ALBERT BANDURA´S

THEORIES
Bandura Social Learning
This theory studies the process of learning by observation among people.

The theory is based on the fact that there are types of learning in which direct reinforcement is not the
main teaching mechanism.

Social learning (1977) is based on classical conditioning and operant conditioning. However, he adds two
important ideas:

● Mediation processes occur between stimuli and responses.

● Behavior is learned from the environment through the process of learning by observation.
The mediation processes
Observational learning occurs through cognitive processes.

People do not automatically observe the behavior of a model and imitate it. There is a thought process
before imitation and it is called a mediation process. This occurs between the observation of behavior
(stimulus) and the imitation or not of it (response).
Albert Bandura
According to Bandura, knowledge is variable, built in interaction with others and with the environment.

Teacher: model, facilitator, motivator.

The pairs are an important part of the process, models.

Student: active construction with others and with himself. Think, explain, interpret, inquire. Active social
participant.
Learning by observation
Children copy their models (family, friends or characters). They code their behavior and then imitate
them. Identification with a model, different to imatition.

Good and bad, however it is more common to copy the behaviors that society awards.

The reinforcement of the behavior can be external (parents, friends) or internal (happiness to be
approved).

Vicarious reinforcement, learn by observing the consequences of another's behavior,

 4 steps of the mediation processes:
1. Attention: It is the measure in which we observe the behavior of others. In order for us to imitate a
behavior, it must first capture our attention. Attention is extremely important so that behavior has
enough influence on us to want to imitate it. The model influences it.
2. Retention: Without retention, the learning of the behavior would not be established, and it is possible
that the new model will have to be observed again, since we were not able to store the information
about the behavior.
3. Reproduction: Ability to perform the behavior of the model. We are limited by our physical and even
mental capacity, therefore, even wanting to reproduce a behavior, sometimes we can not. This
influences our decisions to try to imitate or not, so the practice of behavior is important.
4. Motivation: Willingness to perform a behavior. The rewards and punishments that follow a behavior
will be valued by the observer before imitating it.
Criticisms of Social Learning Theory
It is limited to describing behavior solely in terms of nature or experiences, and underestimates the
complexity of human behavior. It is more likely that a person's behavior is due to an interaction between
nature (biology) and experience (environment).

An example that does not include the theory is the discovery of mirror neurons and their relationship
with imitation that emphasizes the importance of the biological component in learning.
 Autoregulation
It serves to control our own behavior. Bandura suggests three steps:

● Self-observation. We see ourselves, our behavior and take clues to it.

● Judgment. We compare what we see with a standard. For example, we can compare our actions with
traditionally established ones. Or we can create some new ones, like "I'll study for the test a week
before". Or we can compete with others, or with ourselves.
● Self-response. If we have done well in the comparison with our standard, we give ourselves reward
responses. If we do not get it right, we will give ourselves self-punishment answers. These
self-responses can go from the most obvious extreme (say something bad or work late), to the other
more covert (feelings of pride or shame).
Self-regulation contains the self-concept (self-esteem)

If over the years, we see that we have acted more or less according to our standards and have had a life
full of personal rewards and praises, we will have a nice self-concept (high self-esteem). If, otherwise, we
have always seen ourselves as unable to reach our standards and punishing ourselves for it, we will have
a poor self-concept (low self-esteem).

Behaviorists generally consider reinforcement as effective and punishment as something full of

problems. The same goes for self-punishment. Bandura sees three possible outcomes of excessive
self-punishment:
● Compensation. For example, a complex of superiority and delusions of grandeur.
● Inactivity. Apathy, boredom, depression.
● Escape. Drugs and alcohol, television, fantasies or even the most radical escape, suicide.
Bandura's recommendations for people
suffering from poor self-concepts
Arise directly from the three steps of self-regulation:

Concerning self-observation. know yourself!. Make sure you have an accurate picture of your behavior.
Concerning the standards. Make sure your standards are not set too high. Do not we embark in a road to
failure. But too low standards also lack meaning.
Concerning the self-response. Use personal rewards, not self-punishments. Celebrate your victories, do
not deal with your failures.
Teacher self-efficacy
The conviction that teachers have of their skills and abilities to promote learning in students.

Tschannen-Moran et al. (1998)

Contributed significantly to the construct of teacher self-efficacy defining the teacher's effectiveness as
the ability to promote student participation and learning, despite the demotivation and behavioral
problems presented by the students.
DAVID AUSUBEL´S THEORIES
David Ausubel and the meaningful learning.
When teaching, you must find out what the student knows in order to know the logic behind their way of
thinking and act accordingly.

For Ausubel, teaching was a process by which the student is helped to continue increasing and perfecting
the knowledge he already has, instead of imposing a curriculum that must be memorized. Education could
not be a unilateral data transmission.
Meaningful learning
The new learnings connect with the previous ones; not because they are the same, but because together
they can create a new meaning.

New knowledge fits into the old one, and at the same time, it is reconfigured by the former. Neither the
new learning is assimilated in the literal way in which it appears in the curricula, nor the old knowledge
remains unchanged. The new information assimilated makes the previous knowledge more stable and
complete.
The Theory of Assimilation
How do new knowledge integrate with previous ones?

A new information is linked to a cognitive structure with which it has a relationship. Both expand
mutually. First the new information is remembered separately but then the previous structure and the
new information as such disappear to form something new.
Learning by discovery
The psychologist and pedagogue J. Bruner (1960, 1966) develops a theory of constructivist learning,
called learning by discovery. Ausubel proposes learning by reception as the most appropriate method for
the development of meaningful learning, but Bruner believes that students should learn through guided
discovery, motivated by curiosity.

The teacher must provide material for the student to discover the problem and not explain it or give it the
finished content. This material is called scaffolding.
Learning by discovery, intends:
● Overcome the limitations of mechanistic learning.
● Encourage students to formulate intuitive assumptions that they will later try to confirm
systematically.
● Enhance metacognitive strategies and learn to learn. The educational process is as important as its
product, since developing understanding, skills and cognitive strategies is the fundamental
objective of education.
● Stimulate self-esteem and safety.
Cooperative learning
Students cooperate with each other, in groups, to build learning. The teacher directs the process,
supervising them. It is a concept of non-competitive or individualistic learning as is the traditional
method, but a collaborative mechanism that aims to develop teamwork habits, solidarity among peers,
and that students participate autonomously in their learning process.