Albert Bandura
SELF- EFFICACY AND
SOCIAL LEARNING
THEORY
Lauren Bancroft and Kea Izlar
Objectives
The purpose of this research study is to investigate Bandura’s major premise
that we learn by observing others who model and/or perform activities
successfully.
In particular this research study seeks to answer the following questions:
⦿ Does vicarious experience (gained by observing others perform
activities successfully) generate expectations in observers that they can
perform well on their own?
⦿ Does modeling generate greater, lesser, or the same expectations in
learners as does direct experience?
⦿ Is self-efficacy increased or decreased when someone is offered
opportunity to work with a partner?
Early Albert Bandura
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Albert Bandura was born December 4,1925 in Canada.
He was the youngest child and only boy among six
children in a family of Eastern European descent.
Bandura’s father worked laying track for the transCanada railroad and his mother worked in the town’s
general store.
Bandura’s father had no formal education but placed a
high value on educational attainment.
Bandura’s childhood was difficult, but productive.
● In 1918, the family suffered a tragic loss when the
flu pandemic took one of his younger sisters.
● Shortly after a son was killed in a hunting mishap.
● Then the Great Depression took a toll on the
families farm.
Albert Bandura
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Before he went to college, he worked on Alaskan pipeline, this exposed
Bandura to people with psychopathological symptoms, which initially
sparked his interests in psychology.
Bandura soon became fascinated by psychology after enrolling at the
University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where a “fortuitous event”
provoked him into psychology.
He earned a PhD at the University of Iowa in 1952 and has taught at
Stanford University since 1953.
Bandura has published many books such as Adolescent Aggression in
1959 and Social Foundation of Thought and Action (book of his complete
theories), in 1986.
In 1974 Bandura served as President of the APA and in 1980 received the
APA’s Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions.
Finally in 2004 he was awarded the Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to
Psychology, by the American Psychological Association.
Key Terms
⦿ Social Cognitive Theory was that he believes the environment plays a greater role in shaping our
behavior than genetics.
⦿ Social Learning Theory, which perhaps is also the most influential theory of learning and
development says that social learning can occur simply by observing the actions of others.
⦿ Self-efficacy, as ones own beliefs in their own abilities to deal with various situations.
⦿ Observational Learning, which is also referred to as modeling, is the belief that a tremendous
amount of learning happens through the process of watching and imitating others.
Modeling
Learning occurs when through observation and imitation of other
“Modeling effects are possible only if the model exhibits response that the observer has
not yet learned to make…”
The consequences of the model’s rewards or the observer’s relationship to them may
truly affect the imitation.
Four stages of observational learning
⦿ 1) Attention- the individual notices something in the environment.
⦿ 2) Retention- To later imitate behavior, one must remember aspects of
the behavior
⦿ 3) Reproduction- the individual produces an action that is a copy of
what was noticed.
⦿ 4) Motivation- To imitate a behavior, the person must have some
motivating factor behind it, such as incentives that a person
envisions. (reinforcement and punishment)
Social Learning Theory
Self- Efficacy
⦿ Self-Efficacy: “people’s beliefs in their capabilities to produce desired
effects by their own actions” (Bandura, 1997, p. vii)
Speaking to doctoral students during the 1999 meeting
of the American Psychological Association, Professor
Bandura was asked about the relationship between selfefficacy and reality.
He replied,
"We should be realistic about the odds,
but optimistic that we can beat those odds."
Where Does Self-Efficacy Come
From?
⦿ Mastery
experiences
⦿ Vicarious
⦿ Verbal
experience
Persuasion
⦿ Emotional
State
What Does Self-Efficacy Do?
Academic
Performance
Setting
The research experiment was conducted at the participant’s home.
Participant A is a ten-year-old girl in 5th grade.
Participant B is an eleven-year-old girl in 6th grade
Both participants were chosen carefully based on personal qualities.
Both participants perform well in school and have a good source of motivation. As
well both participants have a close relationship with one researcher, which allows
the “warmness” effect of the participant (observer) to the researcher who is
modeling
⦿ The condition in which the experiment was conducted was in a close, comfortable
environment, with minimal distractions. Conducting the experiment at the actual
participants home allows for a more comfortable feel, allowing the participants to
feel relaxed during the activities.
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Questions
⦿ Does vicarious experience (gained by observing others
perform activities successfully) generate expectations in
observers that they can perform well on their own?
⦿ Does modeling generate greater, lesser, or the same
expectations in learners as does direct experience?
⦿ Is self-efficacy increased or decreased when someone is
offered opportunity to work with a partner?
