Albert Bandura By Matthew Bach

Biographical Info Albert Bandura was born in 1925 in the town of Mundare, in the province of Alberta, Canada. Though his parents had no schooling, they instilled valuing education into Bandura. Bandura attended University of British Columbia, enrolled into psychology, and went to University of Iowa for a graduate degree. Joined faculty of Stanford University and is still there to this day. President of American Psychological Association in 1974 (called it his fifteen minutes of fame).

Observational Learning Bandura asserted that social situations aid learning by imitating behavior that we observe in these situations. Ability to imitate is based on inner representations of observed behavior.

No-trial learning Bandura’s term for acquiring a new behavior entirely through observation, and not trial and error. Observed in a Guatemalan subculture how girls learned how to weave entirely through watching models perform it. Inner representation of the behavior guides the girl in her performance.

Vicarious reinforcement Observation teaches us the probable consequences of new behavior without having done it ourselves. An example would be a child hearing a swear word, but seeing someone reprimanded for using it, which reinforces that it is a word they should not say.

There are four components of Observational Learning 1. Attentional Processes 2. Retention Processes 3. Motor Reproduction Processes 4. Reinforcement and Motivational Processes

Attentional Processes Behavior cannot be imitated without paying attention to the behavior. Attention usually is governed by interest, and is paid to models that have attractive qualities

Retention Processes Way of remembering models after having observed them some time ago. Bandura associates retention with symbolic forms by way of stimulus contiguity; associations among stimuli that happen together Example: You go to your friend’s house and connect the new route with street numbers. (114 to E Northgate Drive).

Motor Reproduction Processes In order to reproduce the behavior, the person must have the motor skills to do so. Example: You might watch Bob Ross paint a landscape, but if you lack the dexterity and precision, you will not precisely reproduce his work. You learn a pattern of responses (happy little trees) but only acquire the physical abilities with practice.

Reinforcement and Motivational Processes Vicarious reinforcements and direct reinforcements determine when/if an observed behavior is actually reproduced. Direct reinforcement is related to the direct response of others to a behavior. Vicarious reinforcement is observed responses to other people’s behavior.

Studies on Aggression Bandura was the author of the famous “Bobo Doll” experiment, where children were shown a Bobo doll and an adult who would either be nice to the doll, or attack it. Children with aggressive models tended to follow in the aggressive behavior.

Self-Efficacy Self efficacy is our evaluation of our performances in terms of our standards or goals. Bandura asserts that our self-efficacy appraisals play a large part in our ability to complete a task. If we perceive ourselves as effective, we continue to work despite difficulties. If we perceive ourselves as ineffective, we may give up without really trying. Bandura contends that optimistic self-efficacy, while grounded in reason, is beneficial.

Sources of Self-Efficacy Appraisals 1. Actual performance: How often do we succeed or fail at any particular task? Compounding effect. 2. Vicarious experience; if I see my peer succeed at a task, I believe I can succeed as well 3. Verbal persuasion; IE pep talks. Increases effort. 4. Physiological cues; fatigue or tension, can be interpreted differently

Current Study My study sought to test Bandura’s principles of observational learning across three age groups (K, 3, 5) Does age factor into how well children learn observationally? How does successfully completing the task change a child’s perspective on accomplishing more difficult ones?

Procedure Asked a group of 3 boys and 3 girls from kindergarten, 3rd grade, and 5th grade if they would be willing to help with a school project. I set out some crayons, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. (ROYGBIV) I asked each student if they would place the crayons in the order of a rainbow, and recorded their first attempt. After their first attempt, I would show them the correct order of the crayons and ask them to organize the crayons again, noting any significant changes in pace or ability. Afterwards I asked the child if they felt confident enough to organize more crayons, and if the task was easier having watched someone do it first.

