Albert Bandura's Personality Theory

According to social learning theory, human behavior is mostly developed, and learning principles are
sufficient to explain the development and maintenance of human behavior. Bandura thinks that human
beings are not simply pawns of the environment; they think and regulate their own behavior. To him,
a theory of personality must take account of the social contexts in which behavior is acquired and
maintained.
Reciprocal determinism is the continuous mutual interaction among the person's mind, the person's
behavior, and the external environment. The self system refers to structures concerned with
acquisition of knowledge and sub functions involved in perception, evaluation, and the regulation of
behavior. The self system regulates behavior through self-observation, judgmental processes, and self-
response. The impression of how well one can function in a given situation is self-efficacy. Persistence
and hard work are led to by strong efficacy expectations and realistic outcome expectations.
Altering the expectation of personal efficacy can change behavior. Efficacy expectations can be altered
by four kinds of experience: enactive, or performance; vicarious; persuasive; and physiological
information experience. Coping and adaptive behaviors in persons with a variety of behavioral
problems can be improved by changing personal efficacy expectations.
The anticipation of future outcomes and the expectation of success based on experience in setting and
reaching successive subgoals are the two sources of motivation. When subjects have an opportunity to
set such subgoals and to evaluate their performance, performance tends to improve.
Observation and vicarious reinforcement or no reinforcement at all may lead to the acquisition of
learning. It is the expectation of reinforcement that leads to the performance of learning. The
expectation of reinforcement can develop from observing the consequences either of others' behaviors
or of our own behaviors.
Human behavior is guided largely and is kept consistent by anticipation of self-approval or self-
criticism, both of which evolve out of personal standards of behavior that are based on the standards of
socializing agents, like parents and peers.
New responses can be learned vicariously and without either actual or vicarious reinforcement. Human
beings' cognitive skills enable them not only to reproduce observed behaviors but also to create new
and original behaviors out of combined observations.
Responses already in an observer's repertoire may be strengthened by modeled behaviors. Modeled
behaviors may also strengthen or weaken an observer's inhibitions against performing socially
unacceptable behavior, depending on whether the model is rewarded or punished.
Symbolic modeling as in television and movies can have strong effects on observers' behavior. The
observer's attention, an important factor in learning, is determined by the consequences of a model's
behavior for the model and the personal characteristics of both model and observer. Personal
characteristics of model and observer often interact to determine whether a model will be imitated.
An emotional response can be classically conditioned by vicarious means. Undesirable behaviors can be
extinguished both directly and vicariously.
The basic problem in anxiety or fear reaction is not emotional distress but the belief that one cannot
cope effectively with a particular situation.
Participant modeling, the most effective technique for extinguishing undesirable behavior, enables
people to become progressively more and more dependent on their own efforts, increasing their sense
of self-efficacy.
The microanalytic approach in research entails making detailed assessments over time so as to achieve
congruence between self-perception and behavior at each step of task performance.
Albert Banduras Personality Theory. (2000). Retrieved from:
http://library.thinkquest.org/C004361/theorybandura.html
Born in Alberta, Canada in 1925, Albert Bandura is considered to be one of the most influential theorists
and psychologists of the 20
th
century. Bandura is best known for his research surrounding social learning
and the social learning theory. The social learning theory posits that human beings or members of
society have a tendency to learn from others via different mechanisms. These mechanisms consist of
socializing, observing, and mimicking. Although this is the best-known theory of Banduras, it is not the
only research that he focused on or theory that he formulated. Another area of interest of Bandura
within his career was social-cognitive development. Through his research, Bandura formulated the
social-cognitive theory. This theory posits that social learning is highly dependent on the individual
and his or her level of self-efficiency, self-reflections, self-regulation, and self-morality.
Personality was also a topic that interested Bandura throughout his career. Based on the social learning
theory and the social-cognitive theory, Banduras personality theory posits that ones personality is
highly dependent on his or her social environment as well as his or her level of self-efficiency and self-
regulation. This theory applies all of the factors detailed in the social learning theory as well as the
concept of reciprocal determination. Reciprocal determination refers to the collective and continuous
interactions that occur between the human mind, human behavior, and the external environment.
Social learning theorists recognize the significant impact which society, other people, have on the
development of an individuals personality. The giving or lack of affection in a childs life, coupled with
specific praise or criticism for particular actions and behaviors, whether from a real or artificial source,
can significantly impact the development of personality.
Identification and imitation are significant factors in the development of personality. As a child observes
others, he might incorporate the goals and values of others into his own behaviors in an effort to feel
connected to that individual, imitating others' behavior in the attempt. This can be either a positive or
negative impact based on the person whom the child chooses to emulate and the reasonable
expectations the child can have of positive outcomes. For the child of a secure and stable home life to
identify his parent or older sibling as a role model is presumably much more beneficial than to select a
deviant rock star or a peer with antisocial tendencies. Those children who do not have consistent
parental models are more likely to turn elsewhere for models of behavior and imitate people they
choose from their society or in the media.
Personality continues to develop and evolve throughout ones life. Approval for a particular social
behavior will strengthen that behavior and increase the chances of the behavior being repeated; at the
same time disapproval can discourage antisocial behaviors. A child who is smiled at and given verbal
praise for sharing her toys will be more likely to develop a consistent pattern of positive interaction than
a child who was either not praised or who might actually have been criticized for such behavior.
Accordingly, parental actions and style of parenting can have a significant impact on personality
development.
Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory uses traditional learning and development theories to take a
step forward towards a comprehensive understanding of how children learn. Albert Bandura's theory is
largely based on three concepts: 1) people can learn by observing others, 2) internal mental states have
a significant influence on how people learn, and 3) learning something does not necessarily change
someone's behavior.
