SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY Albert Bandura Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1977. 247 pp., paperbound:

TLDR: In this paper, the authors integrate behaviorism with cognitive theory, explaining how people learn to behave, and propose three additional processes: vicarious learning, symbolic functioning, and self-regulatory processes.

Abstract: This is an important book. Unfortunately, it is not very readable. Except for the jargonistic academic style, the presentation would be lively and often exciting. The author is one of the best known and most respected social psychologists in the United States; the book is an integration of his most recent research and thought. Bandura’s aim is to integrate behaviorism with cognitive theory, explaining how people learn to behave. He rejects the &dquo;pure&dquo; Skinnerian view (sometimes called &dquo;radical behaviorism&dquo;), noting that &dquo;theorists who exclude the capacity for self-direction from their view of human potentialities restrict their research to external sources of influence.&dquo; Behaviorists will, of course, reject Bandura’s approach and argue that a purely behavioristic (noncognitive process) model does not necessarily assume that individuals learn only by overt behavioral experience of rewards and punishments. Bandura goes beyond direct experience by specifying three additional processes: vicarious learning (by observing); symbolic functioning (learning through conceptualization) ; and self-regulatory processes (learning through self-direction, for example, rewarding oneself for certain behavior). Bandura deals with &dquo;antecedent determinants&dquo; of behavior, that is, environmental stimuli that &dquo;indicate which outcomes particular actions are likely to produce.&dquo; In other words, expectations are created,