Question: Many children learn by imitation, explain the importance of the

contributions of Albert Bandura

Albert Bandura is an influential social cognitive psychologist who is perhaps

best-known for his social learning theory, the concept of self-efficacy, and his
famous Bobo doll experiments. He is a Professor Emeritus at Stanford University
and is widely regarded as one of the greatest living psychologists

Observational Learning: According to Lou (2013), in his famous Bobo

doll experiment, Bandura demonstrated that children learn and imitate behaviours
they have observed in other people. The children in Bandura’s studies observed an
adult acting violently toward a Bobo doll. When the children were later allowed to
play in a room with the Bobo doll, they began to imitate the aggressive actions
they had previously observed.

Imitation Process: This has to do with the ability to replicate a behaviour

or action. The child who observes a certain behaviour repeatedly is expected at
some point to be able to imitate and reproduce said behaviour.

Modeling process: it is important to note that not all observed behaviours

are effectively learned. For the process to be successful, the model and observer
must abide by the following as observed by O’Rorke (2006), who explained how
the following modeling processes influence learning.

a. Attention: The person must first pay attention to the model.

b. Retention: The observer must be able to remember the behaviour that

has been observed.

c. Reproduction: The third condition is the ability to replicate the

behaviour that the model has just demonstrated.
 d. Motivation: The final necessary ingredient for modeling to occur is
motivation, as learners must want to demonstrate what they have learned.

albert Bandura's theory is called Social Cognitive or Social Learning

Theory. 'Social' because he emphasized the role of our interactions with others in
our development, and 'Cognitive' because he believes a lot of what and how we
learn occurs as highly cognitive functions and are not simply reactions to the
outside world.

He proposed Reciprocal Determinism (sometimes referred to as Triadic

Reciprocal Causation) which gives equal emphasis to the roles of Person
(individual qualities, traits), Environment (others and the situation) , and Behavior
in influencing each other.

Bandura rewrote Skinner's concept of a reinforcement and said that it does

not always have to come as a consequence of behavior. Oftentimes, it is an
antecedent of behavior--we anticipate the incentive, motivating us to perform the
behavior.

He theorized Observational Learning in which a person learns vicariously

from a model. That means we learn things simply by seeing a model do it and
then also notice the consequences of such actions. We may even feel rewarded
simply by seeing a model rewarded for something.

Bandura also takes an Agentic view of personality. This means people have
the capacity to control who and what they become as a result of what they believe
in and what they do. Central to this view is: Self-Efficacy, the belief in one's own
capability to master something given enough effort.
 In addition to this, Bandura also believes we have the ability to observe,
judge, and regulate our own behaviors using both external and internal forces.
This includes behaviors that have a moral aspect since he believes in our Moral
Agency.

However, just as we can regulate our behaviors to become good and moral,
Bandura also outlined cognitive strategies we use to detach ourselves from
supposed immoral acts through Moral Disengagement.

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.

Summary

In summary, the important contributions of Albert Bandura Can be said to

deal with the ability of learners to imbibe and display the behaviors exhibited
within their environment. In the society, children are surrounded by many
influential models, such as parents within the family, characters on mass/social
media, friends within their peer group, religion, other members of the society, and
the school. Children pay attention to some of these agents of socialization and
imbibe the behaviours exhibited. At a later time they may imitate the behavior they
have observed regardless of whether the behavior is appropriate or not, but there
are a number of processes that make it more likely that a child will reproduce the
behavior that its society deems appropriate for its sex and age.
a. Learning theory by Bandura

The initial phase of Bandura's research analyzed the foundations of human

learning and the willingness of children and adults to imitate behavior observed in
others, in particular, aggression. He found that according to Social Learning
theory, models are an important source for learning new behaviors and for
achieving behavioral change in institutionalized settings.

Social learning theory posits that there are three regulatory systems that
control behavior. First, the antecedent inducements greatly influence the time and
response of behavior. The stimulus that occurs before the behavioral response must
be appropriate in relationship to social context and performers. Second, response
feedback influences also serve an important function. Following a response, the
reinforcements, by experience or observation, will greatly impact the occurrence of
the behavior in the future. Third, the importance of cognitive functions in social
learning. For example, for aggressive behavior to occur some people become easily
angered by the sight or thought of individuals with whom they have had hostile
encounters, and this memory is acquired through the learning process.

Social learning theory became one of the theoretical frameworks for

Entertainment-Education, a method of creating socially beneficial entertainment
pioneered by Miguel Sabido. Bandura and Sabido went on to forge a close
relationship and further refine the theory and practice.

Finally, Social learning theories emphasizes on changes in behaviour and

learning through the observation and imitation of the actions and behaviours in the
environment. Social Studies education tries to models the child’s behaviour to
reflect the acceptable norms, attitudes and values acceptable in the society. Social
studies education which is mostly affective in nature largely depends on the
attitudes that are obtainable within a given environment

Assessment of the teaching and contributions to knowledge of lecturers who

thought me human learning this semester

The teaching and contributions to knowledge of lecturers who thought me

human learning will be said to be actively involved in the teaching-learning
process as they were expected to replicate the content of the unwritten curriculum.
The indigenous curriculum is in line with Albert Bandura’s theory on modeling
and imitation. A variety of teaching methods such as role-playing, games,
observation, demonstration, imitation, inquiring, self teaching and learning and
peer teaching were used to transmit societal norms and values to the younger
generation.

REFERENCES

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Bandura, A. (1973). Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H.
Freeman.
Bandura, A. (1969). Principles of Behavior Modification. New York: Holt,
Rinehart & Winston.
Bandura, A. & Walters, R. (1963). Social Learning and Personality Development.
New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.