Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

Introduction to Social Learning Theory

Social Learning Theory (SLT), also called Social Cognitive Theory, says that people learn by watching others and then copying what they do. This is called observational learning. John Dollard and Neal Miller did important early work on this idea before Albert Bandura. However, Bandura is known as the “father” of Social Learning Theory as we understand it today.

“Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.” -John Dewey, Educational Reformer

This theory helps explain how students can learn new skills quickly by watching others instead of using trial and error. It also shows how social interactions and peer pressure affect how people behave. Bandura’s research looked at social aggression and bad behavior, and he suggested ways to address these problems.

Video Overview of Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

This supplementary video presents a narrated overview of Bandura’s Social Learning Theory.

Origins of Social Learning Theory

Neal Miller, a learning theorist, and John Dollard, a sociologist, researched how social settings affect learning. They found four main areas that influence how people learn in social groups, called the Four Fundamentals of Instrumental Learning. These basics add to earlier ideas about behavior by including drive, cue, response, and reward, which are important for social learning (Neal Miller, 2021, February). Bandura later built his own ideas atop their work.

Dollard and Miller’s Four Fundamentals of Instrumental Learning:

• Drive: This state prompts a learner to act.
• Cue: The learner notices an opportunity for a reward or the chance of a punishment in the environment.
• Response: The learner’s response to the cue addresses the drive to act.
• Reward: The behaviorist reinforcement that increases the cognitive connection between the action and the reward (Neal Miller, 2021, February).

Albert Bandura’s (1925-2021) parents emigrated from Eastern Europe to Canada, where he was born in the town of Mundare. His hardworking parents weren’t wealthy, but they created a caring home. Mundare is a small farming town about one hour east of the city of Edmonton. Like many such towns, it had a single school. However, was highly intelligent and needed more education than the town could provide.

Bandura later earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Iowa and worked at the Wichita Guidance Center. He later moved to Stanford University, where he began research into his areas of interest, including the study of anti-social tendencies in boys from middle-class families. These studies examined children’s self-regulation, self-efficacy, and self-reflection.

Bandura created the idea of Reciprocal Determinism. This shows how three parts of a student’s world affect each other. The first part includes personal factors like how intelligent someone is, their biology, and how well they can handle their surroundings. It’s important to note that some of these factors, like biology and mental sharpness, can’t be controlled by the student. The second part is behavior, including what kind of reward or punishment (or none at all) the student expects to get for doing certain actions. The third part is the student’s environment, which affects their motivation to act. Creating an suitable learning environment is very important.

“Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.” -B. F. Skinner, Behaviorist PsychologistBandura’s work on Social Learning Theory came after World War II, when people began thinking more about how the mind works and how society affects behavior. This was during the time of rebuilding after the war and during the Civil Rights Movement. At this time, middle-class families were common, and most people tried to fit in with social norms. This gave Bandura plenty of people to study. His work was part of what we call the cognitive revolution, along with other important thinkers like Jean Piaget, B. F. Skinner, and Noam Chomsky.

Image Description: The instructor on the left demonstrates desirable actions to the learner on the left. The learner is paying attention to the instructor’s actions and is currently in the Retention Stage of Bandura’s four key components.

Bandura’s research was carried out in an era when agrarian and manual labor tasks comprised a much larger portion of the workforce. However, modern application of the theory might be seen in elementary classrooms where the teacher models problem-solving strategies in math that can help the learner to develop critical thinking skills. Modeling behavior is very common in higher ed, particularly in the skilled trades, STEM fields, service industries, and medical studies, where the “see one, do one, teach one” method is common. Students learn by observing the model, practicing the actions, and then teaching their newfound skills to their peers (TechTarget, n.d.).

Fundamental Tenets of the Theory

“Through others, we become ourselves.” -Lev Vygotsky, Social Development Theorist

Social Learning Theory is based on the idea that people learn by watching and copying others and by observing what’s around them. A person who demonstrates behavior for others to copy is called a model. Students who copy the model’s behavior are doing what is termed observational learning. Unlike older theories about behavior, Social Learning Theory points out that thinking is an important part of learning. People don’t always respond to things in the same way, which is where the thinking part comes in. Each person can be affected by these factors and by how their friends act. If students don’t notice something, they can’t learn from it. So, it’s very important to get the student’s attention.

