Observational Learning

Definition Observational learning, also called social learning theory, occurs when an observers behavior changes after viewing the behavior of a model. An observers behavior can be affected by the positive or negative consequencescalled vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment of a models behavior. Discussion There are several guiding principles behind observational learning, or social learning theory: . The observer will imitate the models behavior if the model possesses characteristics things such as talent, intelligence, power, good loo!s, or popularitythat the observer finds attractive or desirable. ". The observer will react to the way the model is treated and mimic the models behavior. #hen the models behavior is rewarded, the observer is more li!ely to reproduce the rewarded behavior. #hen the model is punished, an e$ample of vicarious punishment, the observer is less li!ely to reproduce the same behavior. %. A distinction e$ists between an observers &acquiring' a behavior and &performing' a behavior. Through observation, the observer can acquire the behavior without performing it. The observer may then later, in situations where there is an incentive to do so, display the behavior. 4. (earning by observation involves four separate processes: attention, retention, production and motivation. o Attention: Observers cannot learn unless they pay attention to whats happening around them. This process is influenced by characteristics of the model, such as how much one li!es or identifies with the model, and by characteristics of the observer, such as the observers e$pectations or level of emotional arousal. o )etention: Observers must not only recogni*e the observed behavior but also remember it at some later time. This process depends on the observers ability to code or structure the information in an easily remembered form or to mentally or physically rehearse the models actions. o +roduction: Observers must be physically and,intellectually capable of producing the act. -n many cases the observer possesses the necessary responses. .ut sometimes, reproducing the models actions may involve s!ills the observer has not yet acquired. -t is one thing to carefully watch a circus /uggler, but it is quite another to go home and repeat those acts. o 0otivation: -n general, observers will perform the act only if they have some motivation or reason to do so. The presence of reinforcement or punishment, either to the model or directly to the observer, becomes most important in this process. 1. Attention and retention account for acquisition or learning of a models behavior2 production and motivation control the performance. 3. 4uman development reflects the comple$ interaction of the person, the persons behavior, and the environment. The relationship between these elements is called reciprocal determinism. A persons cognitive abilities,

physical characteristics, personality, beliefs, attitudes, and so on influence both his or her behavior and environment. These influences are reciprocal, however. A persons behavior can affect his feelings about himself and his attitudes and beliefs about others. (i!ewise, much of what a person !nows comes from environmental resources such as television, parents, and boo!s. 5nvironment also affects behavior: what a person observes can powerfully influence what he does. .ut a persons behavior also contributes to his environment. How Observational Learning Impacts Learning: Curriculum 6tudents must get a chance to observe and model the behavior that leads to a positive reinforcement. Instruction 5ducators must encourage collaborative learning, since much of learning happens within important social and environmental conte$ts. AssessmentA learned behavior often cannot be performed unless there is the right environment for it. 5ducators must provide the incentive and the supportive environment for the behavior to happen. Otherwise, assessment may not be accurate. Reading
.andura, A. 7 893:. Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. 5nglewood ;liffs, <=: +rentice 4all.

CHAPT R !" Observational Learning: Learning b# $atc%ing Ot%ers

All the principles described in the previous two chapter can operate either directly or vicariously. -n other words, in addition to influencing a learner directly, the contingent consequences of a behavior can also influence anyone who happens to be watching the person perform the behavior and e$perience the consequences 7.andura, 838, 893:. >icarious reinforcement occurs, for e$ample, when a student becomes more li!ely to study hard because she has seen her friend rewarded for industrious study habits. >icarious punishment occurs when a driver stops speeding because he sees a police officer giving someone else a traffic tic!et. >icarious e$tinction occurs when students stop raising their hands in ?rench class because they have noticed that their friends who volunteer answers have never been rewarded for doing so. After reading this chapter, you should be able to: . @efine and give e$amples of observational 7vicarious: learning. ". @efine and give e$amples of the imitative effect, the eliciting effect, the disinhibitory effect, and the inhibitory effect of observational learning. %. -dentify the factors that influence the effectiveness of these vicarious strategies. A. @efine and describe how to use scaffolded instruction to teaching higher order thin!ing s!ills.

T%e &our T#pes of 'icarious Learning There are four separate types of vicarious learning. These are worth !nowing, because they enable you can e$pect learners to change their behavior as a result of observing someone else e$perience the principles described throughout this chapter. These four types of vicarious learning are summari*ed in Table ". .

