Dr. Albert Bandura, Stanford Social Psychology Professor Emeritus and considered one of the top 100 psychologists of the 20th century, passed away in July. He is widely credited with greatly informing the field of learning through a number of distinct but interconnected theories.

Social Cognitive Theory

Through this comprehensive theory, Dr. Bandura moved beyond the notion that we are driven according Pavlov’s dog responses – operant conditioning through stimulus and response. He held that humans were much more complex, and they interacted socially and cognitively through interaction with self-others-environment. His social cognitive theory is the broad framework from which many graduate students in instructional design build their dissertation studies.

Social Learning Theory

Dr. Bandura stipulated the requirements for effective learning from others. Social learning is also called “vicarious learning”, and it has been used as the basis to determine if and how we socially learned from avatars as compared to human beings.

Self-Regulation Theory

Dr. Bandura wrote on how we as humans operate in our world. Essentially, how we ‘self-regulate’ our behavior to engage in life. This idea helps researchers look at variables such as how avatars might impact our emotions, attitudes, and motivation, leading us to conduct our lives in specific ways.

Self-Efficacy Theory

Dr. Bandura said that our belief in our ability to do specific things is also at the heart of how we self-regulate. After looking at the impact of different avatar ‘perspectives’ and life experiences on learners, studies have shown that “I can do it!” avatars motivate learners to perform better than an “I think I can – I think I can” avatars. They hold that the reason is not because we socially learned from avatars, but because learners can be intimidated by an “I can do it!” avatar.

In significant ways, Dr. Albert Bandura helped mold effective instructional designers as a mentor to many, and a mighty contributor to the field of psychology. Click here to read more about his life.

Written by Sue Ebbers, Ph.D. and published in 2021.

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