play pivotal roles in behavioral modification and factors such as internal reward, ‘pride, satisfaction, and a sense of accomplishment’ contribute to intrinsic reinforcement and self-efficacy (Wagner 2009). Another important observation of Bandura was that learning always does not contribute to new behaviour whereas it only adds to the information and knowledge base of the individual. Similarly, one should bear in mind that exposure to modeling stimuli does not always result in imitative learning as individuals are not always motivated by the behavior of others. Scope and Significance of Bandura’s learning theories The social learning theory has proved to be highly useful and beneficial in understanding aggressive behavior, psychological disorders, behavior modification, and has laid the theoretical foundation for behavior modeling (Social Learning Theory (A. Bandura). Similarly, the effects of modeling on the individual’s behavior are many and varied: modeling teaches the individual new behaviors, adds to his/her previously learned behavior and enhances the frequency of previously suppressed behaviors. Bandura’s theories have great relevance and application while training children at the public schools: teachers and parents need to model appropriate behaviors while dealing with children, train students to learn appropriate behavior from other people by observing, expose them to a variety of models, train them to exercise self-regulation and help them to set realistic goals with a view to improve their self-efficacy. Similarly, Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory has wide application in child care and child upbringing in the family setting. The implications of Bandura’s theory are equally beneficial to the parents who need to boost the self-esteem and confidence of their children and would like to instill success behavioral traits in their children. There is no doubt that “parents who raise children in a caring, supportive environment can certainly contribute to their childrens abilities to develop good self-esteem, enabling the children to better deal with outside situations and influences that they are sure to encounter now and then” (Albert Banduras Social Cognitive Theory 2009). Thus the scope and significance of Bandura’s theories have thrown fresh lights on the cognitive developmental theories and his theories have widely been employed in understanding children’s behavior and learning. Conclusion To conclude, it can be stated that Bandura conceived human behavior as interplay of the cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors that shape one’s personality and behavior in the society. His studies and findings on the aggressive behavior shown by the students have immensely helped the psychological theorists who probed into the psychological imbalances of the learners. Learners are most likely to imitate and model on inappropriate behaviors which act as detrimental to their learning and performance. Similarly, Bandura viewed human behavior from a wider social and cultural context and his theories have brought about considerable changes in the way learning and behavior was previously understood. Similarly, the Social cognitive theory has been used to learn the socialization process of children, their moral and value internalization, their learning disabilities and health related issues. Even in medical therapies the findings of Bandura has proved to be useful. Therefore, one can state that Bandura stands as a bridge between the behavioral theorists and the cognitive theorists while the psychological theorists built their studies on his findings. References Albert Banduras Social Cognitive Theory. (2009). KidsDevelopment. Retrieved 8 December 2009, from: http://www.kidsdevelopment.co.uk/AlbertBandurasSocialCognitiveTheory.html Bandura, A. (2006). Psychological modeling: conflicting theories. Illustrated Edition: Aldine Transaction. Retrieved 8 December 2009, from: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=z6RPCUrOhgQC&dq=Albert+Bandura+and+his+learning+theories&source=gbs_navlinks_s Boeree, C G. (2006). ALBERT BANDURA. Personality Theories. Retrieved 8 December 2009, from: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/bandura.html Engler, Barbara. (2008). Personality Theories. 8th Edition: Cengage Learning. Retrieved 8 December 2009, from: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=UHCdjI36q9cC&dq=Albert+Bandura+and+his+learning+theories&source=gbs_navlinks_s Social Learning Theory (A. Bandura). TIP: Theories. Retrieved 8 December 2009, from: http://tip.psychology.org/bandura.html Social Learning Theory. From notes on Ormonds Human Learning. Retrieved 8 December 2009, from: http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~lynda_abbott/Social.html Social Learning Theory (Bandura). (2008). Learning Theories.com. Retrieved 8 December 2009, from: http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html Wagner, K V. (2009). Social Learning Theory: An Overview of Banduras Social Learning Theory. About.com. Retrieved 8 December 2009, from: http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm Read More