The Modeling Effect occurs when a person almost directly duplicates a behavior he has seen someone else perform and which the observer has not previously suppressed. The observer displays new behaviors that prior to the modeling had a *ero probability of occurring. ?or e$ample, my son bats the way he does because .arry (ar!in is successful with that batting stance. The Eliciting Effect occurs when the observer performs a behavior to the modelBs, but still somewhat different. ?or e$ample, if - hear that a famous celebrity has donated C1D,DDD to charity, - would be demonstrating the 5liciting 5ffect if this generosity prompted me to volunteer to umpire (ittle (eague baseball games. The Disinhibitory Effect occurs when a person who has previously refrained from a behavior goes ahead and performs that behavior after seeing a model perform the behavior without receiving any negative consequences. ?or e$ample, if - already !new how to speed in my automobile but refrained from doing so out of fear of a speeding tic!et, - could demonstrate the @isinhibitory 5ffect by driving more quic!ly after several cars passed me on the e$pressway with no apparent negative consequences. The Inhibitory Effect occurs when a person refrains from a behavior after seeing a model punished for engaging in that behavior. ?or e$ample, - once stopped as!ing questions in a high school class after - saw several students receive assignments to write reports on topics about which they as!ed questions.

As Table ". shows, any of these four types of vicarious learning can lead to the development of either desirable or undesirable behaviors. TA.(5 ". @escriptions 7Observational: (earning. and 5$amples of 6pecific Types of >icarious

@escription

+ositive 5$ample

<egative 5$ample

A person almost The teacher uses an The teacher responds 0odeling 5ffect directly duplicates a effective thin!ing sarcastically to a 7A person behavior he has strategy to solve a student question. directly imitated seen someone else word problem, and the 6tudents who witness E modelsEthe perform and which student employs that this sarcasm later use behavior of the observer has not same strategy when the same strategy in another previously faced with a similar responding to their person.: suppressed. problem in the future. peers. 5liciting 5ffect A person performs a The teacher uses an The teacher responds 7A behavior is behavior to the effective thin!ing sarcastically to a elicited E drawn modelBs, but still strategy to solve a student question. A

word problem. #hen the student is faced with a similar problem in the future, he tries a student who witnesses forth E rather different strategy which this sarcasm later than somewhat different. is similar 7but not punches a friend who duplicated.: identical: to the one annoys him. used by the teacher and which the student already !new how to employ. A student is afraid to A student refrains from A person who has give a speech to the chewing gum in class, previously refrained class because she because she !nows from a behavior goes thin!s her classmates this behavior will be 7The person ahead and performs will ma!e fun of her. A punished. A classmate gets rid of an that behavior after friend gives a speech, in the front row chews inhibition E seeing a model do so and no one ma!es fun gum, and the hesitation E to without receiving any of the friend. The substitute teacher do something.: negative student is now more does nothing about it. consequences. willing to give her own The first student also speech. begins chewing gum. @isinhibitory 5ffect A child stops -nhibitory 5ffect A person refrains A child stops cheating volunteering 7The person is from a behavior after on tests when he sees information in class inhibited E seeing a model a movie in which a because he thin!s the stopped E from punished for child is punished for teacher reacts harshly doing the engaging in that cheating on tests. to other children who behavior.: behavior. volunteer information.

0odels that people imitate ta!e a wide variety of forms. A student may imitate another student, a teacher, a parent, a sports celebrity, a movie star, a cartoon character, a fictional character in a novel, a person demonstrating a s!ill in an educational film E anyone performing a behavior that can be observed 7even in the observerBs imagination: can qualify as a model. -t is also important to note that the behavior to be imitated ta!es shape within the mind of the observer. This means that if the observer thin!s the model has been reinforced for performing a behavior, then the observer is li!ely to imitate that behavior E even if the model did not really perform that behavior or even if the model himself perceived the consequences to be unpleasant rather than pleasant. -t is even possible to have people serve as models for themselves. ?or e$ample, a teacher could view a videotape of her own performance in the classroom. -f her performance contained errors, feedbac! from a !nowledgeable colleague could enable her to visuali*e how she would do a better /ob ne$t time. Athletes often use

tapes of themselves during good times to teach themselves ways to improve during a slump in their performance. Accidental (odeling >icarious learning can occur by accident.

