SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY BANDURA Social learning theories are those which emphasize learning throughobservationofothers. Thecognitivepsychologistswhoappreciatetheroleofobservationinlearningare termedas social psychologists andthe theory oflearning they propagate is known as social learning theory. These theoriesemphasise the significant role played by social experiences to which children areexposed.Albert BanduraandRichardalters !"#$%& cameout withaninnovativeapproach.They put forth that what an individual presents to the world at large ashis personality' is ac(uired through a continuous process of structuring andrestricting of experience' gathered by means of social learning and later imitated incorresponding situations.According to Bandura and alters' during early periodofchild)slife' besidesmaturation' imitationandsocial learninginfluencetheirstyle of behaviour and performance in various walks of life.*hildren pick up eti(uette and attitudes by watching their parents and elders'often mannerisms from popular actors and models whom they see on television orinfilms. Theimitationsof model+sbehaviour arefurther reinforcedintheviewer+s mind by the reward or recognition that the model receives.Bandura)s theory of social learning can be explained under the following threeheadings."& Reciprocal determinism,& Self-system%& .rinciples of observational learning1)Reciprocal deteri!i" The Social learning theory /xplains behaviour in terms of triadic' dynamic/andreciprocal interactionof theevent' personal factorsandbehaviour. Somesources of influences are stranger thanother andthat theydonot all occursimultaneously. 0n fact the interaction between the three factors will differ basedon the individual./ 1 /nvironmentB1 Behaviour. 1 .ersonThe .erson-Behaviour !.-B& interaction involves the bidirectional influence ofone)s thoughts' emotions and biological properties and one)s actions. Abidirectional interaction also occurs between /nvironment and .ersonalcharacteristics !/-.&. 0n this process' human expectations' beliefs and cognitivecompetencearedevelopedandmodifiedbythesocial influenceandphysicalstructure within the environment. This social influence can convey informationand activate emotional reactions through such factors as modeling' instruction andsocial persuasion.The final interaction occurs between Behaviour and /nvironment !B-/&.Bandura says that people are both products and procedures of their environment.A person)s behaviour will determine the aspects of their environment to which theyare exposed and behaviour in turn modified by that environment.#) Sel$ "%"te0nsociallearningtheory'aselfsystemisnotapsychicagentthatcontrolsbehaviour. Rather it refers to cognitive structures that provide referencemechanismto set of functions for perception' evaluation and regulation ofbahviour. There are three components in self-system. They are self observation'B/.2udgment process and self response.Sel$ O&"er'atio!- e look at ourselves' our behaviour and keep tabs on it.()d*ee!t-ecomparewhatweseewithastandard. 3orexample' wecancompare our performance with traditional standards' such as 4rules of tablemanners).5r we can compete with others' or with ourselves.Sel$ Re"po!"e- 0f we did well in comparison with our standard' we give ourselvesrewardingself responses. 0f wedidpoorlyyougiveourselves punishingselfresponses.These self responses can range from the obvious !treating ourselves toa Sunday work& to the more covert !feelings of pride or shame&.Sel$ E$$icac%A very important concept in psychology that can be understood with selfregulation is self efficacy. 60t is one)s belief about one)s ability to performbehavioursthatshouldleadtoexpectedoutcomes6. !Bandura' "##7&. 0notherwords self efficacy is a person)s belief his or her ability to succeed in a particularsituation. Since Bandura published his paper. 8Self /fficacy9 Toward a unifyingtheory of Behavioural *hange6' the sub2ect has become one of the most studiedtopics in psychology.+) ,ri!ciple" o$ O&"er'atio!al Lear!i!*5bservational learning occurs when an organism+s responding is influences by theobservation of others who are called models. 0n human culture novel behaviour isvery fre(uently ac(uired by observing the behaviour of others.Bandura maintainsthat people)s characteristics pattern of behaviour are shaped by the model that theyare exposed to. An observer attends and stores a mental representation of a model.e observe our parents' teachers' members of our family and society and we try toimitate it.So behaviour can be influenced by others.To illustrate that people learn from watching others Bandura constructed anexperiment entitled4Bobo:oll Behvaiour9 AStudyof Aggression+. 0nthisexperiment Banduraexposedagroupof childrenvideofeaturingviolent andaggressive actions. 3or the experiment Bandura made of filmof one of hisstudents' ayoungwomanessentiallybeatingupabobodoll. Bobodoll isaninflatable' egg-shape balloon creature with a weight in the bottom that makes itbob back up when you knock him down.The woman punched the clown' shouting 8sockeroo;earningthroughmodelinginvolvesaddingandsubtractingfromtheobservedbehaviour andgeneralisingfromone solution to another. That is' modeling is not simply mimicry orimitations.0t is more than matching the actions of others? it involves symbolicallyrepresentation of others and storing it for use at a future time.3actors influencing @odeling - A number of factors can influence modeling!A& Stimulus properties of the @odel- 0t includesAthe model)s age' sex and status relative to that of the sub2ect are varied. .Bigh status models are more imitated.A@odel)s similarity to the sub2ect- The sex of the models may influence thebehaviour of the male and female observers. Boys tended to show moreaggressivebehaviourthangirlsafterwatchingafemalemodel' whereasgirls tended to imitate the aggressive actions of a female model more oftenthan a male model. 