Individuals can acquire new behaviors not only through direct experience but also by watching others and seeing the consequences of their actions.
Social learning theory is often described as the ‘bridge’ between traditional learning theory (behaviorism) and the cognitive approach.
This is because it focuses on how mental (cognitive) factors are involved in learning.
Unlike Skinner, Bandura (1977) believes humans are active information processors and think about the relationship between their behavior and its consequences.
The theory has been applied extensively in educational settings, where teachers leverage modeling to demonstrate skills and behaviors they want students to adopt.
In clinical psychology, social learning principles inform therapeutic approaches like modeling therapy for phobias and social skills training for various behavioral disorders.
Bandura expanded his theory into social cognitive theory (1986), which places greater emphasis on cognitive factors such as self-efficacy, self-regulation, and the reciprocal relationship between behavior, environment, and personal factors.
Assumptions
Social learning theory, proposed by Albert Bandura, emphasizes the importance of observing, modeling, and imitating the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others.
Social learning theory considers how both environmental and cognitive factors interact to influence human learning and behavior.
In social learning theory, Albert Bandura (1977) agrees with the behaviorist learning theories of classical conditioning and operant conditioning. However, he adds two important ideas:
- Mediating processes occur between stimuli & responses.
- Behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning.
Mediational Processes
Observational learning could not occur unless cognitive processes were at work. These mental factors mediate (i.e., intervene) in the learning process to determine whether a new response is acquired.
Therefore, individuals do not automatically observe the behavior of a model and imitate it. There is some thought prior to imitation, and this consideration is called the mediational process.
This occurs between observing the behavior (stimulus) and imitating it or not (response).
