Educational Psychology—Limitations and Possibilities

CHAPTER 3
Albert Bandura
SABRINA N. ROSS
Imagine two siblings (one an older brother and the other a younger sister) on a shopping trip
with their mother. The older brother sees a toy he wants and continuously begs the mother to
buy it until she gives in and purchases it for him. The younger sister, observing the reward her
brother received for his behavior, begins to beg for a toy until she too receives one. The sister
has learned to change her behavior by observing her brother’s behavior and its consequences.
This is the concept of observational learning developed by Albert Bandura as a major part of
his Social Cognition Theory. Social cognition theory is a grand theory of human development
that seeks to explain the entirety of human development and psychological functioning occurring
over the life course of the individual. Bandura’s theory countered commonly held views of
learning through direct reinforcement by presenting humans as intelligent and adaptable learners
capable of extracting complex guidelines for behavior from instances of observational learning.
The reconceptualization of the process of human learning in straightforward and practical terms
makes his social cognitive theory one of the few grand theories that continue to enjoy relevancy
and application in contemporary times. A discussion of Albert Bandura and his development of
the social cognitive theory follows.
Bandura’s social cognitive theory explains the influences of social modeling, human cognition,
and motivation on behavior. The development of Bandura’s theory of social cognition was
influenced by his early psychological research studies and also by his early life experiences. In
his theory, Bandura presents humans as adaptable and agentic (i.e., capable of effecting desired
change) individuals who use direct and indirect learning sources to guide their present and future
actions.
Albert Bandura was born on December 4, 1925, in a small town of Alberta, Canada, the
youngest and only male of six children. Bandura’s belief in human agency was encouraged by
his early educational experiences. He attended a small, understaffed, and inadequately resourced
school in Canada that served both elementary and high school students, but although the school
was underresourced, students there excelled academically. The meager staff and resources at his
school made it necessary for Bandura and other students to take responsibility for their own
learning. He believed the students’ involvement in their own learning attributed greatly to their