SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY

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ALBERT BANDURA

“What people think, believe and feel affects how they behave. The natural and extrinsic effects of their actions, in turn, partly determine their thought patterns and affective reactions.” 2

SKINNER

Environmental Determinism

BANDURA

Reciprocal Determinism

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Some Basic Premises of Social Learning Theory

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The primary focus is on learning that occurs within a social context Reinforcement plays a role in learning but is not entirely responsible for learning.

Cognitive processes play a crucial role in learning.

People can learn through observation Learning can occur without a change in behavior.

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RECIPROCAL DETERMINISM

Human development reflects an interaction among an “active” ( thinking ) person, behavior, and the environment.

A person is not solely shaped by the environment. The links among these are BIDIRECTIONAL. Any one can influence the other.

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PERSON BEHAVIOR ENVIRONMENT 6

OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

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Modeling

learning

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( including one trial

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Vicarious Learning

(reinforcement and punishment)

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Modeling: Learning through observation. The importance of Modeling is that it teaches new behaviors. Vicarious experience. People’s abilities and belief in their ability are influenced by watching others succeed or fail.

This makes Bandura’s theory more efficient than Skinner’s.

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SELF-EFFICACY

Children's feelings about their abilities are a better predictor of success than are their actual abilities.

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PROBLEMS

1. The circularity of the term reinforcement is even worse for Bandura than it is for Skinner.

You can never know how the observer is reacting to what s/he sees. What is a reinforcement for the person with whom you are directly acting may be a punishment to the observer. 10

2. When naturally occurring behaviors are reinforced, they tend to be extinguished if reinforcement is withdrawn. (They stop being “natural.”) Skinner has no reason to reinforce desired behaviors that are already occurring. Bandura would say it is a good idea because it might vicariously reinforce other people.

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BANDURA’S ASSUMPTIONS

1. Are people active or passive?

ACTIVE??????

2. What is the relationship between learning and development?

WE DEVELOP BY LEARNING. LEARNING EXPLAINS DEVELOPMENT.

3. How do people change?

REINFORCEMENTS AND PUNISHMENTS (direct and vicarious) CHANGE BEHAVIOR. MODELING 4. What motivates people?

REINFORCEMENTS AND PUNISHMENTS. MOTIVATION IS EXTERNAL. OR IS IT? WHAT ABOUT OUR INTERNAL THOUGHTS?

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5. How important is behavior?

VERY IMPORTANT! BANDURA EMPHASIZES MODIFYING BEHAVIOR, MODELING BEHAVIOR, AND EVALUATING STUDENTS IN TERMS OF IDENTIFIABLE BEHAVIORS.

6. How important is thinking?

THINKING IS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT! THOUGHTS STRONGLY INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR. MEMORIES AND EMOTIONS THAT ARE THE RESULT OF PAST EXPERIENCES ARE A CRUCIAL COMPONENT OF THE BEHAVIORS A PERSON DISPLAYS IN A GIVEN SITUATION.

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7. How important are emotions (attitudes)?

UNLIKE BEHAVIORISTS, BANDURA PUTS A GREAT DEAL OF EMPHASIS UPON EMOTIONS. THIS IS MOST CLEARLY SEEN IN THE IMPORTANCE HE PLACES ON SELF-EFFICACY AS A FUNDAMENTAL DETERMINANT OF LEARNING.

For other social learning theorists perhaps even more so Learned helplessness Locus of control internal vs. external 14

MODELING

The process of learning by watching and repeating a behavior.

This explains the learning of complex behavior in one or a few trials.

This process implies cognition since we must remember what we saw and then repeat it.

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Four Conditions for Effective Modeling to Occur

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Attention to the relevant characteristics of the model.

The observer must attend Retention the model.

The observer must encode verbal and/or visual representations of Motor Reproduction The observer must be physically able to reproduce the behavior of the model.

Motivation The observer must want to perform the observed behavior.

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Types of Models

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Live A real person in the presence of the observer

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Symbolic An “image” of a real person (TV, movies, etc) or character (Superman, Harry Potter, etc) (Bobo doll experiments)

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Verbal Written instructions or descriptions of how to act 17

Characteristics of Effective Models Competence An effective model is perceived by the observer to be competent in that which he/she is modeling and is.

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Prestige and Power to perceive these characteristics in the model.

The observer needs

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Gender-Appropriate behavior

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Relevance the observer need to have some functional value.

Behaviors to be reproduced by

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Identification with the Model views the model as being similar to her/himself in a relevant way.

Observer

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VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT AND PUNISHMENT

The learner watches the consequences of behaviors engaged in by others. This influences her/his behavior in the future.

The person can decide to act or NOT to act based upon observing others. A person’s belief in her/his ability can also be influenced by watching others succeed or fail.

THUS….

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1. Clearly, cognitive processes are implied since we remember what we saw and decide how to act in the same situation in the future. We also draw conclusions about our own abilities by watching others.

2. Behavior is NOT the same as learning since, based upon what he/she has observed, the person can decide NOT to engage in a certain behavior or not to try to learn in the future.

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