Fir! uses very offensive language in tal!ing bac! to 0r. #inters. 0r. #inters reali*es that Fir! is /ust trying to get his attention, and so he calmly ignores Fir! and attempts to go on with the class. 6oon, other students start using offensive language. -da is the first student of the year to fail to bring in her math assignment. 0rs. +eters !nows from previous e$perience that !eeping her for a detention will not be aversive to -da but that a call to -daBs mother will probably stop the problem for the rest of the year. 4owever, several of the other students thin! that -da has gotten by without doing her wor!, and so they slac! off on their own wor!. 0ary ma!es a slightly rude remar! to 0r. Fing. 0r. Fing !nows that 0ary is testing him, and so he comes down on her with a very severe rebu!e in front of the entire class. -n addition, he tal!s to 0ary alone after class, and urges her to stop playing games and get on with her /ob of learning. 0ary appreciates 0r. FingBs interest and decides to bear down and do good wor! in the course. 4owever, several of the students in the class who donBt !now 0ary or 0r. Fing very well decide to be as quiet as possible in the class. #henever 0r. Fing raises a question, they loo! down so that he wonBt call on them and ridicule them.

-n the first two e$amples, the observers inaccurately concluded that Fir! and -da were receiving reinforcement for their undesirable behaviors. 5ven though this perception was inaccurate, these observers still e$perienced vicarious reinforcement, and their behaviors were strengthened. -n the third e$ample, 0r. Fing has ta!en successful steps to minimi*e negative side effects in 0ary2 but the negative side effects have had an impact on other students. .y anticipating such accidental modeling, we can greatly reduce inappropriate learning. Important &actors in 'icarious Learning There are three ma/or factors that influence the li!elihood that vicarious learning will occur: the similarity of the model to the observer, the prestige of the model, and the observability of the behavior to be imitated.

An observer is more li!ely to imitate a model who is perceived as similar to the observer. 6imilarity is especially important when observers have little information about the functional value of the modeled behavior 7.andura, 893:. The degree of similarity, of course, is determined within the mind of the observer. A young boy who thin!s he is similar to 0ichael =ordan is li!ely to imitate what he sees 0ichael =ordan doing on television, even if most impartial /udges would agree that there is actually not even a remote similarity. An observer is more li!ely to imitate a model who is perceived as prestigious. Again, the degree of prestige is determined within the mind of the observer. A

person who is perceived to be very low in prestige by a parent or teacher may be viewed as highly prestigious by a young child. .ehaviors that are more easily observed are more easily imitated. Observability can be increased by such strategies as having the model perform the behavior very deliberately, using slowEmotion or videotaped replays, verbali*ing or otherwise focusing attention on behaviors that are difficult to observe, and pairing written instructions with visually modeled behaviors.

These factors, which are summari*ed in Table ".", are easily e$emplified not only in the classroom, but in the world of advertising as well. TA.(5 "." -mportant ?actors in >icarious 7Observational: (earning. ?actor @escription Advertising 5$ample 5ducational 5$ample

Te$tboo!s show people of all cultures and genders The observer +eople /ust li!e us 6imilarity of the performing successful views the model as drin! a certain soft model to the activities, so that all being similar to the drin! or use a certain observer students will have models observer. perfume. that are similar to themselves. T+eople who are highly A famous athlete The model is respected by students +restige of the wears a certain type someone who is show interest in an activity model in the of athletic shoe or viewed as or perform it successfully eyes of the drin!s a certain soft prestigious by the 7or say that they donBt observer drin! or says that he observer. perform the designated doesnBt use drugs. behavior:. The model The teacher slows down or The camera *eroes performs the repeats an action for in on e$actly what behavior in such a emphasis so that students the famous athlete is Observability of way that the can see it. Or the teacher wearing or doing, or the .ehavior observer can thin!s aloud while solving the athlete states out clearly see what a problem that she wants loud what is on her needs to be the children to !now how mind. imitated. to solve.

(odeling Internal T%oug%t Processes -s it possible to teach thought processes through observational strategiesG At first it might seem impossible to model or imitate what is invisible, but it actually happens that numerous attitudes and thin!ing s!ills are learned vicariously. ?or e$ample, children often develop attitudes toward people or sub/ect matters by imitating their parents or others within their culture 7.andura, 893:. (i!ewise, children develop a large number of thin!ing strategies by imitating the ways their

