As a response to behavioral learning theory (Richey et al., 2011) – or some say, derivative of (Morrison, Ross, Kalman, & Kemp, 2013) – Albert Bandura (1977) developed social learning theory. This theory incorporates many of the elements of behaviorism, like the influence of feedback on frequency of behavior, but rejects behaviorism as being unable to account for many types of learning, particularly as occurring in social contexts. As a bridge between behaviorism and cognitivism, social learning theory acknowledges that internal mental processing and thought influence learner behavior, that behavior also influences thought (Morrison et al., 2013), and that the social environment has perhaps the greatest impact on learning. Social learning theorists believe that learning occurs through an interconnected relationship between behavior, environment, and internal events that shape perceptions and actions (Bandura, 1978). Interestingly, mature development of an individual’s self-regulatory system – an essential factor for learning complex behavior – also depends on these factors.
According to Bandura (1986), learning from others through observation and modeling is a large underlying assumption of social learning theory. Specifically, this social learning process consists of four components: the behavior model (i.e., the information transmitter) consequences of the modeled behavior (reinforcement), internal cognitive processes (coding and storing experiences in representative form through component processes of attention, retention, production, and motivation), and the learner’s perception of self-efficacy (confidence to learn or perform a specific task) (Bandura, 1973, 1977).
Join me tomorrow as we wrap up this series on Learning Theories. Tomorrow I will provide some implications that the various learning theories have for the fields of instructional design and project management.