Smith 1

Geoff Smith
Education Psychology
Professor Mark Hawkes
28 November 2012
Social Learning Theory
Ever wonder why infants smile when their parents smile, repeat words just said,
or mimic other peoples movements? A psychology professor from Stanford University,
Albert Bandura, explains all of these actions within the social learning theory. One facet
of the social learning theory is behavior modeling, an infant repeating certain words to
their grandparents on the next phone call, which they heard their parents say to the
telemarketer, is an example. Social learning theory is important learning theory for
educators because; actions and lack of actions by the teachers and peers directly influence
the behavior of students. Social learning affects students positively and negatively both in
and outside the classroom by their teachers and other students.
Social learning theory in the classroom, defined by Albert Bandura, explains that
children are always observing and learning within a social context and environment
through modeling and observational learning. Although, modeling and observational
learning have completely different meanings, the ideas are extremely close and in most
cases come hand in hand. Modeling is the idea that people develop certain behaviors by
observing others and then copy what they have seen. According to, Saul McLeod a
psychologist from Wigan and Leigh College, stated that one of the most famous studies
on modeling involved Bandura and an inflatable egg shape Bobo doll (McLeod, 2011).
McLeod later explained in the experiment that Bandura sat children in front of a window

Smith 2
as they watch a woman beat and yell at the Bobo doll (McLeod, 2011). After watching
the woman, the children are lead to an observational playroom with the exact replica of
the Bobo doll that the woman was using. Soon after entering the room, the students
proceeded to hit the doll just as the woman did, even yelling at it (McLeod, 2011).
Bandura uses a live model, people in learners immediate environment to portray a
certain behavior that the children understand and mimic. This study explains that people
learn and model an extreme amount by observing others behaviors. Live models are not
the only kind of potential models out there, symbolic models can have the same
beneficial and non-beneficial effects on the students in and outside the classroom.
Symbolic models consist of real or fictional characters in movies, books, on
television, and through different types of media. For example, students can learn
respected and valued lessons from watching characters in a movie or by reading about a
historical figure completing a great challenge. These lessons by the models present a
good example for students to observe and later follow and reenact in the classroom.
Teachers will recognize that good role models implemented in the classroom will present
a great opportunity for the students to have positive observation learning. For example,
Mr. Johnson the third grade math teacher, verbally praising Timmy for picking up
garbage that was on the ground, and putting it in the trash can. Later on that day, Johnny
picked up a gum wrapper and threw it away because Timmy got rewarded for it earlier.
Though peer models tend to be more influential than teachers are, teachers still set high
pro-social behaviors for the students to observe. The decisions of the teacher and peers
reflect directly how the student may act in the classroom. If they see the teacher dressing
and acting professional, students are more likely to model the behavior and treat peers

Smith 3
and other adults with respect and courtesy. While observing others and mimicking them,
students are likely to obtain interpersonal behaviors such as pro-social behavior. This
behavior helps students to understand compassion, share possessions with others, and
empathy. On the contrary, if students are acting foolish and carelessly, the students are
likely to mimic. If immoral behaviors are in the classroom such as cheating on exams and
assignments, students will have a hard time not observing and practicing them. For
instance, if Timmy walked right past the garbage on the ground in Mr. Johnsons
classroom, it is likely that Johnny would have done the same. Modeling is a powerful
concept that teachers can use in the classroom to present respected and moral values to
the students from their behavior. In order for modeling to work, students must first be
paying attention to the model and follow a process.
In order to learn anything and have the model process be successful the students
must understand and complete the four steps of the process, which are attention,
retention, reproduction, and motivation. The student must give the model full attention
and any distraction could result in a negative observational leaning. One way of
increasing attention is by repetition of the information presented. In the classroom, the
teacher will revise the information multiple times so the students are exposed to it and
they will have a higher chance of retaining the information. While presenting the
information the teacher must remember the strengths and weaknesses of the students to
achieve the highest chances or retention.
Second part of the process is retention, retaining that information so it can be
stored and used later more importantly by storing it in long-term memory. When the
information is given to students in a visual and verbal message, students are more

