Liberty University

Course: EDUC 701 Advanced Research and Theory

Social Cognitive Theory, Albert Bandura, Bobo Doll:

Observational Learning: Bobo Doll Experiment and Social Cognitive Theory

It would be best to watch how you behave when little kids are around. Why? Because children
can observe your bad behavior and learn from doing this.

Albert Bandura (psychologist) did a psychological experiment with the Bobo Doll:
 A Bobo Doll is a blow-up doll that you can punch.
 Experiment took place in 1965.
 The experiment: A group of children works on an arts and craft project in a
laboratory. Then a man walks in and starts punching the Bobo Doll. He was
aggressive toward the doll and shouting, “Hit it, kick it.” He did this for 10
minutes, and some of the children observed the behavior, and others didn’t
phase them.
 The second phase is to frustrate the kids. They gave the kids a puzzle that was
impossible to solve. They observed how the kids reacted to the frustration.
 In the room filled with toys, they leave the Bobo doll. When they enter the room,
many of the kids hit the doll. Many were hitting it and yelling, “Hit it, kick it.”
 Conclusion: kids can learn from the behavior people exhibit. They use the
experiment to support not having kids watch violent video games, etc.
 Not all the kids were aggressive toward the doll, although many were.
 They performed another experiment to determine why the kids did not hit the
doll. They set up a TV in a laboratory. On TV, the kids saw the Bobo doll and
someone being aggressive toward the doll. After the video, the kids saw a person
being punished for hurting the doll.
 The kids were placed into the room again with toys. Some kids once again hit and
kicked the doll in the room. However, some kids still did not want to hit the doll.
So, the researchers bribed the kids that did not hit the doll with stickers and
candy. If the kids could imitate the behavior that they saw on TV.
o The kids were able to imitate the behavior they saw on TV. This is called
Learning-Performance Distinction.
o Learning-Performance Distinction states that learning behavior and
performing a behavior are two different things.
 You can learn a behavior and not perform the behavior. However,
not completing the behavior doesn’t mean you did not learn it.
 A kid can learn bad behavior and not perform it. This can be used
in debates concerning video games, etc.
 Bandura devised the Social Cognitive Theory:
 o Ask yourself, am I motivated or A, M, I, Motivated
 Attention
 Memory
 Imitation
 Motivation
 Example: You are learning how to draw a star. First, you must have an attention span
long enough to go through the movement of drawing the star. Second, you must have a
memory to memorize the movements in drawing the star. Third, you must be able to
imitate the drawing. Lastly, you need to be motivated to draw the star.
Chapter 4 Social Cognitive Theory (Schunk, 2020)
Schunk, D. H. (2020). Learning theories: An educational perspective [8th ed.]. Pearson.

Albert Bandura proposed that much human learning occurs in a social environment. The name
of his theory was the social cognitive theory. The social environment included elements that
allowed most learning from classrooms, peers, colleagues, groups, schools, and communities. It
is noted that we do learn by ourselves as well. (pg125)

Reciprocal interactions pg127. Bandura and triadic reciprocality: reciprocal interactions among
behavior, environment, and personal variables such as cognitions encompassed human
behavior.
 Perceived self-efficacy: a personal variable or beliefs about one’s capabilities to organize
and implement actions necessary to learn or perform behaviors at designated levels.
 Research on Ss with learning disabilities has demonstrated the interaction between self-
efficacy and environmental factors.
o Personenvironment: a person may think that a special needs Ss cannot learn
and provide lower academic expectations for the person. Judging the Ss as less
capable.
o Environment  person: a teacher or parent saying, “You can do it.” This will
likely make the student feel more confident in performing the behavior.
o Environmentbehavior: Student’s behavior often alters the structural
environment.
o Behaviorenvironment: A teacher may reteach a topic rather than continue if
students give the wrong answer.

See figure 4.1 for triadic reciprocality model.

Enactive and Vicarious Learning pg128. Learning occurs either enactive (doing) or vicariously
(observing).
Enactive learning:
 Learning from the consequences of one’s actions.
 Behaviors that result in success are retained, and those with negative
results are refined or discarded.
  Behavior consequences serve as a source of information and motivation.
 Consequences motivate people. They also inform people of the accuracy
or appropriateness of behavior.
Vicarious learning:
 Much human learning occurs this way without learner performance.
 Requires listening or observing who are live (appear in person), cartoon
characters, electronics, or in print.
 Complex skills are learned through a combination of observation and
performance.
Self-regulation pg129. Agency manifests itself in intentional acts, cognitive processes, and
affective processes. Self-regulation is the process in which individuals actively and sustain
behaviors, cognitions, and effects…which are systematically oriented toward the attachment of
goals.
 Self-regulation leads to a greater sense of social agency.
Modeling Process
Critical to social cognitive theory refers to behavioral, cognitive, and affective changes. Modeling
was associated with imitation but needs to be considered more inclusive.

Instinct pg130. The idea that people possessed the instinct to copy or imitate others. Discarded
by behaviorists because it assumed the existence of an internal drive to copy. Watson believed
that behaviors labeled instinct were learned.
Development pg131. Children imitate actions that fit with existing cognitive structures. There is
little support for this position. Children imitate what they can understand.
Conditioning pg131. Behaviors are imitated and reinforced through shaping. Imitation becomes
a generalized response class. Example of a baby saying “Dada.” And family clapping and
cheering when the baby says the word.
Instrumental Behavior pg131-132. Imitation becomes a secondary drive through repeated
reinforcement of responses matching those of models. Imitation results in drive reduction. This
one has some limitations because it cannot account for learning through imitation, delayed
imitation, or imitated behaviors that need to be reinforced.

See Table 4.1 Theories of Imitation.