Albert Bandura: Observational Learning

Albert Bandura (Bandura 2013), born December 4, 1925, is a very famous theorist in the field of psychology. He spent most of his career as a professor at Stanford University and was repeatedly recognized in this field from 1953 to 2010 (Bandura). His award includes the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychology Association, the James McKenna Catter Award, and the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Psychological Association (Olson, Hergenhahn, 2012).

According to Albert Bandura, observational learning is a learning process that identifies a model and reproduces its behavior. Reproduction of the observed behavior can be based on whether the behavior of the model produces positive or negative results. This is also referred to as alternative enhancement to model behavior or alternative penalty. Observers are likely to reproduce the behavior of the model, which is characterized by attractive or satisfying things.

Albert Bandura's social learning theory says, "By observing the learning process, actions are learned from the environment" (Bandura, 1977). Bandura believes that "humans are active information processors and think about the relationship between their behavior and their results" (Bandura, 1977). Furthermore, observational learning does not occur unless the cognitive process functions (Bandura, 1977). Just as kids learn aggression from observation, they can learn prejudice.