Audrey Kosman

EPSY 302

November 2nd, 2016

Influencing Human Behavior: Social Learning Theory

The way people learn has been studied and examined for quite some time because it is

applicable to everyone. There are numerous ways to look at the way a person learns. Psychological

theorists have developed their own views on learning based on the way information is taken in,

processed, and held in the mind of the learner. Albert Bandura, a psychologist, developed a

monumental theory in 1961 (Ormrod). He expanded upon the idea of traditional behavioral learning and

implemented the idea that people learn by observing others and how they eventually assume control

over their own behavior. After he developed and tested his theory, it became known as the social

learning theory or social cognitive theory due to the fact that it pertains more to brain functions than

just simply learning. The main focus of this theory was that what people learn, especially children, show

it by directly observing how others interact socially and the influences of media.

Albert Bandura was able to develop his theory because of an experiment he conducted in 1961

called the Bo Bo doll experiment. In order to test his theory, he conducted a behavioral experiment on

36 girls and 36 boys from the Stanford University Nursery School where all of the children were between

the ages of 3 to 6 years old, hence they were all in a very influential point of their lives known as

preoperational stage (McLeod 2016). Banduras theory was heavily focused around children observing

role models. Knowing that he was trying to test this, he showed 3 different groups of 12 boys and girls

different models. The first model shown to the first 24 children was a model behaving very aggressively

towards this inflatable doll, or Bo Bo doll. Another sample of 24 children from the original group of 72,

were shown a non-aggressive model who played nicely and calmly with another toy, not even
acknowledging the Bobo doll in the room. Finally, Bandura had a control group of the remaining 24

children who were not exposed to any model prior to entering the room with the Bobo doll (McLeod).

Bandura was able to conclude from the results of the experiment that the children who

observed the aggressive model had much more of an aggressive response compared to the non-

aggressive exposure group and the control. Based off of this information, Bandura was able to finalize

his Social Learning Theory in 1977 stating that children learn social behavior, in this case and for

example, aggression through the process of observational learning. From then on, he could add on to

this original theory.

There are four major parts in Banduras social learning theory that explains how a child goes

through the process of learning behavior. The steps include, attention, retention, replication and

motivation. Each step is a key components that is necessary to learn and reproduce a new action. This

can be observed in everyday behavior, and specifically in the classroom. Therefore, making it important

for instructors to know and recognize so that if a bad behavior occurs, they know to stop it so that other

easily influential students do not pick up the same behavior. In addition to cutting down on

inappropriate behavior, it is important to recognize good behavior and create a positive result therefore

students will observe the behavior and replicate it.

The initial action of a child when learning a new behavior, is having attention to the action. A

child in order to learn, will first have to attentively observe the action and the consequences of the

action. This happens in the classroom continuously. If a child decides to just walk up to the teachers

desk and is helped, when the classroom rule states that the child should raise their hand to receive

assistance, the child observing will recognize that they can get positive results from doing the same

action. However, to gain this knowledge, they would have had to noticed, watched, and gathered
information from the action. That is why Bandura included this stage, of attention, to be one of the

crucial building blocks of how a child learns.

The second step in learning is the ability to retain the knowledge gained from observation. This

also has to do with the learners memory and ability to encode the information that they watched

happen right before them. Without this, the observer would never be able to duplicate the behavior

because they could not remember the steps it takes to produce the desired results. For example, in a

classroom if a student got a piece of candy for good behavior for holding the door open for another

student and a week later a student that observed the initial action could not remember why the student

got recognized, they would be unable to receive a piece of candy for doing that learned action.

Therefore retaining the steps taken helps lead to the desired results.

The third step, which is the reproduction of the learned action is where the observer becomes

the do-er of the action and is able to prove what he/she learned. However, this cannot be true for all

cases because some skills cannot be acquired by simply watching. For smaller actions, though, like in the

classroom, needing to excuse yourself to use the restroom can be done by the majority of students, and

isnt a special skill such as juggling.