Smith 4
capable of remembering the information and storing in in the long-term memory. For
example, while teachers are explaining a certain task they may want to perform the task
while talking to give the student a chance to visualize and listen to master the skill. For
more complex tasks, the teacher may want to bring a descriptive visual to aid the students
to finish the task. For instance, if students are just learning the alphabet the teacher may
bring in certain pictures or diagrams to help them. Bringing in certain items like an apple,
a picture of a horse, or opening the window to show the sun would give the students the
opportunity to link a visual and verbal model to understand the alphabet. After retaining
the information to long-term memory, the student must have motor reproduction skills to
perform the task
Motor reproduction is the third part of the condition of learning through modeled
behavior process, which explains that the student must be physically capable in order to
model the behavior shown. Obviously, a first grader watching a high school football
player throwing the ball thirty yards is something that is far out of his reach, but most
things there are is. Throwing the football thirty yards is difficult for the first grader
because of the lack of muscular strength and coordination to replicate the thrown.
Students have different levels of abilities and strengths in their motor reproduction.
Teachers must understand the strength and weaknesses of each student and evolve their
teaching accordingly. Knowing these important attributes will help the teacher to
recognize and help their student achieve the task. If the teacher knows that a certain
student has trouble dribbling the ball and handles instruction in front of the class, the
teacher will help them directly with the dribbling. All of these parts of the model process
are achieved if there is motivation for the student to demonstrate the test.

Smith 5
The fourth step after attention, retention, motor reproduction, is motivation.
People set short and long-term goals and choose certain actions to achieve them.
Motivation determines which goals humans choose to act upon, notes Ellis in her book
her book (Ormrod, 2006). For instance, motivation can help the student stay home on a
Friday night and study for a big test instead of playing video games all night. Motivation
comes in two main forms, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is more beneficial
to the student than extrinsic and meets goals quicker (Ormrod, 2006). Students
motivated by factors within themselves are engaged in certain actives that may give them
pleasure, gain an important skill, or morally correct. Extrinsic motivations are factors
that are external and most often unrelated to the task (Ormrod, 2006). Students who are
extrinsic motivated are likely to want money, good grades, or praise for completing the
task. They are motivated because they see a means to an end, a reward at finish line. With
motivation comes with another important part of the social learning theory and that is
self-efficacy
Self-efficacy described, by Ellis, as the belief that one is able of executing
certain tasks or obtaining certain goals (Ormrod, 2006). Teachers must understand that
some students may have low self-efficacy. These students may believe that even after
instruction and practice they will not be able to perform certain tasks. This situation may
be troubling for the teacher to find a solution but not impossible. For example if the
student is having trouble remembering the order of the planets, the teacher may suggest a
mnemonic device, can help raise their self-efficacy. A famous mnemonic device for the
planets is the sentence; my very eager mother just served us nuggets. Students with high
self-efficacy lead them to engage in effective cognitive learning which involves paying

Smith 6
attention, organizing, and setting goals. When students already believe in their mind that
they can achieve a task or goal, they are already in the drivers seat to succeed. Outside of
their mind, social factors play a role in the development of self-efficacy. Seeing peers
completing tasks successfully will give the student a visual and verbal aid on completing
the activity. In addition, words of inspiration and recommendation about how to improve
can raise self-efficacy. With peers adding in the role of students self-efficacy, it is only
natural that students will often raise their self-efficacy when working with a group to
perform a task rather than alone.
The environment around people can influence their learning and behavior, but
with some limits. Students make decisions and evaluate their own learning and
behaviors. In a sense, they practice self-regulation, which is the final component of
behavior in the social learning theory. The definition provided by Ellis is the process of
taking control of your learning and behavior (Ormrod, 2006). There are multiple parts
of self-regulation and it starts with goals. Setting goals is important so that the person
has a certain idea on how to accomplish the certain task. Next are self-instructions,
which help to lead ones while performing the task (Ormrod, 2006). Following by selfmonitoring by the student to observe and understand progress towards the goal. Finally
with judgment of the students performance which is self-evaluation. The individual
ultimately observes the behavior, make changes, and draws a conclusion with a
performance evaluation.
Teachers are an important role in helping and improving the students
development and understanding of good self-regulation. A teacher should encourage the
students to set short and long-term goals for them to gain self-efficacy and continue to

Smith 7
monitor and evaluate their progress. This will give the students a chance to build on their
work. For example, if each student reaches three books read by the end of the trimester,
they can have three more minutes of recess time. In doing this the teacher and students
work together on accomplishing a main goal and allows them to regulate, observe, and
judge the performance of the class.
Social learning theory is an important part of the learning process. Students learn
astonishing amount of information from modeling and observing others. Modeling, selfefficacy, and self-regulation are all important parts of the social-learning theory. Teachers
must be cautious of the visual they present to the students and keep in mind that they are
always watching.

Smith 8
Works Cited

Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis. Essentials of Educational Psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall, 2006. Print
McLeod, Saul. "Bobo Doll Experiment." Bobo Doll Experiment. N.p., 2011. Web. 27
Nov. 2012. <http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html>.