peers thin!. Teachers can e$ploit opportunities for observational learning of attitudes and thin!ing s!ills related to academic sub/ects. -n many cases, children can accurately infer what is going on inside the modelBs head. ?or e$ample, if the teacher often tal!s about good boo!s she has read, her students may infer that she has a favorable attitude toward reading and adopt a similar attitude themselves. 7This is the main logic behind a large amount of advertising, in which sports or media stars endorse products in order to stimulate favorable attitudes toward products among viewers.: -n fact, modeling is considered to be one of the primary means for developing attitudes. 76ee ;hapter 9 of this boo! and Hagne and @riscoll, 899.: -n other cases, it may be more difficult for the observer to determine what the model is thin!ing, and in such cases it is necessary for the model to employ a thin! aloud strategy 7.andura, 8932 #himbey, 891:. ?or e$ample, it is possible to employ mental modeling strategies to teach reading s!ills 7@uffy, )oehler, I 4errmann, 8992 4errmann, 899: and to reduce impulsivity 70eichenbaum, 893:. )ecent research demonstrates that modeling the selfEregulation s!ills discussed in chapter Jcan be an effective means for promoting both academic achievement and related selfEefficacy beliefs 76chun! I Kimmerman, 88A: . The scaffolding and generative learning strategies designed to teach thin!ing s!ills rely heavily on modeling, reinforcement, and shaping to help students develop effective thin!ing s!ills. -f you e$amine your own behaviors, you will discover that a vastly greater number of them have been acquired through observational learning than through direct reinforcement. At the same time, if you e$amine the behaviors you have acquired through modeling, you will discover that almost none of the models were deliberately attempting to apply the principles of vicarious reinforcement. This means that there e$ist vast numbers of opportunities for accidental modeling. +arents who donBt believe that such modeling is pervasive should simply loo! at their own children for a period of time: it is almost frightening to see the duplications of our behavior which occur in young children. The simplest e$ample of accidental modeling occurs when we perform or reinforce a behavior without reali*ing that we are under observation. The way to prevent such accidents is to be aware that others are watching and are affected by what we do. A more subtle problem is that persons observing a behavioral interaction may perceive the situation differently than the participants in that interaction. -n such cases, even though the interaction may provide satisfactory results for the persons directly involved, the observers may e$perience undesirable impacts. )ummar# of 'icarious Learning >icarious learning occurs when an observerBs behavior is influenced by consequences that occur to a model. All the principles of behavior modification can be applied vicariously as well as directly. There are four separate types of vicarious learning: 7 : the modeling effect, when the observer directly imitates a behavior displayed by the model2 7": the eliciting effect, when the modelBs behavior triggers a related but distinct behavior in the learner2 7%: the disinhibitory effect, in which the observer performs an already !nown but inhibited behavior after seeing a model

perform it2 and 7A: the inhibitory effect, in which the observer stops performing a behavior after seeing a model punished for performing it.

)caffolded Instruction
A common and effective strategy for helping students develop their higher order thin!ing s!ills is scaffolding. 0y own first e$posure to scaffolding in education came when - was attending a high school where there was some construction in progress. The wor!ers had erected a series of temporary structures 7called scaffolding:, which permitted the wor!ers to carry out their wor! in high places. #hen the wor! was finished, the scaffolding was removed. The term scaffolding has been developed as a useful metaphor for an effective method for helping students develop their thin!ing s!ills. The teacher, the te$tual materials, or other students provide temporary support 7li!e scaffolding in the construction industry: to help students bridge the gap between their current abilities and the intended goal. 6caffolds can be tools, such as written guidelines or cue cards, or techniques, such as modeling or prompting by the teacher. (i!e the physical structures supporting construction around my high school, instructional scaffolding is temporary and ad/ustable. As students demonstrate greater proficiency on their own, the scaffolding is gradually removed. Table ".% summari*es the steps included in a typical scaffolding strategy 7)osenshine I 0eister, 88":.

Table 12.3.
)teps in )caffolded Instruction of T%in*ing )*ills +,ased on Rosens%ine (eister. !//"01 !1 Present t%e new cognitive strateg#1 a. -ntroduce the concrete prompt. b. 0odel the s!ill. c. Thin! out loud while you or the students ma!e decisions. "1 Regulate difficult# during guided practice1 a. 6tart with simplified material and gradually increase the comple$ity of the tas!. b. ;omplete part of the tas! for the student. c. +rovide cue cards. d. +resent the material in small steps. e. Anticipate student errors and areas of difficulty and have supplemental lessons and prompts ready. 21 Provide var#ing conte3ts for student practice1 a. +rovide teacherEled practice. b. 5ngage in reciprocal teaching. c. 4ave students wor! in small groups. 41 Provide feedbac*1 a. Offer teacherEled feedbac!. b. +rovide chec!lists. c. +rovide models of e$pert wor!. 51 Increase student responsibilit#1 a. @iminish prompts and models. b. Hradually increase comple$ity and difficulty of material. c. @iminish student support. d. +ractice consolidation E putting all the steps together. e. ;hec! for student mastery. 61 Provide independent practice1 a. +rovide e$tensive practice.

