Ninth Edition 13 Albert Bandura

Albert Bandura

Earlier Explanations of Observational Learning Thorndike’s and Watson’s Explanations Thorndike (1901):“Nothing. . . favors the hypothesis that they have any general ability to learn to do things from seeing others do them” (p. 42). Watson (1908): Learning can result only from direct experience and not from indirect or vicarious experience.

Earlier Explanations of Observational Learning Miller and Dollard’s Explanation Within the framework of Hullian learning theory, if imitative behavior is reinforced, it will be strengthened. A special case of instrumental conditioning.

Earlier Explanations of Observational Learning Miller and Dollard’s Three Categories Same behavior: Two or more individuals respond to the same situation in the same way. (Audience Behavior) Copying behavior: The guiding of one person’s behavior by another. (Teaching)

Earlier Explanations of Observational Learning Miller and Dollard’s Three Categories Matched-dependent behavior: An observer is reinforced for blindly repeating the actions of a model. (When in Rome….)

Earlier Explanations of Observational Learning The Skinnerian Analysis of Observational Learning Very similar to Miller and Dollard’s. Imitation is nothing more than a discriminative operant.

Recent Research—Nonhumans Can Learn by Observing Quail can perform an observed response even when there is a thirty-minute delay between observation and performance (Dorrance & Zentall, 2001). Chimpanzees that watch another chimpanzee spit water into a cylinder in order to float a peanut to the top of the cylinder also learn this action.

Bandura's Explanation of Observational Learning Observational learning may or may not involve imitation. What you learn in observation is information. Observational learning is much more complex than simple imitation.

The BoBo Doll Experiment Children observed a film in which a model was shown hitting and kicking a large doll. One group saw the model reinforced for aggressiveness. A second group of children saw the model punished for aggressiveness. For a third group, the consequences were neutral.

The BoBo Doll Experiment When exposed to the doll…

The BoBo Doll Experiment Children’s behavior was influenced by indirect or vicarious reinforcement and punishment. When offered a positive incentive for being aggressive, ALL children were aggressive, regardless of the prior vicarious experience.

Major Theoretical Concepts Attentional Processes A person’s sensory capacities will influence the attentional processes. Characteristics of models will also affect the extent to which they are attended to. Models will be attended to more often if they are similar to the observer.

Major Theoretical Concepts Retentional Processes Once information is stored cognitively, it can be retrieved covertly, rehearsed, and strengthened long after the observational learning has taken place. Bandura (1977), “It is the advanced capacity for symbolization that enables humans to learn much of their behavior by observation” (p. 25).

Major Theoretical Concepts Behavioral Production Processes Determine the extent to which that which has been learned is translated into performance. One may learn a great deal cognitively but be unable to translate that information into behavior.

Major Theoretical Concepts Motivational Processes A major departure from traditional reinforcement theories. Reinforcement is not needed for learning but provides a motive for utilizing what has been learned.

MAJOR THEORETICAL CONCEPTS

Major Theoretical Concepts Reciprocal Determinism Behavior, the environment, and people (and their beliefs) all interact.

Major Theoretical Concepts Self-Regulation of Behavior Humans learn Performance standards, the basis of self-evaluation. Perceived self-efficacy, one’s beliefs concerning what one is capable of doing.

Major Theoretical Concepts Moral Conduct Departure from one’s moral code brings self-contempt. Bandura (1977): “There is no more devastating punishment than self-contempt” (p. 154).

Major Theoretical Concepts There are several mechanisms that can be used to dissociate reprehensible acts from self-sanctions. Make it possible for people to depart radically from their moral principles without experiencing self-contempt.

Self-Exonerating Mechanisms Moral Justification Reprehensible behavior becomes a means to a higher purpose and therefore is justifiable. Euphemistic Labeling Calling an otherwise reprehensible act something other than what it really is.

Self-Exonerating Mechanisms Advantageous Comparison Comparing one’s self-deplored acts with even more heinous acts.

Self-Exonerating Mechanisms Displacement of Responsibility “I did it, because I was ordered to do so.” Diffusion of Responsibility “Everyone else was doing it too.”

Self-Exonerating Mechanisms Dehumanization If individuals are subhuman, they can be treated inhumanly. Attribution of Blame Blaming the victim.

Practical Applications Modeling in the Clinical Setting Bandura, Blanchard, and Ritter (1969): Adults and adolescents with a snake phobia Group 1 (symbolic modeling) exposed to a film. Group 2 (modeling-participation) watched a model and then were helped by the model.

Practical Applications Modeling in the Clinical Setting Bandura, Blanchard, and Ritter (1969): Adults and adolescents with a snake phobia Group 3 received desensitization therapy. Group 4 received no treatment of any kind.

Bandura, Blanchard, and Ritter (1969)

Bandura, Blanchard, and Ritter (1969) Generalized Effects

News and Entertainment Media Bandura (1986): “Analyses of televised programs reveal that violent conduct is portrayed, for the most part, as permissible, successful, and relatively clean . . . . “(p. 292)

News and Entertainment Media “Males exposed to modeled sexual assault behave more punitively toward women than if exposed to modeled sexual intimacy devoid of aggressions . . . .” (pp. 294–295)

Mirror Neurons—Observational Learning Mirror neurons reveal one way in which the brain encodes a behavior made by another animal, thereby facilitating execution of the same behavior.

Mirror Neurons—Observational Learning Chameleon Effect: The “nonconscious mimicry of the postures, mannerisms, facial expressions, and other behaviors of one’s interaction partners” (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999, p. 893)

Bandura on Education Teachers can be highly influential models. They can model skills, problem-solving strategies, moral codes, performance standards, general rules and principles, and creativity. For students, additional benefits can accrue from imitating an effective model.