PSY405 Notes Lecture 33

Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

Albert Bandura wanted to answer a simple but powerful question: “How do humans learn behavior in real life?” He noticed something important:

We don’t learn only by rewards and punishments

We learn a lot just by watching others

So his theory connects three things together:

1. The person (thinking, beliefs, expectations) · 2. The behavior (what we do) · 3. The environment (people, situations, media)

This interaction is the heart of Social Learning Theory.

🧠 What is Social Learning Theory?

Social Learning Theory explains behavior as the result of an interaction between: Cognitive factors (thinking, beliefs, expectations) Behavioral factors (actions) Environmental factors (models, rewards, punishments)

Plain English Meaning

We learn: By thinking By doing

By watching others

—all at the same time.

👨‍🏫 Who Was Albert Bandura? (Biographical Sketch)

Born: 1925, Canada

Field: Psychology (Learning & Personality)

Famous for:

Modeling · Observational learning · Bobo Doll experiments · Reciprocal determinism · Self-efficacy

Bandura challenged earlier psychologists like Skinner, who believed learning happens only through reward and punishment.

🔁 Reconceptualization of Reinforcement

Traditional View (Behaviorists like Skinner)

Learning happens only when you are rewarded or punished.

Bandura’s New Idea

Learning can happen without direct reinforcement.

Key Term: Vicarious Reinforcement

Definition: Learning by observing someone else being rewarded or punished.

📌 Example

You see your classmate praised for answering confidently. You think: “If I speak confidently, I might also get praise.” You speak up — even though you were never rewarded before. ➡️ You learned indirectly.

👀 Observational Learning (Modeling)

Core Idea

Most human behavior is learned by observation.

Key Term: Model

A model is any person whose behavior is observed and copied. 📌 Models can be: Parents Teachers Friends Celebrities Politicians Movie heroes Cartoon characters (yes, even Superman)

🧩 Principles of Observational Learning

Bandura says 4 processes must occur for observational learning.

1️⃣ Attentional Processes

The degree to which we pay attention to the model.

We can’t learn if we’re not paying attention. 📌 What increases attention?