Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

Observational Learning and Model Behavior

By: Brigid Callahan

Biography

• Albert Bandura was born on December 4th, 1925 in Alberta, Canada

• He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1949 with a degree in psychology and continued his education at the University of Iowa with a graduate degree in clinical psychology

• Today he teaches at Stanford University and is acting president of the American Psychology Association

Social Learning Theory

• 1960 – Bandura began to present his ideas on social learning theory that expanded Skinners theory to include learning through imitation involving cognitive processes.

• 1970/80s – Bandura expands his social learning theory to include a focus on model behavior and self-efficacy

4 Concepts of Observational Learning

• Attention Processes:• The model must

effectively captivate the audience as they perceive the model’s actions correctly

• Retention Processes• Ability for the audience

to recollect information observed by models and act on what was learned later

• Motor Reproduction Processes • The audience must have the

ability to convert symbolic representations into appropriate actions; contain the basic abilities to complete action

• Reinforcement and Motivational Processes• The audience must acquire the

new knowledge, but performance of these actions is governed by motivational variables

Socialization Studies

Self-Efficacy and Reinforcement

• Self-Efficacy: one’s belief in their capabilities to succeed in specific situations and exercise influence over events that affect their lives• Mastery Experience—designed to provide first hand

experiences that enable the individual to cope with situations

• Vicarious Experience—someone’s observation of second hand experiences that develop new knowledge

• Persuasion Experience—the effect of reinforcement and persuasive actions on an individual, whether it be negative or positive

• Physiological Experience—Physical and emotional indicators that effect how individuals feel about their abilities

Research Questions

① Will students who observe a situation in a video (sharing affirmation, independent affirmation, or no affirmation) imitate the same behavior in a following craft?

② Will the students ask questions about the situation more depending on the video (sharing affirmation, independent affirmation, or no affirmation) they watched?

The Experiment

• The Experiment will entail three different groups of students, each observing a different video (sharing affirmation, independent affirmation, or no affirmation), and reacting to it while completing a craft.

• Setting:• The Students were in an open area where they

observed the video at a desk and continued to complete the project at the same location

• Holy Family Grade School: 3rd and 4th grade students

Hypothesis

• The students who observed the independent work affirmation video will have less of an inclination to share with each other on the craft than the other groups.

• If the students share with one another, they will ask less questions about the craft, using the knowledge learned from observing the sharing affirmation video.

Procedure

① Take the group into the testing room and say “Thank you very much for helping us out today. Sometimes we see things that help us decide what we should do in our own lives. Please take a seat while we watch a video.”

② Play the independent work affirmation video and observe the students attentiveness.

③ Once the video concludes say, “Now that we’ve watched the video would you mind helping me by completing a craft?”

④ Distribute the markers unevenly and pictures unevenly and observe how they complete the action. When asked questions, I responded with “What do you think? I want you to make your own decision based on what you have seen.”

⑤ Allow the Students to complete the Craft and observe their actions

Independent Work Affirmation Video

Sharing Affirmation Video

No Affirmation Video

Picture Samples

Observations of Independent

Work AffirmationGender

Age

Observations and Comments

Female

8.5 Asked the other students which color went where on the coloring sheetWatched the others and stopped for a whileAfter she finished coloring, crawled under the table and squirmed around, very restless

Female

9 Traded colors but always asked before she took the colors; When asking, always used "I need…" followed by "please and thank you"

Female

9 Asks politely to share for each specific color, each time they need a new color Asked me if they could share"Can I borrow the brown" "Its your brown anyway”; whatever colors given to them, they thought of as "theirs” for the craft

Female

10 In the beginning, everyone quietly worked unless they needed a color, but once more comfortable with the situation, relaxed on the rules and politeness: Towards the end, asked to borrow as completed action of taking the color, done with more haste.

Observations of Sharing

AffirmationGender

Age Observations

Male 10 Took Lots of time to decide which picture he wanted to color"Does anyone have a red? There’s no red!" "Just use pink, its dark enough so it looks the same"Talked about outside things and asked questions that had nothing to do with the project: "Its my birthday”

Female 9 "Tell me if anyone needs any of my colors"Very open to sharing but still kept separate piles of of which markers were "theirs" that I had given them

Male 10 Raced to finish his picture and thought the "test" was to see how quickly and efficiently the coloring sheet was finished"I need orange please" "I have one let me use it and I'll give it to you"

Observations of No

Affirmation Gender

Age Observations

Male 10 "Corn is yellow, why are you coloring it green" "Some are green" "No that is the outside thing, you don’t eat that"-shows that they color very life likeEveryone in this group chose the same picture

Female

10 "Your picture looks very nice" "Thanks, so do both of yours. I like how you colored the cornucopia"Began to grab a color, but then would stopped and was like, oh sorry can I borrow that color

Male 9 "I need the brown, I NEED IT NOW" "We're wasting time, come on!!!"Poking fun at each other in a more jovial manner than any other group

Expected Results Page

Actual Results Page

Support or Refute

• The students who observed the independent work affirmation video will have less of an inclination to share with each other on the craft than the other groups.

• If the students share with one another, they will ask less questions about the craft, using the knowledge learned from observing the sharing affirmation video.

REFUTE!

SUPPORT ?

Limitations and Assumptions

• Number of Students

• Gender

• Video Quality

• Prior Knowledge of Sharing• We assume the children have a knowledge of what

sharing but do not think of it as a “requirement” in social interaction

How to Improve the Experiment

• Use a younger age group that is not as familiar with sharing or, test a different aspect for the students to model

• Increase the number of participants and the amount of time they had to complete the activity

• Include incentives in one group to also test the influence it has on reinforcement in learning the observed task

• Use an activity that has a more measurable outcome

So who would you say developed the

most influential theory for social development…

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Nature Nurture

Works Cited

Bandura, Albert. Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1977. Print.

Bandura, Albert. Self-Efficacy: The exercise of control. New York. W.H. Freeman, 1997. Print.

Bandura, Albert; Ross, S.A. “Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models” Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 63 (3): 575-582. Web

Crain, William. “Bandura’s Social Learning Theory.” Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011. 204-223. Print