By: Rebecca Santos IB Phsycology

 Albert Bandura was born in Canada, in a town called Mundare, found in the northern part of Alberta. He was born on December 4, Albert was educated in a small school that had a remarkable success rate. Once he finished high school, he worked during summer filling holes in the Alaskan Highway in Yukon. Bandura received his bachelors degree in Phsychology when he graduated from the University of British Columbia in He then went to the University of Iowa, where he got his Ph.D in During his time in the University of Iowa he came under the influence of the behaviorist tradition and learning theory.

 While he was in Iowa, he met Virginia Varns. She was an instructor in the nursing school. They got married and later had two daughters. Once he graduated, Bandura took a postdoctoral position at the Wichita Guidance Center in Wichita, Kansas.  In 1953, Bandura started teaching at Stanford University. During his time there, he worked with his first graduate student, Richard Walters. Their team- work resulted in their first book, Adolescent Aggression, in  Albert Bandura was president of the APA in In 1980 he received the APA’s ward for Distinguished Scientific Contributions. He still works at Stanford to this day.

 Behaviorism is a theory that focuses mainly on variables that are observable, that we can measure and manipulate. Behaviorism avoids those things which are subjective, unavailable, and internal. Within the experimental method, the standard procedure was to manipulate one variable. Then, its effects were measured on another. Therefore, behaviorism states that all behavior is based on interactions and experience within our environment.

 Bandura suggested that the environment in which a person lives in causes behavior. Just as behavior causes environment as well. He labeled this concept reciprocal determinism: The world and a person’s behavior cause each other.  He then went a step further by stating that personality is an interaction among three ‘’things’’. These are: the environment, behavior, and the person’s psychological processes. These psychological processes consist of people’s ability to entertain images in their minds, as well as language. At the point where Bandura introduces imagery, he stops being a strict behaviorist, and becomes a little more of a cognitivist. He is often considered a “father” of the cognitivist movement.  Adding imagery and language to his theories allow Albert Bandura to theorize much more effectively than someone like, B. F. Skinner, about two things that many people would consider the “strong suit” of the human species: observational learning (modeling) and self-regulation.

 Albert Bandura was responsible for hundreds of studies. However, there is one study that stands out above the others, the Bobo Doll Experiment. He made of film of one of his students, beating up a bobo doll. The student punched the bobo doll, shouting “sockeroo!” She also kicked it, sat on it, hit with a little hammer, and so on, shouting many aggressive phrases. Bandura then showed his film to groups of kindergartners who, liked it a lot. The kids were then let out to play. Within the play room were several observers with pens and clipboards in hand, a bobo doll, and a few little hammers. The observers recorded: the little kids started beating the bobo doll. They punched it and also shouted “sockeroo,” kicked it, sat on it, hit it with the little hammers, and so on. They practically imitated the student in the film, in a very precise way.

 The children’s behavior changed without them first being rewarded for approximations to that behavior. These observations didn’t fit well in the standard behaviorist learning theory. Bandura called the phenomenon, observational learning. His theory is usually called social learning theory.  Bandura then did a some variations within the study: The model was rewarded or punished in a various ways, the kids were rewarded for their imitations, the model was changed to be less attractive, and so on. After several people stated that bobo dolls were supposed to be hit, Bandura did a film of the student beating up a live clown. When the children went into the other room, there was in fact a live clown. The children then proceeded to punch him, kick him, hit him with little hammers, and so on.

 After all the variations he did on the Bobo Doll Experiment, Bandura realized there were certian steps involved in the modeling process. 1. Attention. If you are going to learn something, you have to be paying attention. Things that decrease your attention are going to decrease learning, including observational learning. If, for example, you are sick, nervous, sleepy, or hyperactive, you will learn less well. You will also learn less, if you are being distracted by competing stimuli.  Some things that influence attention involve characteristics of the model. If the model is colorful and dramatic, for example, we tend to pay more attention. If the model is attractive, or appears to be prestigious, you will pay more attention as well. Also, if the model seems more like yourself, you pay more attention. These kinds of variables impulsed Albert Bandura towards an examination of television and its effects on kids as well.

 2. Retention: You must be able to retain what you have been paying attention to. This is the part in which imagery and language come in: we store what we have seen the model doing in the form of mental images or verbal descriptions. When these are stored, you can later “bring up” the image or description, then, you can reproduce it with your own behavior.

 3. Reproduction. At this point, I am just just sitting there daydreaming. I have to translate the images or descriptions into actual behavior. Humans have the ability to reproduce the behavior in the first place. I can watch pianists performing all day long, and still not be able to reproduce their songs, because I can’t play the piano at all! On the other hand, if I could play the piano, my performance would in fact improve if I watch pianists who are better than I am.  Another important thing about reproduction is that with practice our ability to imitate improves when it comes to the behaviors involved. Another thing: Our abilities improve even when we just imagine ourselves performing. Many pianists, for example, imagine their performance in their mind’s eye prior to actually performing.

 4. Motivation. Even with all this, humans are still not going to do anything unless they have some reason for doing it. Albert Bandura suggests some motives:  a. past reinforcement:traditional behaviorism. b. promised reinforcements :(incentives) those things we can imagine. c. vicarious reinforcement : seeing and recalling the model being reinforced.  These are normally considered to be the things that “cause” learning. Bandura states that they don’t so much cause learning as cause humans to demonstrate what they have learned. They are simply motives.  The negative motivations are there as well, giving humans reasons not to imitate someone:  d. past punishment. e. promised punishment (threats). d. vicarious punishment.  Like most traditional behaviorists, Bandura says that punishment does not work as well as reinforcement and has a tendency to “backfire” on humans.