The fourth and final step is motivation. The level of determination that the learner possess will

dictate how many times the learned action will occur. The learner will have to want to mimic the

behavior, and if they are not still motivated to copy the model, the action will not occur. The amount of

motivation that the learner possess can be affected by the reinforcement of the action. There are

vicarious reinforcements and punishments. If the model receives a desired reinforcement, then the

observer would be more motivated to copy the action looking for the same desired reinforcement. The

same is true for the vicarious punishment; if the model receives a punishment due to the action, the

learner will be less motivated to copy the action. There are also other effects that can change the
motivation level of the learner, such as how much he/she likes the model can change the likelihood of

the learner to replicate the behavior of the model.

The motivational part of the goal realization, is driven by self-efficacy. Self-efficacy refers to

peoples judgments about their capability to perform particular tasks. Task driven self-efficacy increases

the effort and persistence towards challenging tasks; thus increasing the likelihood that they would be

completed (Redmond). A child in a classroom is more motivated and focused in an activity that they

have a lot of confidence going in to, or have any background experience with. For example, when a child

goes onto the next grade, the instructor usually spends the beginning part of the year reviewing some

topics from the year before, while advancing in the curriculum. If the student learned the topics with

ease in the previous year, they will be more motivated to grow upon the topics because they have

previously succeeded.

In addition to having the motivation for a task to be completed, children, and specifically

students, need to be able to self-regulate. This self- regulation is the ability to monitor and control their

own behavior, thoughts and emotions and be able to adjust them in accordance with the demands of

the situation presented (Cook). This is important in classrooms because, as the students observe the

modeled behaviors, they will be motivated and replicate the behaviors, and in doing this, they will have

to be able to be aware of their actions in order to receive the desired results. They have to be

conscience of their selves, making their self-regulation crucial in the social learning theory.

Social learning theory can be used in the classroom in multiple aspects of learning. Since this

theory is focused around behavior, and children as they are growing up can be very receptive to

different types of behavior, classroom management of behavior is extremely important. Along with the

four steps of the social learning theory, the children can be influenced by their peers and teachers need

to notice and recognize patterns.

 Future and current instructors need to understand all of the aspects of learning and the ideas

that Albert Bandura presented approximately half a century ago. His theory is shown in most everyday

occurrences in the classroom. For an overarching example, take a student named Tim, who has done all

of their work, and has paid attention in class versus a student, Mark, who rarely focuses and spends

little to no time prepping for exams. Tim takes an exam fairly and receives a C. Mark cheats and uses

hidden notes during the exam and receives an A. Tim sees their classmate cheat and watches the

teacher acknowledge the terrific grade of his classmate, Mark. Tim is driven externally by the teachers

praise, and because he did not receive it, he had to make a change.

Tim drew his attention to his cheating classmate, and attentively observed Marks behavior after

he say Mark receive a good grade. Therefore, for the next exam, Tim will be able to follow the ways of

Mark to receive the acknowledgement from the teacher along with the grade. This praise from the

teacher is the students motivation and reasoning for doing this behavior that he learned by observing,

remembering, and replicating the actions to get the same results. Tim proves that he learned this

behavior when he was able to successfully cheat and receive an A on an exam.

As a teacher, it is important to make the classroom a fair environment and only reward true

positive behaviors. For this example, students can be motivated to cheat and can easily get tips and

tricks from others, which is why it is also important as a teacher to stop that behavior immediately so

other students do not learn that this behavior is okay.

Social learning theory is very observable, especially in todays classrooms. Students and children

grow and learn every day. Educators should be very conscience of the students and their actions

because according to the social learning theory, children learn by observing others. Therefore, making

positive models be an important aspect of childrens lives inside and outside of the classroom.
 Works Cited

Cook, J.L. Cook|G. "Self-Regulation." Education.com. N.p., 30 Apr. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis. Essentials of Educational Psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill,

2009. Print

Redmond, Brian Francis. "Self-Efficacy and Social Cognitive Theories." Self-Efficacy and Social Cognitive

Theories. Confluence, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016

McLeod, Saul. "Bobo Doll Experiment." Simply Psychology. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

McLeod, Saul. "Preoperational Stage." - Egocentrism. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

Redmond, Brian Francis. "Self-Efficacy and Social Cognitive Theories." Self-Efficacy and Social Cognitive

Theories. Confluence, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016

Saul McLeod Published 2011, Updated 2016. "Bandura - Social Learning Theory." Albert Bandura. N.p.,

01 Jan. 2016. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.