b. ?acilitate application to new situations. As Table ".% shows, the teacher typically begins the scaffolding process by communicating to the students the nature of a strategy that will be effective for a particular purpose. 7This strategy is li!ely to be one of the s!ills described earlier in this chapter.: Hood ways to introduce a strategy to students include demonstrating or e$plaining a prompt, modeling the s!ill, or thin!ing aloud while performing a tas! that applies the strategy. >arious writers have developed prompts that are useful for particular thin!ing s!ills, such as summari*ing 7Taylor, 891:, as!ing questions to promote reading comprehension 7Fing, 88 :, solving difficult problems in mathematics 76choenfeld, 891:, and planning a composition 76cardamalia, .ereiter, and 6teinbach, 89A:. The ne$t step is for the student to practice the strategy while the teacher manages the level of difficulty. ?or e$ample, to teach a fiveEstep thin!ing strategy, the teacher might try any of the following methods: . .egin by modeling all but the final step in the application of the strategy, and then gradually requiring the student to perform more of these steps. ". As! the student to name each step for the teacher to model. %. +rovide cue cards to prompt the student to perform each step. A. 6tart with easy problems to which the strategy can be applied and then move to more difficult problems. The idea is to provide the support necessary to enable the student to meet with continuous success. The third step is to vary the conte$t in which the student can practice the strategy. As Table ".% indicates, three basic conte$ts are 7 : teacherEled practice, 7": reciprocal teaching, and 7%: small group sessions. An important component of these practice sessions is the opportunity for the students to verbali*e what they are doing. -t is more li!ely that students will generali*e strategies if they are able to label the steps2 this will enable them to encode the information about the strategy in a more meaningful manner and thereby enable the learner to retrieve it more easily for later applications. -n addition, verbali*ing the information often e$poses misconceptions and enables the students to e$pand the limits of their understanding of the process. -n addition to varying the audience with whom the learner practices a strategy, it is useful to vary the content of the problems, so that the learner masters a general thin!ing strategy rather than a mere algorithm for solving a specific type of problem. The fourth step is to provide feedbac!. This feedbac! can come from the teacher and from other students2 but it is also useful to enable the students to give feedbac! to themselves by reali*ing that a strategy has been effective. One good way to stimulate selfEreinforcement is to have the students use chec!lists to evaluate their own performance. Another possibility is to provide e$pert models2 for e$ample, after as!ing a set of questions about a reading passage, the student could compare this set to those developed by the te$tboo! author or by the teacher. There are several crucial features in effective scaffolded instruction: . As students become increasingly proficient at a strategy, it is important to increase student responsibility for its successful application 7Hreenfield,

89A:. ?or e$ample, the teacher may reduce prompts or provide more difficult problems. The teacher shifts from the role of a coach to the role of a sympathetic audience 7+alinscar and .rown, 89A:. The active role of the teacher diminishes as that of the student increases. ". -t is important to avoid simply ma!ing the tas! easier. The idea is to give the learner increasing responsibility for performing an important tas! E not to alter or water down the ultimate tas! so that the child can appear to be successful. %. 6caffolding should help the learner accomplish a goal beyond simply imitating the activity of the s!illed partner. That is, the learner should come to a solid understanding or demonstrate attainment of s!ills at the higher levels of .loomBs ta$onomy 7discussed in ;hapter %:. A. ?inally, it is important to provide opportunities for independent practice and generali*ation. -t is necessary for the learner to develop an intuitive insight regarding when it is appropriate to apply the strategy. Teachers can supply guidance with the L)emember when... <ow (etBsL )ule: L)emember when we as!ed questions and summari*ed in our reading class. <ow letBs try that here in social studies class. #hat should we do firstGL The preceding paragraphs have described a narrow range of e$amples of scaffolding. There are many other approaches to scaffolding. )eciprocal teaching 7described in the )eading section of ;hapter 3: is one way to provide scaffolding of such thin!ing s!ills as summari*ing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting 7+alinscar I .rown, 89A:. -n addition, +ressley et al. 7 88": recommend a strategy in which the scaffolding includes significantly more direct instruction by the teacher. Also note that scaffolding often occurs in natural settings. >ygots!y 7 8J9: has pointed out that children often first e$perience a set of cognitive activities in the presence of e$perts 7parents, peers, or coaches:, and only gradually learn to perform these activities by themselves. ;ognitive apprenticeship 7;ollins, .rown, I <ewman, 898: is a strategy that uses scaffolding to teach comple$ cognitive s!ills. The metaphor is that s!ills in such areas as language and mathematics can be learned in much the same way that young apprentices would learn s!ills of various trades from a master at that craft.