Albert Bandura found that people can learn through three observational models. In the live model,
someone learns by watching another person demonstrate a behavior. In the verbal instructional model,
people learn by hearing descriptions of a behavior. In the symbolic model, people learn from behaviors
in movies, books, and other types of media.
Bandura's recognizing internal states influence learning has dramatically influenced the way teachers
approach their classes. For instance, instructors that use a dry teaching format that does not involve
students will often find that students do not learn well because they have slipped into internal mental
states of boredom.
Finally, Albert Bandura's theory recognizes that exposure to a behavior does not necessarily mean that a
person will start using the behavior. Watch movies about violence, for instance, does not necessarily
make people more violent.
The social learning theory by Bandura posits that human beings or members of society have a tendency
to learn from others via different mechanisms. These mechanisms consist of socializing, observing, and
mimicking. Essentially, the social learning theory by Bandura helps to explain human behavior and how
it is influenced by social interactions, cognitive interactions, environmental interactions, and behavioral
interactions with others.
In order for human learning to occur in accordance with the social learning theory, certain factors must
be present. The first factor that must be present is attention. Attention refers to the stimuli in ones
environment that increase or decrease his or her attention span. These stimuli can include but is not
limited to an individuals sensory capacity, level of perception, level of maturity, and past experiences.
The second factor that must be present is retention. Retention refers to ones ability to store
information that is observed or learned within a social environment. The level in which an individual
participates in symbolic coding, cognitive or data organization, memory, and motor rehearsal influences
the degree of retention experienced by an individual. The third factor that must be present is
reproduction. Reproduction refers to ones ability to recall data and information. Ones physical/sensory
capabilities and observational behaviors influence the level of reproduction experienced in a social
situation. The final factor that must be present is motivation. Motivation refers to the rationale or
benefits behind a humans learning. The level of motivation is influenced by rewards and punishments
associated with learning.
Albert Bandura's Observational Theory identifies three basic models: live, verbal instructional, and
symbolic. In the live model, a person learns by directly watching someone demonstrate the behavior. In
the verbal instructional model, a person learns a behavior through explanations and descriptions of a
behavior. In the symbolic model, a person learns a behavior through real or fictional characters
encountered in books, films, television shows, and other type of media.
Bandura famously explored observational learning through studies that focused on how children
behaved with "Bobo dolls." In these studies, Bandura found that children who observed an adult abusing
the doll were very likely to abuse the doll when left alone to play. This hinted that children tend to
model the behaviors that they see and reenact those behaviors.
Bandura also recognizes that internal states could influence whether individuals copied the behaviors
they experienced. He found four major factors that influenced whether modeling occurred successfully:
attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. If an individual does not pay attention to the
modeled behavior, then he or she is unlikely to reproduce it. Individuals with the inability to retain
information also have difficulty learning behaviors through modeling. Reproducing the learned behavior
makes it more likely that the person will continue to use the behavior. Finally, individuals must have
either an internal or external motivation to learn the modeled behaviors properly.
Biography: Albert Bandura (1925-present)
- Albert Bandura was born on December 4th, 1925, in Mundara, a small
town in Alberta, Canada. He was the only son, with five elder sisters.
The elementary and high school he studied in was the one and only
school in the area, with only two teachers managing the whole school
and therefore "the students had to take charge of their own
education." Looking for an intellectual, kindly environment, after
graduation, he attended the University of British Columbia.
- He decided to attend a course on psychology to occupy a time slot in
his schedule, and soon became very interested in the subject. He
decided to concentrate on it, and in three years time, he graduated
with the Bolocan Award in psychology.
- Afterwards, he went to University of Iowa to further his studies. During
that time, the Department of Psychology was a lively place with many
dedicated researchers, testing competing theories and investigating fundamental problems. In
1951 and 1952, Bandura received his M.A. degree and his Ph.D. degree from the University of
Iowa.
- During the times when he was still a graduate student at the University of Iowa, he met his wife,
Virginia Varns, who was a member of the teaching staff of the College of Nursing. He and
Virginia soon became married and gave birth to two daughters, Carol and Mary. Each fall, the
family would to San Francisco Opera to enjoy themselves. From time to time, the family would
go hiking in the majestic Sierras or the coastal ridges and headlands of California. "To place petty
concerns into their cosmic perspective, " says the professor, "nothing beats a few days
communing with the muses on top of a mountain".
Bandura then went to Stanford University, became a member of the staff, and stayed their to continue
with his teaching career. Stanford University was the ideal place for Bandura - with extraordinary
colleagues and talented students who have a thirst for knowledge. In 1964, Albert became a full
professor. He was honored by Stanford in being awarded an endowed chair in 1974, and currently
serves as chairman of the Department of Psychology in Stanford.
Bandura found Stanford an excellent place for collaborative research -"I have been
able to work with such leading researchers as Jack Barchas and Barr Taylor in
psychiatry, Robert DeBusk in cardiology, and Halsted Holman in internal medicine. We
develop projects in which we can combine the expertise of several laboratories." One
of these projects was to find out a person's ability to control the release of stressed-
related hormones into the blood stream when facing threat. This research revealed
that people can regulate their level of physiological activation through their belief in
self-efficacy.
Bandura has served psychology in a variety of capacities. He has often been
found on the Washington commute to various advisory boards, research panels, federal
agencies, and congressional committees, and was elected president of the American
Psychological Association in 1974. He has written some 20 journals. They include:
Social Learning Theory and Personality Development (1963)
Principles of Behavior Modification (1969)
Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis (1973)
Social Learning Theory (1977)
Albert Bandura is best known as a social learning theorist whose research established the
concept of imitation, or modeling, on a firm empirical base. His contributions to psychology have
been recognized in the many honors and awards he has received.