Responses to Questions 3rd Grade Data Student Number Gender Age Grade Trial 1 Observations Trial 2 Observations Responses to Questions    B1  M 8   3  Accomplished task readily and quickly  No noticeable change, slightly faster  Student was confident in ability to organize more of them. Claimed watching me do it made it easier the second time.  B2 M 8 3 B2 also found task remarkably easy, while student was careful,  Once again, done quickly, slightly faster. Student believed they could successfully organize more crayons. Claimed watching me do it did not make a difference.  G3 F G3 found task easy, accomplished it quickly Done slightly quicker than first trial Student believed they could organize more crayons. Claimed watching me made it easier to do the second time.  B4 Had slight difficulty, was distracted from the task.. Other students provided help.  Had an easier time after having observed me perform the activity Did not feel confident in their ability to organize more crayons. Did claim watching me do the activty made it a bit easier.  G5 9 Performed the task quickly and efficiently. Done at about the same pace. Claimed more crayons would not be hard to organize. Claimed watching me did not really change their ability to organize the crayons. G6  F  8 Performed task quickly and efficiently Done at same pace. Claimed more crayons would be easy to organize. Claimed watching me did make it easier.

Responses to Questions Kindergarten Data Student Number Gender Age Grade Trial 1 Observations Trial 2 Observations Responses to Questions    B7 M 5  K  Notable trouble, order was wrong. Got closer, a few less out of order. Claimed watching me perform the activity did make it easier, but did not feel confident in organizing a set of more crayons.  G8 F K One out of order, but done quickly, and with confidence. Got it completely correct, and did it quickly Claimed watching me made it much easier, and that they could organize more crayons.  B9 6 Got order of ROYIGVB Done exactly correct. Thought it was easier after I had showed how the activity was done. Confident in ability to organize a larger set.  G10 Unsure of self, kept looking at me to see if they were organizing the crayons correctly..  Still unsure, other kindergartners attempted to help her by giving her organization advice, one crayon at a time. Not confident in ability to organize a larger set of crayons, Claimed it was easier to do the activity after having watched me organize the crayons.  G11  F While they still looked at me every now and again to confirm they were performing the task correctly, was still confident in own abilities Done correctly, and organized much more quickly. Said they saw me and G10 do the experiment so it was easier. Did not believe they could organize more crayons.  G12  5  Done immediately with no trouble whatsoever  Also done very quickly.  Claimed it was easy because they had seen the other students do the same activity.

Responses to Questions 5th Grade Data Student Number Gender Age Grade Trial 1 Observations Trial 2 Observations Responses to Questions    B13  M  10  5  Had trouble organizing, could not remember what a rainbow looked like  Almost correct; GYORBIV  Claimed watching me made the second attempt at organization easier, but did not believe they could organize a larger set.  G14  F  Organized in the right order, and rather quickly  Same result, only faster.  Claims it was easier because they had seen other students perform the experiment. Did not feel confident in organizing a larger set of crayons.  G15  11  Done very quickly. Organized crayons exactly correct.  Same result, only faster  Claimed watching me organize the crayons did not make it easier.  G16  Confident, correct order, checked names of crayons in order to be precise  Same result, just faster second time around.  Claimed it was easier because they knew the colors of the rainbow. Confident in ability to organize more crayons.  B17  Claimed “pretty sure I can” in being asked to organize. OYGBIVR  Noted they could do it “if I don’t forget” ROYGBIV, correct order  Claimed color of crayons made it more difficult (red was not red enough). Not confident in ability to organize larger group of crayons.  B18  Took a bit of time, noticed they were looking at a corner of the room as I took observations. I noted that a model of a rainbow was in the right-hand corner of the room. Got organization correct in opposite order VIBGYOR  Organized easier during second trial, correct order.  Asked student if they looked at the rainbow model, claimed that they did not in fact look at the model. Student not confident in the organization of more crayons.

Limitations Small sample size of conveniently available participants. Activity did not seem difficult enough to discern significant improvements in the second trial. All the students were able to watch each other perform the activity (unintended observation before baseline test)

Conclusions While observation seemed to aid some of the students, it did not test the spectrum of observational processes adequately. A more difficult activity might yield better examples of improvement. Regardless, observation did aid the students who initially found trouble with organization.

Suggestions for Future Studies A more physically and mentally difficult task would demonstrate the power of observational learning better. Also a study investigating the connection between observational learning and self- efficacy judgements would be very useful.