Albert Bandura
Father of Cognitive Movement
Interesting Facts
- Studied at the University of Iowa, where he earned his PhD
- Born in 1925 and is still alive today (age 89)
- Won the Guggenheim Fellowship for Social Sciences award
- Was the president of the APA
What is Albert Bandura Famous For?
Bandura is known for specializing in contemporary with studying developmental psychology and educational psychology. This centers around his social learning theory in which he experiments with imaginary, reciprocal determinism, and representation. His best know study is the Bobo doll experiment which exposes children children to adults behaving aggressively toward a doll. With this experiment it shows that children behave aggressively when aggression is modeled by adults. Children often learn by imitating behavior of others. For example if you say shut up to your dog and you sister hears you she will think it is okay to say shut up. This theory has become perhaps the most influential theory of learning and development.
How Did Research Affect Psychology?
Bandura's social learning theory has had important important implication in the field of education. Today, both teachers and parents recognize the importance of modeling appropriate behaviors. Other classroom strategies such as encouraging children and building self-efficacy are also rooted in social learning theory. He directed his initial research to the role pf social modeling in human motivation, thought and action. His efforts illustrated the role of modeling in human behavior and led to a program of research into the determinants and mechanisms of observation learning
How Did His Research Help to Understand How People Think & Act?
Albert Bandura observed aggression in adolescents. He claimed that while environment does influence behavior, behavior also influences environment. He called this concept Reciprocal Determinism, which means the world and a person's behavior cause each other. Bandura looked at personality as an interaction between three things: environment, behavior, and one's psychological process.
How Did Time Period in Which They Live affect Them?
B.F. Skinner was all about rewards and punishments. To make it easier to understand B.F. Skinner is the first generation of psychology then Bandura would be the second generation. Bandura found out that there is more to it then rewards and punishments. He figured out it is more complex then what the first generation originally thought.