What’s Social Learning Theory?

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Social learning theory (SLT) focuses on learning that occurs within a social environment and emphasizes the premise that people learn from each other through observational learning. The theory argues that individuals are strongly influenced by society’s reward and punishment systems and shape their behaviors accordingly. One of the leading proponents of social learning theory, Albert Bandura, helped shape the conjecture by incorporating aspects of cognitive and behavioral learning.

During the 1950s, American psychologist Julian Rotter first introduced social learning theory in his work Social Learning and Clinical Psychology. Rotter argued that an expected outcome for a given behavior greatly influences an individual’s actions and motivation. Bypassing a theory rooted in behaviorism and psychoanalysis, Rotter concluded that people aspire to achieve positive results for their actions while remaining aware of negative behaviors and their consequences.

In the 1970s, Bandura took Rotter’s theory a step further by incorporating Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky’s theory of social development into his formulation of the theory. According to Vygotsky, social interaction itself anticipates cognitive and behavioral development, which is the product of socialization. Bandura’s social learning theory eventually proposed that there is a mutual relationship between environmental, cognitive and behavioral influences.

According to Bandura, there are several conditions that must be met before a successful pattern of behavior can occur. The individual, also called a role model, must pay attention to and remember the behaviors exhibited by others. After witnessing a certain behavior, the model must possess the ability to reproduce the witnessed actions and demonstrate what has been learned. Theorists and proponents of Bandura’s theory insist that attention is the most significant factor in the social learning process.

The environment reinforces modeling behaviors in several ways. Initially, the model receives reinforcement from the person it is imitating as well as from third-party observers. The imitated behavior itself results in reinforcement via positive or negative consequences. Vicarious reinforcement occurs when the model’s positively reinforced behavior is repeated by a third party.

The cognitive factors associated with social learning theory are based on the model’s ability to learn, understand, form expectations, and understand cause and effect. Bandura argued that there is a distinction between learning through observation and the act of imitating what has been learned. The model must be able to understand situations, anticipate potential outcomes, and establish a correlation between response reinforcers, response punishments, and behavior.

Self-regulation and effectiveness help further reinforce positive behaviors on a personal level. The model develops the ability to distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior and makes choices accordingly. Self-regulation involves the process of setting personal standards and goals by observing, judging and reacting to the behaviors of others. Self-efficacy encourages self-confidence as the model realizes that they are able to successfully implement positive behaviors.

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