Social Learning Theory

by Albert Bandura

An exploration of contemporary advances in social learning theory with special emphasis on the important roles played by cognitive, vicarious, and self-regulatory processes.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Education, Sociology, Philosophy, Research, Theory

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 11, 1976

About the author

Albert Bandura OC is a psychologist who is the David Starr Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University. For almost six decades, he has been responsible for contributions to the field of education and to many fields of psychology, including social cognitive theory, therapy, and personality psychology, and was also influential in the transition between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. He is known as the originator of social learning theory (renamed the social cognitive theory) and the theoretical construct of self-efficacy, and is also responsible for the influential 1961 Bobo doll experiment.

Social cognitive theory is how people learn through observing others. An example of social cognitive theory would be the students imitating the teacher. Self-efficacy is "the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations." To paraphrase, self-efficacy is believing in yourself to take action. The Bobo Doll Experiment was how Albert Bandura studied aggression and non-aggression in children.

A 2002 survey ranked Bandura as the fourth most-frequently cited psychologist of all time, behind B. F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, and Jean Piaget, and as the most cited living one. Bandura is widely described as the greatest living psychologist, and as one of the most influential psychologists of all time.

In 1974 Bandura was elected to be the Eighty-Second President of the American Psychological Association (APA). He was one of the youngest president-elects in the history of the APA at the age of 48. Bandura served as a member of the APA Board of Scientific Affairs from 1968 to 1970 and is well known as a member of the editorial board of nine psychology journals including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology from 1963 to 1972. At the age of 82, Bandura was awarded the Grawemeyer Award for psychology.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ DEC 2012

A foundational and must read for any learning professional. Best quotes, "rarely do people learn behaviors under natural conditions that they have never seen performed by others" (p. 22), "humans do not simply respond to stimuli; they interpret them" (p. 59), and "many conditions of contemporary life are conducive to dehumanizing behavior. Bureaucratization, automation, urbanization, and high social mobility lead people to relate to each other as anonymous, impersonal ways" (p. 157).

[Owlseyes]

https://news.stanford.edu/2021/07/30/...

[John Mcclusky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read from the master of the Social Cognitive Theory, Albert Bandura. Truly an outstanding resource.

[Ellen Chisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

People are both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated.
It's important to pull people rather than push them.

[Brittnee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for educators.

[Andreea Comanescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

În contextul grevei din învățământul românesc, am decis să continui această carte începută acum o jumătate de an. Am citit anumite pasaje atunci cand aveam nevoie de ajutor pentru anumite studii de caz, căci oferă o perspectivă profundă asupra teoriei învățării sociale.

Cartea explorează modul în care oamenii învață prin observație și interacțiune socială, subliniind rolul modelării comportamentului și al consecințelor acestuia în procesul de învățare. Cu această idee vreau sa rămân în minte pentru viitor, când voi deveni părinte sau voi preda, cine știe?

Unul dintre conceptele centrale ale cărții este conceptul de "autoeficacitate". Bandura susține că încrederea în abilitățile proprii și percepția individuală asupra capacității de a reuși într-o anumită situație joacă un rol crucial în învățare și performanță. Autorul evidențiază importanța modelelor de rol, care pot influența comportamentul și motivația celorlalți prin exemplul personal și prin consecințele observate.

Ne sunt oferite, de asemenea, analize detaliate ale procesului de învățare observațională și explică cum factorii cognitivi, emoționali și motivaționali pot influența acest proces. El examinează, de asemenea, conceptele de atenție, retenție, reproducere și motivație și oferă exemple relevante pentru fiecare aspect al învățării sociale.

Un aspect important de menționat este că această carte a fost publicată acum mai bine de patruzeci de ani, iar în acest timp cercetările și teoriile din domeniul psihologiei și educației au avansat semnificativ. Prin urmare, este recomandat să fii conștient de contextul temporal în care a fost scrisă cartea.

Da, este o lectură valoroasă, o să o pun pe lista putinelor cărți de dezvoltare personală pe care le-am citit. Căci este mai mult decât psihologie aici. Este o întoarcere în timp, în vremea când doar școala mă modela pentru o societate ce nu exista în realitate, nici măcar prin paginile manualelor vechi de zece ani.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Largely a random collection of thoughts loosely tied to the underlying idea of social learning, which itself is a very basic idea (though admittedly ground breaking for the time). A classic, but surprisingly uninspiring.

[Kris]

How can I read this?

[Grace Kimmerling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still applicable in our world today.

[Steven]

I read this forever ago. I don't know why it wasn't marked. Thought it was super overrated. The special kind of erudite flimsy non-statements you get from academics.

[Robert Więckowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, the book is a 3-star read.

[Tressie Mcphd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh yeah, I finished this one ages ago. The summary: we learn shit from people. The end.

But, no, it's one of those theory books you have to read if you do anything remotely related to social theory of learning/education, etc. Sadly, I read it before my disciplinary switch so now it's kind of useless to me.

[Santi Utami Dewi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, much more interesting then I though before :D

[David Tenemaza Kramaley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess the theory was groundbreaking and totally awesome at the time, reading it today though, I found it a bit boring and any interesting bits were simply echoing current widely accepted ideas.

[Kai Wvi · Rating 4 out of 5]

good