English

Abstract 3

Introduction 4

Origins of Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory 5

Explantion of Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory 6

Applications of Bandura's Theory Social Cognitive Theory 9

Conclusion 11

References 12

Abstract

Albert Bandura has been one of the most productive and influential psychologists of modern times. Beginning with his social learning theory in 1977 and refining it to introduce social cognitive theory in 1986, Bandura has had a major influence on modern psychology. Not stopping there, Bandura then applied his theory to everything from psychotherapy to television violence to the impact of the mass media. The range of applications of the theory is a reflection of how central it is to the human experience. Bandura focuses on how we learn, how we think and how the combination of these and the environment impacts on behavior. This has also resulted in the theory being applied to many other areas and merging into various other ideas on the human experience. To consider the theories and the impact Bandura has had, his contributions are looked at in more detail in this paper. This begins with an overview of the origins of social cognitive theory, placing the theory in its proper context. This is followed with an explanation of the theory, including the major ideas presented in it. Finally, the applications of the theory are presented to show the importance of the theory in the study of psychology and in the difficult process of trying to understand human behavior.

Introduction

Albert Bandura has been one of the most productive and one of the most influential psychologists of modern times. Beginning with his social learning theory in 1977, and refining it to introduce social cognitive theory in 1986, Bandura has had a major influence on modern psychology. Not stopping there, Bandura has then applied his theory to everything from psychotherapy to television violence to the impact of the mass media. The range of applications of the theory is a reflection of how central it is to the human experience. Bandura focuses on how we learn, how we think, and how the combination of these and the environment impacts on behavior. This has also resulted in the theory being applied to many other areas and merging into various other ideas on the human experience. To consider the theories and the impact Bandura has had, his contributions will now be looked at in more detail. This will begin with an overview of the origins of social cognitive theory, placing the theory in its proper context. This will be followed with an explanation of the theory, including the major ideas presented in it. Finally, the applications of the theory will be presented to show the importance of the theory in the study of psychology and in the difficult process of trying to understand human behavior.

Origins of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory

A full explanation of Bandura’s theory first requires a consideration of where it emerged from. This explanation begins in 1913 with the introduction of the approach to understanding human actions known as behaviorism. John B. Watson, also known as the father of behaviorism, introduced the approach when he argued that human behavior could be explained by environmental pressures. The major factor of this approach that turned it into a new category of psychological thinking was that it was based on observable behaviors. As one text describes, “adherents to the behavioral perspective believe that psychology should focus only on observable behaviors and their relationships to events that can be objectively measured” (Seamon & Kenrick, 1994, p. 10). This includes that inner processes are rejected as part of the study of psychology. This does not mean that behavioral psychologists believe that inner processes are not occurring. Instead, it simply means that while they may be occurring, they are not an effective way to study psychology since inner processes cannot be objectively measured. Without inner processes as part of the study of psychology, behaviorism concentrated on the area of learning behavior. This involved considering how actions and the results of those actions impacted on the future behaviors of individuals.

Social learning theory then emerged as a subset of the behavioral approach. This approach remained focused on observable behaviors, but it also added a cognitive component. The behavioral approach’s focus only on actions and their consequences results in a view of learning that is more like conditioning. For example, a behavioral viewpoint of a child who fears dogs would suggest that the child must have been hurt by a dog in the past. From this event and its consequences, the child has been conditioned not to like dogs. A social learning theory expands on this and adds a cognitive component by stating that the behavioral change is not related to direct enforcement, but related to the cognitive processes associated with the experience. This includes that the result can be cognitive and not related to any direct experience. From a social learning theory perspective, the child who fears dogs may not have been hurt by a dog but may have observed someone else being hurt by a dog. This does not result in pain for the child and so is not direct enforcement. Instead, the observing child sees a dog causing someone else pain, learns to associate dogs with pain, and so develops a fear of dogs. This process involves learning via observation and the resulting cognitive processes. Bandura describes this theory in his book Social Learning Theory (1977), referring to learning by observation as modelling. As Bandura states,

“... most human behaviour is learned observationally through modelling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviours are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action” (Bandura 1977, p. 22).

This social learning theory, as described by Bandura, became the basis for the social cognitive theory that followed. Social cognitive theory emphasized the cognitive aspect of learning and expanded on the ideas presented in social learning theory.

Explanation of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory

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