Bandura’s social cognitive learning theory

In the early 1960s, Bandura’s classic Bobo doll experiments [link or embed video] showed how children mimic or model actions and behavior by watching adults engaging in them. Informed by these experiments, Bandura’s (1977) social cognitive learning theory argues that behavior is learned from a young person’s environment and the process of observing. For example, a teen might watch her friend sharing photos and meeting other teens on a smartphone app, and she decides that she wants to use this app in similar ways.

Recent research evidence has shown that young people are not just copying what they see; the act of observation helps them make deep inferences about the physical world (Wang, et al., 2015). They learn the consequences of their actions and create mental models of how things work to make predictions. Bandura’s social cognitive theory also has connections to Vygotsky with its emphasis on children learning through observation and imitation of more skilled individuals. When adults or other people provide models of behavior, learning is enhanced when that person frequently interacts with a young person (Bandura, 1977). They may also be more motivated to imitate those perceived as similar to them, such as those from the same gender. As such, mentors may play a significant role in learning.

Social cognitive learning theory is frequently referenced in the argument that children are highly influenced by behavior they see in different media. Bandura’s early research suggested that children can act aggressively in part by the influences of violent television media (Bandura, 1965). However, recent evidence coming from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center finds that programming like Sesame Street can provide educational and learning opportunities for young people (Hetherington et al., 2003). In today’s digital media saturated world, can exposure to certain media like video games have an effect on tweens and teens? In our section on Video games and youth development we explore this issue further.