AL, RT ,A7D8RA !/"5 9 present ,iograp%#

Albert .andura was born @ecember A, 8"1, in the small town of 0undare in northern Alberta, ;anada. 4e was educated in a small elementary school and high school in one, with minimal resources, yet a remar!able success rate. After high school, he wor!ed for one summer filling holes on the Alas!a 4ighway in the Mu!on. 4e received his bachelors degree in +sychology from the Nniversity of .ritish ;olumbia in 8A8. 4e went on to the Nniversity of -owa, where he received his +h.@. in 81". -t was there that he came under the influence of the behaviorist tradition and learning theory. #hile at -owa, he met >irginia >arns, an instructor in the nursing school. They married and later had two daughters. After graduating, he too! a postdoctoral position at the #ichita Huidance ;enter in #ichita, Fansas.

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-n 81%, he started teaching at 6tanford Nniversity. #hile there, he collaborated with his first graduate student, )ichard #alters, resulting in their first boo!, Adolescent Aggression, in 818. .andura was president of the A+A in 8J%, and received the A+As Award for @istinguished 6cientific ;ontributions in 89D. 4e continues to wor! at 6tanford to this day.

T%eor#
.ehaviorism, with its emphasis on e$perimental methods, focuses on variables we can observe, measure, and manipulate, and avoids whatever is sub/ective, internal, and unavailable EE i.e. mental. -n the e$perimental method, the standard procedure is to manipulate one variable, and then measure its effects on another. All this boils down to a theory of personality that says that ones environment causes ones behavior. .andura found this a bit too simplistic for the phenomena he was observing EE aggression in adolescents EE and so decided to add a little something to the formula: 4e suggested that environment causes behavior, true2 but behavior causes environment as well. 4e labeled this concept reciprocal determinism: The world and a persons behavior cause each other. (ater, he went a step further. 4e began to loo! at personality as an interaction among three &things:' the environment, behavior, and the persons psychological processes. These psychological processes consist of our ability to entertain images in our minds, and language. At the point where he introduces imagery, in particular, he ceases to be a strict behaviorist, and begins to /oin the ran!s of the cognitivists. -n fact, he is often considered a &father' of the cognitivist movementO Adding imagery and language to the mi$ allows .andura to theori*e much more effectively than someone li!e, say, .. ?. 6!inner, about two things that many people would consider the &strong suit' of the human species: observational learning 7modeling: and selfEregulation.

Observational learning. or modeling

Of the hundreds of studies .andura was responsible for, one group stands out above the others EE t%e bobo doll studies. 4e made of film of one of his students, a young woman, essentially beating up a bobo doll. -n case you dont !now, a bobo doll is an inflatable, eggEshape balloon creature with a weight in the bottom that ma!es it bob bac! up when you !noc! him down. <owadays, it might have @arth >ader painted on it, but bac! then it was simply &.obo' the clown. The woman punched the clown, shouting &soc!erooO' 6he !ic!ed it, sat on it, hit with a little hammer, and so on, shouting various aggressive phrases. .andura showed his film to groups of !indergartners who, as you might predict, li!ed it a lot. They then were let out to play. -n the play room, of course, were several observers with pens and clipboards in hand, a brand new bobo doll, and a few little hammers. And you might predict as well what the observers recorded: A lot of little !ids beating the daylights out of the bobo doll. They punched it and shouted &soc!eroo,' !ic!ed it,

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sat on it, hit it with the little hammers, and so on. -n other words, they imitated the young lady in the film, and quite precisely at that. This might seem li!e a real nothing of an e$periment at first, but consider: These children changed their behavior without first being rewarded for appro$imations to that behaviorO And while that may not seem e$traordinary to the average parent, teacher, or casual observer of children, it didnt fit so well with standard behavioristic learning theory. 4e called the phenomenon observational learning or modeling, and his theory is usually called social learning theory. .andura did a large number of variations on the study: The model was rewarded or punished in a variety of ways, the !ids were rewarded for their imitations, the model was changed to be less attractive or less prestigious, and so on. )esponding to criticism that bobo dolls were supposed to be hit, he even did a film of the young woman beating up a live clown. #hen the children went into the other room, what should they find there but EE the live clownO They proceeded to punch him, !ic! him, hit him with little hammers, and so on. All these variations allowed .andura to establish that there were certain steps involved in the modeling process: . Attention. -f you are going to learn anything, you have to be paying attention. (i!ewise, anything that puts a damper on attention is going to decrease learning, including observational learning. -f, for e$ample, you are sleepy, groggy, drugged, sic!, nervous, or &hyper,' you will learn less well. (i!ewise, if you are being distracted by competing stimuli. 6ome of the things that influence attention involve characteristics of the model. -f the model is colorful and dramatic, for e$ample, we pay more attention. -f the model is attractive, or prestigious, or appears to be particularly competent, you will pay more attention. And if the model seems more li!e yourself, you pay more attention. These !inds of variables directed .andura towards an e$amination of television and its effects on !idsO ". Retention. 6econd, you must be able to retain EE remember EE what you have paid attention to. This is where imagery and language come in: we store what we have seen the model doing in the form of mental images or verbal descriptions. #hen so stored, you can later &bring up' the image or description, so that you can reproduce it with your own behavior. %. Reproduction. At this point, youre /ust sitting there daydreaming. Mou have to translate the images or descriptions into actual behavior. 6o you have to have the ability to reproduce the behavior in the first place. - can watch Olympic ice s!aters all day long, yet not be able to reproduce their /umps, because - cant ice s!ate at allO On the other hand, if - could s!ate, my performance would in fact improve if - watch s!aters who are better than - am. Another important tidbit about reproduction is that our ability to imitate improves with practice at the behaviors involved. And one more tidbit: Our abilities improve even when we /ust imagine ourselves performingO 0any athletes, for e$ample, imagine their performance in their minds eye prior to actually performing.