Hypothesis
Based on Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy and his Social Learning
Theory, we hypothesized that the researchers will generate
expectations in observers that they can perform well on their
own and that the participants self-efficacy will increase more
through Mastery Experience rather than through Vicarious
Experience.
The Experiment
During the first visit the two participants were given a short
survey to measure their current self-efficacy and to see
which factors influence their self-efficacy the most.
First attempt at analyzing the data
(Add up the number of points scored for each question, and divide that number by 6)
Highest possible score
Middle score
Lowest score
6
Participant A
4
Participant B
5
2.5
0
Data Collected From Survey
Second Experiment
Researchers read to each participant individually the story Ish, by Peter H Reynolds
After reading the story, the researchers modeled the expectations
of how to look through the story and how to put the story in
sequential order.
Then Participants were given another survey.
Data Collected
Final Stage of Experiment
Researchers read to the participants the story The Squiggle, by Carole Lexa Schaefer.
This time after the reading, the students were asked to put the
story in sequential order by themselves.
How they put the story in order
Participant A
Participant B
Asks to use book
Does not ask or use book
Double checked answers (as observed)
Places cards in order without checking
100%
Misplaced one picture
In Conclusion
Our hypothesis was proven to be mostly true!
Participant A’s results were aligned with Albert Bandura’s theory of Self-Efficacy and his
Social Learning Theory. The Participants’ results demonstrated a small increase in selfefficacy through vicarious experience, and an even larger increase through mastery
experience. With Participant A, the researchers were able to successfully model and
through this observation the participant generated expectations that she could perform a
similar task on her own.
BUT…
Participant B’s results demonstrated no increase in self-efficacy through vicarious
experience, and only showed an increase through mastery experience and verbal
encouragement.
Participant B, initially recorded a decrease in confidence when working with a partner, and
then later recorded an increase.
Vicarious Experience
We Found
Bandura
Participant A: Increased through
observation.
Learning by watching someone
similar to self be successful.
Participant B: No increase through
observation.
Mastery Experience
Participant A: Increase through
practice
Performing a task successfully
strengthens our sense of selfefficacy.
Participant B: Increase through
practice
Verbal Persuasion
Participant A: Increase through
verbal encouragement
Encouragement by others
Participant B: Increase through
verbal encouragement
Emotional State
N/A
A person will assess how confident
they feels by interpreting their own
emotional and physical state as they
contemplates an action.
Limitations
◆ The
level of reading given to the participants.
◆ The experiment could have been more valid if the participants were younger or
the choices in readings were higher.
◆ Amount of participants used.
(Since the experiment required a more individualized approach, the
researchers were only able to collect data from two participants. The results
would have been improved if the amount of participants had been increased,
allowing a wider range of data collected.)
What We Would Have Done Differently
The study should change the age of participants to match the level of
reading, use a more qualitative approach and survey a vaster amount of
students. The study as well should have used direct prompts to make
sure the participants were given the same amount of help during their
individual experiments.
Why Self-Efficacy Matters
“Efficacy beliefs play an influential meditational role in
academic attainment. The extent to which such factors as
level of cognition ability, prior educational preparation and
attainment, gender, and attitudes toward academic activities
influence academic performance is partly dependent on how
much they affect efficacy beliefs. The more they alter efficacy
beliefs, the greater the impact they have on academic
attainments” (The Exercise of Control, Bandura)
Nature Nurture Line
“Natural endowment provides humans with enabling biological systems, but few
inborn skills” (Pervin.170)
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(Nature)
(Nurture)
Bibliographies
Bandura, Albert. Self-Efficacy The Exercise of Control. W.H. Freeman and Company, 1997. Print.
Bandura, A. (2006). Guide for constructing self-efficacy scales. In F. Pajares & T. Urdan (Eds.). Self-efficacy beliefs of
adolescents, (Vol. 5., pp. 307-337). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
(in press). Snyder, C. R., & Lopez, S. J. (Eds). Handbook of Positive Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Duane, Hoover J., Robert C. Giambatista, and Liuba Y. Belkin. "Eyes On, Hands On: Vicarious Observational Learning as an
Enhancement of Direct Experience." Academy of Management Learning & Education. Vol. 11 Issue 4, p591-608. 18p. 5 Charts, 3
Graphs. (2012).Web.
Schunk, Dale H. meece, Judith L. "Self-Efficacy Development in Adolescence”. The Journal of Educational Research
79.4 (2005): 238-44. JSTOR. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
Bandura, A. (1989). Social cognitive theory. In R. Vasta (Ed.), Annals of child development. Vol. 6. Six theories of
child development (pp. 1-60). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.