5bservers imitate the bahaviour of competent modelmorerapidlythanthoseofanincompetent one. Theytendtobemorestrongly influenced by models who are similar to themselves in terms ofpersonal background and physical appearance.!B&Types of behaviour exemplified by the @odel-ABostile of aggressive behaviour are imitated to a high degree.AThe sub2ect will adopt self reward standards similar to those of the model.!c&*onse(uenceof@odel)sbehaviour-Rewardedbehaviourofthemodelsaremore likely to be imitated.5bservers also tend to learn more of the behaviours ofthe model' when the models are highly nurturing or rewarding and when they havecontrol over thefutureresourcesof theobservers. elearnbyobservingthebehaviour of others andtheoccasions onwhichtheyarereinforcedfor theiractions and alter our behaviour accordingly.!:&@otivational set given to the sub2ect9-A 0nstruction given to the sub2ect before he observes the model provide himwithhighor lowmotivationtopayattentiontoandlearnthemodel+sbehaviour.A@otivating instructions may be given after the sub2ect view the model andbefore he is tested. This aids in distinguishing learning from performanceof imitative responses.According to social learning theory models have a great impact on personalitydevelopment. *hildrenlearntobeassertive' self sufficient' dependable' easygoing and so forth by observing others behaving in these ways.,roce"" o$ O&"er'atio!al Lear!i!*5bservational learning is governed by four component processes.IAtte!tio! ,roce"". 0f learning is observational' paying attention to model)s behaviour is a criticalfirststep.Amongthevariousattentiondeterminants' associationalpatternsareclearly of ma2or importance.The people with whom are regularly associates eitherthroughpreference of impositiondelimit the types of behaviour that will berepeatedly observed and hence learned most thoroughly.Attention to models alsochanneled by their interpersonal attraction. @odels who possess engaging(ualities are sought out' while those lacking pleasing characteristics are generallyignored or re2ected. Some forms of modeling are so intrinsically rewarding thatthey hold the attention of people of all ages for extended periods.IIRete!tio! ,roce"".Theabilitytostoreinformationis alsoanimportant part of thelearningprocess. Retention can be affected by a number of factors' but the ability to pullup information later and act on it is vital to observational learning.Thus we mustbe able to retain and remember what we have paid attention to.This is whereimagery and language come in. e store what we have seen the model doing inthe form of mental images or verbal descriptions. hen so stores' we can later4bringup+ theimageordescription' sothat wecanreproduceitwithourownbehaviourIII-otor Reprod)ctio! ,roce""The third component of modeling involves converting symbolic representationintoappropriateactions. Behavioural reproductionisachievedbyorganisingone)s response spatially and temporarily in accordance with the modeled patterns.Bandura divides motor reproduction into !"& selecting and organising the responseelements !,& Refining the response on the basis of informative feedback.IV-oti'atio!al ,roce""5bservationallearningismosteffectivewhenthelearnersaremotivatedtoperformthemodeledbehaviours.Attentionandrepresentationcanleadtotheac(uisition of learning but performance is facilitated by motivation to enact thatparticularbehaviour.Reinforcement andpunishmentplayanimportantroleinmotivation.hile experiencing these motivators can be highly effective' one canalso observe other experiences such as some types of reinforcement or punishmentthat others are being sub2ected to. Cnlike skinner' Bandura thinks ofreinforcement in broader manner.As a result he talks about direct reinforcement'vicarious reinforcement and self administered reinforcement.1/ Direct Rei!$orcee!tAccording to Bandura and alters the most fundamental andsignificantprinciple of social learning is the principle of reinforcement. @ost of ourbehaviourinsocialsituation areac(uired throughreinforcement.Thescopeofresponses ac(uired through reinforcement is unlimited. ith appropriatereinforcement imitative behaviour could be made to occur with a higher fre(uencythan before.#/ Vicario)" Rei!$orcee!tBanduraandalters givespecial emphasisonthistypeof reinforcement.*onsider that apersonobservestheactionsof another personwhohimself isreinforced or punished for hisDher actions' by a third person. Bere the observer ofthe model also gets reinforced along with the model by merely observing how thelatter is getting reinforced in the given situation.0n other words the reinforcementexperienced by the model gets transferred to the observer. 0t enables humans toperform patterns of behaviour (uickly avoiding time consuming' trial and error' aswellasavoidingcostlyandevenfatalmistake. 5ncesymbolsareformedandstored in one)s memory they must be converted into appropriate action formodeling to occur.+/ Sel$ Adi!i"tered Rei!$orcee!tAccording to Bandura and alters self administered reinforcement also playsa significant role in observational learning.0n many situations the individual set astandard for self-reinforcement. Both children and adolescents tend to adoptstandard of self-administered reinforcement' which matches the standards of themodelstowhichtheyhavebeenexposed. /g9 Aboytells' 80f0dothismathassignment in time' 0 will treat myself with a cinema