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A. (otivation. And yet, with all this, youre still not going to do anything unless you are motivated to imitate, i.e. until you have some reason for doing it. .andura mentions a number of motives: a. past reinforcement, ala traditional behaviorism. b. promised reinforcements 7incentives: that we can imagine. c. vicarious reinforcement EE seeing and recalling the model being reinforced. <otice that these are, traditionally, considered to be the things that &cause' learning. .andura is saying that they dont so much cause learning as cause us to demonstrate what we have learned. That is, he sees them as motives. Of course, the negative motivations are there as well, giving you reasons not to imitate someone: d. past punis%ment1 e. promised punis%ment 7threats:. d. vicarious punis%ment1 (i!e most traditional behaviorists, .andura says that punishment in whatever form does not wor! as well as reinforcement and, in fact, has a tendency to &bac!fire' on us.

)elf9regulation
6elfEregulation EE controlling our own behavior EE is the other &wor!horse' of human personality. 4ere .andura suggests three steps: . )elf9observation1 #e loo! at ourselves, our behavior, and !eep tabs on it. ". :udgment. #e compare what we see with a standard. ?or e$ample, we can compare our performance with traditional standards, such as &rules of etiquette.' Or we can create arbitrary ones, li!e &-ll read a boo! a wee!.' Or we can compete with others, or with ourselves. %. )elf9response1 -f you did well in comparison with your standard, you give yourself rewarding selfEresponses. -f you did poorly, you give yourself punishing selfE responses. These selfEresponses can range from the obvious 7treating yourself to a sundae or wor!ing late: to the more covert 7feelings of pride or shame:. A very important concept in psychology that can be understood well with selfE regulation is self9concept 7better !nown as selfEesteem:. -f, over the years, you find yourself meeting your standards and life loaded with selfEpraise and selfEreward, you will have a pleasant selfEconcept 7high selfEesteem:. -f, on the other hand, you find yourself forever failing to meet your standards and punishing yourself, you will have a poor selfEconcept 7low selfEesteem:. )ecall that behaviorists generally view reinforcement as effective, and punishment as fraught with problems. The same goes for selfEpunishment. .andura sees three li!ely results of e$cessive selfEpunishment:

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a. compensation EE a superiority comple$, for e$ample, and delusions of grandeur. b. inactivit# EE apathy, boredom, depression. c. escape EE drugs and alcohol, television fantasies, or even the ultimate escape, suicide. These have some resemblance to the unhealthy personalities Adler and 4orney tal! about: an aggressive type, a compliant type, and an avoidant type respectively. .anduras recommendations to those who suffer from poor selfEconcepts come straight from the three steps of selfEregulation: . Regarding self9observation EE !now thyselfO 0a!e sure you have an accurate picture of your behavior. ". Regarding standards EE ma!e sure your standards arent set too high. @ont set yourself up for failureO 6tandards that are too low, on the other hand, are meaningless. %. Regarding self9response EE use selfErewards, not selfEpunishments. ;elebrate your victories, dont dwell on your failures.

