Social Learning Theory

There is a phenomena, or a way of individual to learn and that is by observing other people’s behavior. A phenomena which couldn’t be explained until Albert Bandura came up with a theory. He had to extensively go through the concepts Skinner’s operant conditioning and traditional learning theory to come up with most influential theory of his known which called the Social Learning theory or SLT.

Social Learning Theory is concerned on observational learning process among people. However, the theory strongly implies that there are types of learning in which direct reinforcement is not the fundamental mechanism; rather, the social element can result in the development of new learning among individuals.
Some of the basic concepts outlines by the social learning theory are:

1. Observational Learning: According to the Social Learning Theory the people can learn by watching other people perform the behavior, or they can learn by observe other people’s behavior. So the very nature of children who learn certain behavior by observing their peers or elders behavior and trying to imitate it, is what the observational learning is all about.

Bandura carried out a BOODOO doll experiment in which an adult was asked to act aggressively towards this doll while the children present around him observed his behavior. After a while, Bandura let the children play inside the room with the same doll, he was amazed to see that the children who observed the adult’s behavior, imitated him by being aggressive towards the doll. Bandura then came up with three determining basic models of observational learning after this BOODOO doll experiment. These include a live model which is referred to an actual person or an adult who is exhibiting an aggressive behavior. Then there is a verbal instruction model that is responsible for guiding with details and descriptions of a behavior to be exhibited. Lastly there is a Symbolic model, which includes either a real or fictional character who is demonstrating a behavior through myriad of resources like media, movies, books, etc.

2. Bandura highlighted another concept which is considered the most significant to learning, which is the state of mind or mental states. As per this concept not only external reinforcement or factors can affect learning and behavior, but also the intrinsic reinforcement, which is in a form of internal reward or a better feeling after performing the behavior (e.g. sense of accomplishment, confidence, satisfaction, etc.)

3. The third concept states that Learning does not mean that there will be a change in the behavior of an individual. In other words, learning doesn’t necessarily bring about a change in the way an individual may act.
Bandura developed yet another theory known as the Modeling Process that would help us understand that not all observed behaviors could be learned effectively, nor learning can necessarily result to behavioral changes. The modeling process includes the following steps in order for us to determine whether social learning is successful or not:

Step 1: Attention

Social cognitive theory stresses upon paying attention in order to learn. If you want to learn a behavior demonstrated by someone (model), you must observe it attentively without letting any other factor distract you. So, the more you pay attention, the more and the better you learn.

Step 2: Retention

[large]It is very important to retain what you have learnt. If this does not happen, learning might not occur effectively. Behavior might not be established without the retention of what you have learnt by observing the behavior demonstrated by the model. In case you could not retain the information, you might have to turn back to the model and observe closely the behavior elicited or demonstrated by it.

Step 3: Reproduction

Once you have observed the behavior demonstrated by the model, you learnt it, and also retained it, the next important step is to imitate or reproduce the very same behavior. If you could properly reproduce the behavior, this means you had successful observed and retained the behavior that was demonstrated by the model. The importance of preproduction lies in the fact that repetition of a behavior improves it more, and improvement is very eminent. 

Step 4: Motivation

In order to keep performing or repeating the behavior, you would need motivation. This is the stage where reinforcement and punishment comes in. you are either presented with an award to motivate you to continue exhibiting a behavior, or could be force to repeat a behavior because of the fear of being punished.