ALBERT BANDURA
ALBERT BANDURA
BIOGRAPHY
• Birthdate: December 4, 1925
• Birthplace: Mundare in northern Alberta, Canada
• He is the youngest child, and only son, in a family of six
• Both of his parents had immigrated to Canada when they were both adolescents; his father from Krakow, Poland and his mother from the Ukraine.
• Bandura’s elementary and high school years were spent at the one and only school in town.
Due to the shortage of teachers and resources, learning was
left largely to the students' own initiative.
According to Bandura, because of this limited access to
educational resources, the students had to take charge of
their own education.
Bandura became fascinated by psychology after enrolling at
the University of British Columbia. He had started out as a biological science major,
his interest in psychology formed quite by accident.
While commuting to school with a group of students, he
found himself arriving at school much earlier than his course started. To pass the time, he
decided to take a class..
became extremely interested in psychology, and decided to
concentrate on it.
Bandura then went on to pursue graduate study at the University
of Iowa. It was there that became interested in the behaviorist tradition and
learning theory.
He received his M.A. degree in 1951 and his Ph.D. in 1952
While studying at Iowa, he met Virginia Varns, an instructor at the
College of Nursing.
Virginia and Albert married in 1952 and became parents to two
daughters, Mary and Carol.
Bandura was offered a position at Stanford University. Bandura
accepted the offer and has continued to work at Stanford up
to this day.
It was during his studies on adolescent aggression that
Bandura became increasing interested in vicarious learning,
modeling and imitation.
Contributions
ContributionsSocial Learning Theory
Social Learning Theory
• Stressed the importance of observational learning, imitation and modeling.
• His theory added a social element, arguing that people can learn new information and behaviors by watching other people known as Observational Learning (or modeling).
In a famous and influential experiment known as the Bobo doll experiment, Albert Bandura and his
colleagues were able to demonstrate one of the ways in which children learn aggression.
BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT
The experiment involved exposing children to two different adult models;
• A non- aggressive model• An aggressive one.
After witnessing the adult's behavior, the children would then be placed in a room without the model and were observed to see if
they would imitate the behavior they had witnessed
BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT: Conclusion
It is not certain that children learn socially, but it is likely that children observing an adult model utilizing
violence are more likely to believe that this type of behavior is normal. They may, therefore, be more likely to use this type of action themselves when confronted
by similar situations.
Four types of Observational Learning
Effects
• Inhibition
• Disinhibition
• Facilitation
• True Observational Learning
INHIBITION
In many instances we learn not to do something that we already know how to do because a model we are observing refrains from behaving, is punished for
behaving, or does something different from what we intended to do.
INHIBITION
DISINHIBITION
We learn to exhibit a behavior that is usually disapproved of most people because a model does the
same without being punished.
DISINHIBITION
FACILITATION
This occurs whenever we are prompted to do something that we do not ordinarily do because of
insufficient motivation rather than social disapproval
FACILITATION
True Observational Learning
This effect occurs when we learn a new behavior pattern by watching and imitating the performance
of someone else
True Observational
Learning
Four stages involved in
Observational Learning
• Attention
• Retention
• Production
• Motivation
ATTENTION
• Paying attention to a model’s behavior is a critical first step.
• This process is influenced by characteristics of the model, such as how much one likes or identifies with the model, and by characteristics of the observer, such as the observer's expectations or level of emotional arousal.
RETENTION
• This process depends on the observer's ability to code or structure the information in an easily remembered form or to mentally or physically rehearse the model's actions.
PRODUCTION
• Observers must be physically and/intellectually capable of producing the act.
• In many cases the observer possesses the necessary responses. But sometimes, reproducing the model's actions may involve skills the observer has not yet acquired.
MOTIVATION
• In general, observers will perform the act only if they have some motivation or reason to do so.
• Imitation is strengthened through:
a)Direct reinforcement
b)Vicarious reinforcement
c)Self-reinforcement
MOTIVATION
Direct reinforcement
• occurs when an individual watches a model perform imitates that behavior, and is reinforced (or punished) by the model or some other individual.