 Self-regulation means controlling our own behavior. It is the other fundamental part of human personality. Here, Bandura suggests three steps:  1. Self-observation. Humans look at themselves, their behavior, and keep a record on it.  2. Judgment. People compare what they see with a standard. For example, people can compare their performance with traditional standards, such as “rules of etiquette.” Or, they can create arbitrary ones, like “I’ll a play soccer twice a week.” Or they can compete with others, or with themselves.

 3. Self-response. If people did well in comparison with their standard, they give themselves rewarding self- responses. If they did badly, they give themselves punishing self-responses. These self-responses can range from the obvious (treating yourself to a banana split or working late) to the more covert (feelings of pride or shame).  There is a very important concept within psychology that can be understood well with self-regulation. It is self- concept (also known as self-esteem). If, over the years, a person finds himself or herself meeting their standards, their life is loaded with self-praise and self-reward, then they will have a pleasant self-concept (high self- esteem). If, on the other hand, he or she finds himself or herself forever failing to meet their own standards and punishing his or her self, they will have a poor self- concept (low self-esteem).

 Just as reinforcements are seen as effective, and punishment as ineffective, the same goes for self-punishment. Bandura suggests three likely results of excessive self-punishment:  a. Compensation: a superiority complex, and delusions of highness. b. Inactivity: apathy, boredom, depression. c. Escape: drugs,alcohol, television fantasies, or even suicide.  These unhealthy personalities can be defined as: an aggressive type, a compliant type, and an avoidant type.  Bandura has some recommendations to those who suffer from poor self- esteem:  1. Regarding self-observation: know yourself! Make sure you have an exact image of your behavior.  2. Regarding standards: make sure don’t have expectations that are set too high. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Standards that are too low, however, are meaningless.  3. Regarding self-response :use self-reinforcements, not self- punishments. Celebrate your successes and don’t remain stuck on your failures.

 Self-control therapy  The ideas of self-regulation have been incorporated into a therapy technique called self-control therapy. It has been somewhat successful with relatively simple problems of, habits like smoking, study habits, and overeating.  1. Behavioral charts. Self-observation requires that people keep close records on their behavior, both before they begin changes and after. This can be something as simple as counting how many times they eat in a day, to more complicated behavioral diaries. With the diary approach, they keep track of the details like the when and where of their habit. This lets them get an idea on what kinds of things are associated with their habit.

 2. Environmental planning: By taking their lead from their behavioral charts and diaries, the person can begin to alter his or her environment. For instance, they can remove or avoid some of those things that lead to their bad behaviors: get rid of that smoking partner. Drink tea instead of coffee as well. People can find the time and place best suited for the good alternative behaviors.  3. Self-contracts. Finally, the subject arranges to reward his or her self when they stick to their plan, and maybe punish his or her self when they do not. These contracts should be written down and witnessed (by their therapist, for example), and the details should be written out very clearly: “I will go on vacations to Austria if I smoke fewer cigarettes this month than last month. I won’t go on vacations for a year if I do not.”  Other people may also be involved and the person getting rid of the bad habit can have them control their rewards and punishments, if he or she is not strict enough with his or her self.

 Modeling therapy  Bandura is most famous for his 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.’’  Bandura’s original research on this involved herpephobics- people with a neurotic fear of snakes. First, the subject would be lead to a window looking in on a lab room. In that room is a chair, a table, a cage on the table with a locked latch, and a snake visible in the cage. The subject then watches another person, an actor, go through a slow approach to the snake. The actor acts terrified at first, but snaps himself out of it, tells himself to relax and breathe normally and take one step at a time towards the snake. He may stop in the middle, walk back in panic, and start all over. Finally, he gets to the point where he opens the cage, removes the snake, sits down on the chair, and puts it over his neck, while giving himself calming instructions.

 After the subject has seen all this, he is invited to try it himself. He knows that the other person is an actor, there is no deception involved here, only modeling. And yet, many subjects -lifelong phobics- can go through the entire routine the first time, even after only one viewing of the actor. There is no doubt that this is a powerful therapy.  One limitation to the therapy is that the rooms, the snakes, the actors, are not accessible all together. So Bandura and his students have tested versions of the therapy using recordings of actors and even just imagining the process under the therapist’s direction. These methods work nearly as well.

 Albert Bandura has had a huge impact on personality theory and therapy. His direct, behaviorist-like style makes good sense to most people. His action- oriented, problem-solving approach also appeals to those who want to get things done, rather than philosophize about ids, archetypes, actualization, freedom, and all the many other philosophies and theories some people tend to dwell on.  Among academic psychologists, research is essential, and behaviorism has been the preferred approach. Since the late 1960’s, behaviorism has given way to the “cognitive revolution,” and Bandura is considered a part of it. Cognitive psychology holds the experimentally- oriented idea of behaviorism, without restraining the researcher to external behaviors, for instance, when the mental life of clients and subjects is so important.

 ‘’Cognitive-behavioral therapy is evidence- based, which means that it is supported by research that proves that it is effective in helping people make emotional and behavioral changes.’’ This is the reason for which Bandura’s studies have proved to be effcient, clear, and effective. Just like Albert Bandura, mental health professionals who practice cognitive-behavioral therapy tend to be scientific-minded. They pursue evidence and science. They want to utilize an approach that has proof and that it works.

 ml ml   ive-therapy/ ive-therapy/  Social Foundations of Thought and Action (1986) Social Learning Theory(1977) Social Learning and Personality Development (1963), Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis (1973). (All of these by Albert Bandura).