Social Learning

Bandura proposed that learning is contributed to by modeling of individuals that we come into contact with. He observed that individuals will mimic other people, and internalize, along with practice behaviors presented by others. There are several social learning theories that children follow. These can be simple observations of other people. Bandura utilized a doll and inflicted violence onto the doll, and the children copied these behaviors. They can learn behaviors simply by observing others and their actions. He also noted that a child's mental state is important in which behaviors will be taken in and internalized by the individual. He noted that the individual has to obtain pleasure from the behavior such as pride, accomplishment, and other positive feelings before a behavior will be effectively learned and internalized. Bandura stated there are certain steps that have to be followed in order to learn an observed behavior. These steps consist of: Attention: The learner has to be paying attention to the behavior in order for it to be taken in and internalized. Retention: The stimuli and information has to be stored so it can be referenced and used later. Reproduction: The behavior now has to acted out by the learner. Motivation: The individual acting out the behavior has to receive positive reinforcement for the behavior so the likelihood of it being performed again increases. Therefore, all of the factors stated above influence if a given observed behavior will be internalized, retained, and acted out.