MOTIVATION
Vicarious reinforcement
• It refers to a situation in which the observer anticipates receiving a reward for behaving in a given way because someone else has been so rewarded.
MOTIVATION
Self-reinforcement
• It refers to a situation in which the individual strives to meet personal standards and does not depend on or care about the reactions of others.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In addition to influencing other psychologists, Bandura's social learning theory has had important implication in the field of education. Today, both teachers and parents recognize the importance of
modeling appropriate behaviors.
Other classroom strategies such as encouraging children and building self-efficacy are also rooted in social
learning theory.
SELF-EFFICACY
SELF-EFFICACY
• It is "the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations.“
• Bandura described these beliefs as determinants of how people think, behave, and feel.
• Individual’s self-efficacy plays a major role in how goals, tasks, and challenges are approached.
SELF-EFFICACY There are four major sources of self-efficacy.
1) Mastery Experiences
2) Social Modeling
3) Social Persuasion
4) Psychological Responses
Mastery Experiences
"The most effective way of developing a strong sense of efficacy is through mastery
experiences," Bandura explained
Mastery Experiences
Performing a task successfully strengthens our sense of self-efficacy. However, failing to
adequately deal with a task or challenge can undermine and
weaken self-efficacy
Social
Modeling
Witnessing other people successfully completing a task is another important source of self-
efficacy
Social
Modeling
According to Bandura,
"Seeing people similar to oneself succeed by sustained
effort raises observers' beliefs that they too possess the
capabilities master comparable activities to succeed."
Social
Persuasion
Bandura also asserted that people could be persuaded to
believe that they have the skills and capabilities to succeed.
Social
Persuasion
Consider a time when someone said something positive and encouraging that helped you
achieve a goal.
Getting verbal encouragement from others helps people overcome self-doubt and
instead focus on giving their best effort to the task at hand.
Psychological Responses
Our own responses and emotional reactions to situations also play an
important role in self-efficacy. Moods, emotional states,
physical reactions, and stress levels can all impact how a
person feels about their personal abilities in a particular
situation.
Psychological Responses
A person who becomes extremely nervous before speaking in public may
develop a weak sense of self-efficacy in these situations.
People with a strong sense of self-efficacy:
1. View challenging problems as tasks to be mastered
2. Develop deeper interest in the activities in which they participate
3. Form a stronger sense of commitment to their interests and activities
4. Recover quickly from setbacks and disappointments
People with a weak sense of self-efficacy:
1. Avoid challenging tasks
2. Believe that difficult tasks and situations are beyond their capabilities
3. Focus on personal failings and negative outcomes
4. Quickly lose confidence in personal abilities
Factors that affect SELF-EFFICACY
1) Thinking about how well we have performed in the past on a given task or as set of closely related tasks.
2) Verbal persuasion
3) Emotions we feel as we prepare to engage in a task.
4) Observing the success and failures of individuals with whom we identify – vicarious experiences
BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT: Criticism
• Because the experiment took place in a lab setting, some critics suggest that results observed in this type of location may not be indicative of what takes place in the real world.
• The study might suffer from selection bias. All participants were drawn from a narrow pool of students who share the same racial and socioeconomic background. This makes it difficult to generalize the results to a larger, more diverse population.
BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT: Criticism
• Since data was collected immediately, it is also difficult to know what the long-term impact might have been.
• Acting violently toward a doll is a lot different that displaying aggression or violence against another human being in a real world setting.
• It has also been suggested that children were not actually motivated to display aggression when they hit the Bobo doll; instead, they may have simply been trying to please the adults.
Source:
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/bio_b andura.htm
http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/self_efficacy.htm
http://www.psych.ualberta.ca/GCPWS/Bandura/Biography/Bandura_bio1.html
Snowman & Biehler (2000) Psychology Applied to teaching 9th edition
Omrod, J.E (1999) Human Learning 3rd edition