Albert Bandura was born on December 4, 1925, in a small place among the wheat fields of Alberta, Canada, as the only son of a Ukrainian immigrant farmer family with six children. He received his primary and high school degrees in a co-educational school, the only educational institution in that region, with a total of 20 students and 2 teachers. He spent his summer holidays in the Yukon, plugging holes in highways. While he was thinking of studying engineering, he decided to study psychology after a few tries. Bandura received his undergraduate degree from the University of British Columbia in Canada in 1949.
Bandura chose the University of Iowa for his graduate studies because of its deep-rooted tradition in learning theory. Among the Iowa faculty members who influenced Bandura was learning theorist Kenneth Spence. University of Iowa faculty placed great emphasis on experimental work. This training gave Bandura the idea that psychologists should 'conceptualize clinical phenomena in ways that adapt them to experimental tests'. (Bandura, in Evans, 1976, p243, cited in Jerry M 2006). Bandura completed his doctorate in 1952. (Jerry M. Burger, Personality, Kaknüs Publications 2006, p. 534)
After a year-long clinical internship in Wichita, he accepted the offer of Stanford University in 1953 and remained there since then. At Stanford, he tried to build a bridge between traditional learning theory and cognitive personality theories, and between clinical psychology and experiment-oriented studies aimed at understanding personality. After the 1960s, he developed his current theory by working on social learning. He later changed his theory, which he initially called social learning, to social cognitive theory. Bandura has received numerous professional honors, including his election as president of the American Psychological Association in 1974. He continues to develop the Bandura theory, which is still alive.
Personality book and scholar Kaya S. 423
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
Social Learning theory It combines and complements behavioral and cognitive concepts. In addition, it emphasizes the interconnected nature of cognitive, behavioral and environmental factors. . (Luthans, F, 1989, ibid.; p. 297, cited by: Pınar Tınaz, Effective Learning Strategies in Organizations, 2000, p.24,25)
The social learning theory, which developed between 1960-1970, was, for the first time, human It was observed as a result of the work of Albert Bandura and other researchers who realized that cognitive thought processes should be taken into account in understanding behavior. (Pınar Tınaz, Effective Learning Strategies in Organizations, 2000, p24,25),
Social learning theory has also developed as a reaction against operant conditioning to reflect on thought processes and other psychological functions that cannot be clearly observed.
Albert Bandura (1977) does not object to Skinner's concepts of classical and operant conditioning, but argues that human learning occurs in a social environment and that children's most important learning experiences occur by observing the behavior of others. Bandura calls this type of learning observational learning. (Dogan Cüceloğlu, Human and Behavior 2006, p426)
According to social learning theory, behavior is affected by the consequences of behavior. Rewarded responses are more likely to be repeated later. Punished reactions will probably end and will not be repeated again. The principle that behavior is affected by behavioral consequences forms the basis of both operant conditioning and social learning theory. (CHERRINGTON, D.J., 1983, Personnel Management; v. Brown Camp. Publication: U.S.A. p. 472 cited in Pınar Tınaz, Effective Learning Strategies in Organizations, 2000, p. 25)
Bandura, one of today's most popular learning psychologists 's theory is known as a summary of the modern concept of learning. Cognitive interaction; It is discussed in terms of the interaction of individuals with the perceived meaningful environment. While those who believe in internal motivation claim that behaviors emerge through special forces, those who believe in external motivation believe that human behavior is the result of mechanical determinism. Cognitive interactionists, on the other hand, talk about the intentional choices of the individual as he experiences situational options. So people can choose what is best for them. (Nermin Çelen, Learning Psychology, İmge Kitabevi 1999, p113)
In this understanding, the individual It is interactive, not sif. There is constant exchange between the individual and his environment. The situational process that the individual is in determines the individual's thoughts, needs and motivations. In his own cognitive process, the individual selects situations, stimuli and events, selects perceptions that are of critical importance, perceives and evaluates those that are of critical importance. An individual's perception directs his behavior. Cognitive interaction is a purposeful action. This can be a thought, a combination of thoughts, or a behavior. It is not like the automatic response to a stimulus affecting the organism. A person integrates the information he receives and tries to cognitively understand what is happening about himself and the world around him. For cognitive interactionists, interaction is the interaction between an individual and his psychological environment. In this sense, the monitored information is transformed into organized, meaningful internal representations. There is not automatic behavior, but behavior that is the product of thought. As the individual and his environment change; The individual interprets the environment differently for his own purposes. It does not matter whether the physical environment has changed or not. When the meaning of the physical environment changes for the individual, the individual's interaction with it also changes and new views are gained. In summary, it can be said that there is a dynamic relationship between the individual and his environment. Environmental events, personal factors and behavior are determinants that influence each other. (Nermin Çelen, Learning Psychology, İmge Kitabevi 1999, p114)
For Bandura and those who think like him, perception is the intermediate variable between stimulus and response in human learning. When momentary situations affect conscious experience, the perceiving individual evokes the physical and social characteristics of this situation through certain special actions. Meaningful psychological states (cues) influence the individual over a certain period of time and create expectations that help create behavior. These may be open and implicit thoughts or internal such as pain, pleasure, excitement, fear. Past experiences can also be added to these (Bandura, 1965, cited:, Nermin Çelen, Learning Psychology, İmge Kitabevi 1999, p. 114- 116)
We, as humans, shape the environment with which we interact. People constantly influence situations and change their form by running away from or chasing something. Meanwhile, it is affected by environmental factors. Every minute the individual selects, interprets, evaluates and evaluates situational information. turns it into a source of behavior. The psychological significance of the environment can be discovered by studying the individual's perception of the existing situation. Perception of the situation is the factor that affects the individual's behavior or determines his reaction to the situation. Relative, balanced, cognitive and emotional variables can be considered as personal variables, and the psychological meaningfulness of the situation for individuals can be considered as situational variables. The combination of personal and situational variables determines behavior.
