Learning Theories of Albert Bendura Research Paper

Learning Theories of Albert Bendura - Research Paper Example Similarly, Bandura held that all sorts of learning cannot be products of reinforcement and held that social and psychological factors are associated with the process of learning. He propagated the theory of social cognitive learning and emphasized on observational learning and modeling. Similarly, Bandura also introduced several other important concepts, including reciprocal determinism, self-efficacy, self-regulation which have been beneficial to the understanding of human learning and subsequent behavior formation. In short, Bandura advocates behavior modeling and observational learning whereby a person observes and then imitates the behavior of people who are around him and whose actions motivate him.  Ã‚   While the behavioralists held that it is the environment that causes one’s behavior, Bandura went a step forward and propagated his reciprocal determinism whereby he argued that â€Å"behavior causes environment† just as environment causes behavior (Boeree 2006). He viewed human personality as an interaction of three factors-â€Å"the environment, behavior, and the person’s psychological processes† and believed that man’s cognitive faculties play a pivotal role in the formation of one’s personality (Boeree 2006). The psychological processes comprise of one’s ability to entertain images in minds and language. Bandura thus believed that learning occurs in the social context and that people learn from one another.  Ã‚   The social learning theory has been considered as Bandura’s major contribution to the field of psychology and learning. The social learning theory blends together cognitive and behavioral frameworks and the theory stresses the importance of observing and modeling on the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. For Engler (2008), Bandura maintains an agentic perspective in his socio-cognitive view of personality.