T%erap#
)elf9control t%erap# The ideas behind selfEregulation have been incorporated into a therapy technique called selfEcontrol therapy. -t has been quite successful with relatively simple problems of habit, such as smo!ing, overeating, and study habits. . ,e%avioral c%arts1 6elfEobservation requires that you !eep close tabs on your behavior, both before you begin changes and after. This can involve something as simple as counting how many cigarettes you smo!e in a day to comple$ be%avioral diaries. #ith the diary approach, you !eep trac! of the details, the when and where of your habit. This lets you get a grip on what !inds of cues are associated with the habit: @o you smo!e more after meals, with coffee, with certain friends, in certain locations...G ". nvironmental planning1 Ta!ing your lead from your behavioral charts and diaries, you can begin to alter your environment. ?or e$ample, you can remove or avoid some of those cues that lead to your bad behaviors: +ut away the ashtrays, drin! tea instead of coffee, divorce that smo!ing partner.... Mou can find the time and place best suited for the good alternative behaviors: #hen and where do you find you study bestG And so on. %. )elf9contracts1 ?inally, you arrange to reward yourself when you adhere to your plan, and possibly punish yourself when you do not. These contracts should be written down and witnessed 7by your therapist, for e$ample:, and the details should be spelled out very e$plicitly: &- will go out to dinner on 6aturday night if - smo!e fewer cigarettes this wee! than last wee!. - will do paperwor! instead if - do not.' Mou may involve other people and have them control your rewards and punishments, if you arent strict enough with yourself. .eware, however: This can be murder on

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your relationships, as you bite their heads off for trying to do what you told them to doO

(odeling t%erap#
The therapy .andura is most famous for, however, is modeling therapy. The theory is that, if you can get someone with a psychological disorder to observe someone dealing with the same issues in a more productive fashion, the first person will learn by modeling the second. .anduras original research on this involved %erpep%obics EE people with a neurotic fear of sna!es. The client would be lead to a window loo!ing in on a lab room. -n that room is nothing but a chair, a table, a cage on the table with a loc!ed latch, and a sna!e clearly visible in the cage. The client then watches another person EE an actor EE go through a slow and painful approach to the sna!e. 4e acts terrified at first, but sha!es himself out of it, tells himself to rela$ and breathe normally and ta!e one step at a time towards the sna!e. 4e may stop in the middle, retreat in panic, and start all over. Nltimately, he gets to the point where he opens the cage, removes the sna!e, sits down on the chair, and drapes it over his nec!, all the while giving himself calming instructions. After the client has seen all this 7no doubt with his mouth hanging open the whole time:, he is invited to try it himself. 0ind you, he !nows that the other person is an actor EE there is no deception involved here, only modelingO And yet, many clients EE lifelong phobics EE can go through the entire routine first time around, even after only one viewing of the actorO This is a powerful therapy. One drawbac! to the therapy is that it isnt easy to get the rooms, the sna!es, the actors, etc., together. 6o .andura and his students have tested versions of the therapy using recordings of actors and even /ust imagining the process under the therapists direction. These methods wor! nearly as well.

Discussion
Albert .andura has had an enormous impact on personality theory and therapy. 4is straightforward, behavioristEli!e style ma!es good sense to most people. 4is actionE oriented, problemEsolving approach li!ewise appeals to those who want to get things done, rather than philosophi*e about ids, archetypes, actuali*ation, freedom, and all the many other mentalistic constructs personologists tend to dwell on. Among academic psychologists, research is crucial, and behaviorism has been the preferred approach. 6ince the late 83Ds, behaviorism has given way to the &cognitive revolution,' of which .andura is considered a part. ;ognitive psychology retains the e$perimentallyEoriented flavor of behaviorism, without artificially restraining the researcher to e$ternal behaviors, when the mental life of clients and sub/ects is so obviously important. This is a powerful movement, and the contributors include some of the most important people in psychology today: =ulian )otter, #alter 0ischel, 0ichael 0ahoney, and @avid 0eichenbaum spring to my mind. Also involved are such theorists of therapy as Aaron .ec! 7cognitive therapy: and Albert 5llis 7rational emotive therapy:. The followers of Heorge Felly also find themselves in this camp. And the many people wor!ing on personality trait research EE such as .uss and

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+lomin 7temperament theory: and 0c;rae and ;osta 7five factor theory: EE are essentially &cognitive behaviorists' li!e .andura. 0y gut feeling is that the field of competitors in personality theory will eventually boil down to the cognitivists on the one side and e$istentialists on the other. 6tay tunedO
)eadings The place to go for .anduras theory is 6ocial ?oundations of Thought and Action 7 893:. -f its a little too dense for you, you might want to try his earlier 6ocial (earning Theory7 8JJ:, or even 6ocial (earning and +ersonality @evelopment 7 83%:, which he wrote with #alters. -f aggression is what youre interested in, try Aggression: A 6ocial (earning Analysis 7 8J%:. ;opyright 889, "DD3 ;. Heorge .oeree

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