The Four Key Components that Comprise Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

1. Attention: The student must notice the model and pay attention to what the model is doing. Students pay better attention when the model is attractive, popular, or similar to them. A model’s charm or personality is also important. Unusual or emotional behaviors catch attention, whether they’re good or bad, and help students move to the next stage of learning. The student’s own mental state matters too – tired or distracted students don’t pay attention as well.
2. Retention: The student must remember the action that the model performed. This happens when the student moves the new information into long-term memory. If what the model does connects to something the student already knows, it will be easier for the student to understand and remember.
3. Reproduction: The student must be able to copy what the model did. This depends on the student’s ability to mentally organize and remember the model’s behavior.
4. Motivation: The student must get positive feedback that improves their learning and encourages them to keep going. But motivation doesn’t work if the student doesn’t know they’ll be rewarded for successfully copying the behavior. Self-belief (called self-efficacy) is very important at this stage. The student must believe they can succeed.

“The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, ‘The children are now working as if I did not exist.’” -Maria Montessori, Montessori Method FounderStudents need to understand and expect rewards for their behavior if modeling is going to work properly. This understanding is called outcome expectancy. This kind of reinforcement, which is similar to older theories about training behavior, also works with punishments. Self-control is very important in Bandura’s work. Students who can reward or punish themselves internally are more likely to learn successfully. These factors help improve motivation.

Strengths and Limitations of the Theory

Social Learning Theory has major strengths when it comes to learning skills quickly. It works well for teaching tasks where students need to copy what the teacher shows them. This is particularly helpful in trades and other areas where an instructor needs to teach a specific skill or action. The teacher can see if students are doing it right, though more complex tasks still need practice. A teacher can also use this chance to guide students who aren’t performing well.

However, things outside the student’s control, like biological issues or cultural backgrounds, can make it harder to follow the teacher’s example. Also, this theory doesn’t help much with creative tasks that happen mostly in the mind before being created in the real world. The theory works best when students can actually see what the model is doing. If they can’t observe the behavior, it doesn’t help them learn. This means that teachers need to be smart about when to use this theory in their teaching.

Instructional Design Implications

For designing instruction, we need to understand that students can learn a lot by watching others around them. Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961) showed that learners copy the behaviors they see in others. Their study found that the influence of role models usually transfers to the learners’ own behaviors. This shows how important it is for models to show good actions, behaviors, and attitudes. It’s crucial that teachers model the types of behavior they want their students to learn. But instructors should also explain why their actions make sense and describe the rewards and consequences for good and poor performance. Good modeling shouldn’t just encourage copying behavior but should help students understand when and why to use that behavior. This ensures that learning goes beyond just imitation.

“Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.” -David Kolb, Experiential Learning Theorist

It’s very important for teachers to create an image and be the kind of person students want to copy. Bandura (1986) says that students are more likely to pay attention to and imitate models they see as skilled, relatable, or important. A teacher’s personality can help grab students’ attention, but students are also influenced by how knowledgeable and enthusiastic the teacher seems, and whether they connect with the students’ cultural backgrounds. Teachers should also reassure students that they can perform the same actions being shown, since believing in yourself is key to trying and sticking with a task. Teachers can help students build both confidence and motivation by creating a supportive learning environment and encouraging them to keep trying when things get tough.

Thinking About Social Learning Theory

Instructors often use case studies to understand different topics or theories better. The case study below asks you to think critically about Social Learning Theory by looking at how it might solve problems in online graduate courses. This case shows a common challenge in online education – creating meaningful learning experiences when students are physically separated. The questions that follow are intended to make you think about how technology can help students learn from each other.

Conclusion

Social Learning Theory focuses on activities where students can copy what the instructor does, as long as they’re paying attention. The “watch and do” approach in SLT works well in trades, medical fields, and many other areas. Although this theory was first tested with children, it works for learners of all ages. Students can learn by watching others and interacting with their environment. Understanding this will be very helpful as we design instruction, especially as new technologies that support observational learning become more common in education.

Virtual reality technology offers incredible chances to use social learning theory. This could be an important part of the “cognitive apprenticeship” approach to teaching. In virtual reality, students can not only see examples of what to do, but they can also practice safely as much as they want. If they’re curious, they could even try out the Bobo doll experiment themselves in virtual space.

Self-Assessment

References

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall.

Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63(3), 575–582. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045925

Neal Miller. (2021, February). Neal Miller. https://nealmiller.org/?page_id=82.

TechTarget. (n.d.). SODOTO (See One, Do One, Teach One). TechTarget. https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/SODOTO