The Theories of Albert Bandura Essay -- Behaviorism Behavioral Psychol

The Theories of Albert Bandura Albert Bandura was influenced by behaviorism while at the University of Iowa studying for his PhD in the early 1950s, he developed his own theories called reciprocal determinism, he believed that not only does the environment influence behavior, but behavior influences the environment, or to put it in his own words ’the world and a persons behavior cause each other‘. Bandura is often considered a ‘father’ of the cognitive movement, he looked at personality as three things that interact, the environment, behaviour and the person’s psychological processes. The psychological processes consisted of language and the ability to use our minds imagery. It was really at this stage in his life that he moved from being a behaviourist and became a cognitivist. Bandura carried out hundreds of studies but the ones that stand out more to me than any others, are the Bobo doll (a inflatable doll of Bobo the clown, with a weight in the bottom so it will stand back up when you hit it) studies. (Bandura Ross and Ross 1961) Bandura made a film of one of his female students being aggressive in actions and words towards a Bobo doll. This film was then shown to kindergarten children, who were then left to play with a Bobo doll, a lot of the children proceeded to imitate the aggressive behaviour towards the Bobo doll, they had witnessed the student carrying out. To counter criticisms that the children are just doing what comes naturally, as Bobo dolls were designed to be hit, he made another film of the woman beating up a real clown, when this was shown to children and then they were left in a room with a live... ...rcial and buy that particular product. Bandura’ s Social Learning Theory also has an important role in the study of aggression and criminal behaviour. To control aggression, he believed ‘family members and the mass media should provide positive role models for their children and the general public’ (Bandura, 1976). This statement is what influenced me to read about social learning theory, and Bandura in particular. Bibliography Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of aggressions through imitation of aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575-582 Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press. Bandura, A., & Ribes-Inesta, Emilio. (1976). Analysis of Delinquency and Aggression. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, INC: New Jersey