Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory

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Another theory that is relevant to the study is Albert Bandura’s (1977) Social Learning Theory. Unlike the experiential learning theory which is more focused on how the environment influence the behavior of the individual, the social learning theory is established on the premise that we learn from our interactions with others in a social context. Moreover, by examining the behaviors of others, people tend to replicate and develop similar behaviors, especially if their observational experiences are positive ones which includes benefits related to the observed behavior. New approaches of social learning are being formulated as new trends in distance education programs continue to emerge. The rise in popularity of these programs continues to escalate as the physical distance between educators and students (Smith & Berge, 2009). Throughout the years the social learning theory has steadily been recognized as one of the most influential theory of learning and development. It is because of its deep entrenchment in many of the basic concepts of traditional learning theory. This theory has often called as thelinkbetween behaviorist learning theories and cognitive learning theories for the reason that it encompasses all traditional approaches, e.g. attention, memory, and motivation (Muro& Jeffrey 2008).However, Bandurastrongly considers the factthat not all the time that direct reinforcement couldexplain in detail for all types of learning. To solve that dilemmahe then

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