Bandura's theory differs from Skinner's radical behaviorism. According to Skinner, an individual's past behavior affects his or her new behavior. According to Bandura, the individual's past behavior results form intuition and expectations regarding similar situations. What we're talking about here are learned expectations. According to Bandura, people do not react directly to stimuli. Interprets the situation before reacting. Bandura tried to convey the interaction between humans and the environment by using the terminology of both humanistic psychology and behavioral psychology. (Bandura 1965, cited:, (Nermin Çelen, Learning Psychology, İmge Kitabevi 1999, p. 114- 116).
Learning Through Observation (Modelling)
Bandura defined the concept of learning as the body of knowledge gained in a cognitive process. However, the basis of most human thoughts and behaviors is information of social origin, that is, information obtained from the social environment. (STADJKOVİC, A. D., Luthans, F. 1998, Social Cognitive Theory and Self-Efficacy: Going Beyond Traditional, Motivational and Behavioral approaches. Organizational Dynamics, 26(4) 62-75, cited in Alim Kaya, Educational Psychology p.424) Social influence has an important role in Bandura's social learning theory. However, Bandura He did not put forward the effect of factors as unidirectional. The basic structure of his theory is based on triadic reciprocal determinism. These are the triangle of individual, environment and behavior. This trio mutually affects each other. According to Bandura, person and environmental factors are independent variables. they are not. These constantly affect each other. A person creates his environment, changes it and sometimes destroys it. (Bandura, A. 1986, Social foundations of Thought and Action: A social contextual theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ : Prentice – Hall, akt. Alim Kaya, Educational Psychology, Ankara, Pegem A Publishing, 2007, p424)
These changes in environmental conditions can significantly affect the individual's behavior and future lives. Cognitive structure effectively contributes to people's thinking, motivation, attitude and behavior. Although the social environment is effective on the basis of many of our acquired knowledge and behaviors, the individual is responsible for this behavior and knowledge along with all his personality traits. (Rottschaefer, W. A. 1991, some Philosophical implications of Bandura's Social cognitive Theory of Human Agency. American Psychologist, 46, 153 – 55, cited in Alim Kaya, Educational Psychology, Ankara, Pegem A Publishing, 2007, p424)
According to Bandura, many human behaviors are learned through observing models. While others are observed, how the behavior is done and the rules about the behavior are coded (learned). This coding (learning) later guides the behavior. Such behavioral changes (learning) can be easily observed especially in children's behavior. (Bandura, A. 1986, Ön. Ver, cited by Alim Kaya, Educational Psychology, Ankara, Pegem A Yayıncılık, 2007, p424)
In his studies in the 1970s, while explaining his social learning theory, Bandura stated that the observer is He defined it as not a camera or a cassette player, but rather as a person who moves, can make classifications, and make choices. Later, he concentrated his studies on cognition and changed the name of his theory to 'Social Cognitive Theory'. In his studies under the name of social cognitive theory, he observed that biological structure and maturity have an impact on behavior. Physical structure, emotional structure and nervous system have a significant impact on behavior and the development of some capacities. ( Tudge, R. H., Winterhoff, A.P. 1993, Vygotsky, Piaget and Bandura: Perspectives on the Relations between the Social World and Cognitive Development. Human Development, 36, 68-81, cited by Alim Kaya, Educational Psychology, Ankara Pegem A Publishing, 2007 p424)
According to Bandura, the consequences of our behavior give us information about whether the behavior is effective and correct.
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