What is Alfred Bandura known for?
For almost six decades, he has been responsible for contributions to the field of education and to many fields of psychology, including social cognitive theory, therapy, and personality psychology, and was also influential in the transition between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. He is known as the originator of social learning theory (renamed the social cognitive theory) and the theoretical construct of self-efficacy, and is also responsible for the influential 1961 Bobo doll experiment. Social cognitive theory is how people learn through observing others.
An example of social cognitive theory would be the students imitating the teacher. Self-efficacy is “the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations.” To paraphrase, self-efficacy is believing in yourself to take action. The Bobo Doll Experiment was how Albert Bandura studied aggression and non-aggression in children.
A 2002 survey ranked Bandura as the fourth most-frequently cited psychologist of all time, behind B. F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, and Jean Piaget, and as the most cited living one.[1] Bandura is widely described as the greatest living psychologist,[2][3][4][5] and as one of the most influential psychologists of all time.[6][7] In 1974 Bandura was elected to be the Eighty-Second President of the American Psychological Association (APA). He was one of the youngest president-elects in the history of the APA at the age of 48. Bandura served as a member of the APA Board of Scientific Affairs from 1968 to 1970 and is well known as a member of the editorial board of nine psychology journals including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology from 1963 to 1972.[8] At the age of 82, Bandura was awarded the Grawemeyer Award for psychology.
Professor Bandura is an innovative scholar whose pioneering work in social cognitive theory has served as a rich resource for academics, practitioners, and policy makers alike across disciplinary lines. His illustrative career includes groundbreaking work across a broad range of areas. His seminal research on social modeling expanded our view of human learning and the growing primacy of this mode of learning in this electronic era. His later research on self-regulatory mechanisms, and the influential role of perceived self-efficacy in self-development, adaptation and change, laid the theoretical foundation for his theory of human agency. These diverse programs of research blend his theoretical interests with an abiding concern for the use of our knowledge for human enlightenment and betterment.
Bandura’s contributions to psychology have been recognized in the countless scientific awards and honorary degrees he has received. In addittion he was elected to the Order of Canada, the highest honor for national distinguished achievements, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Medal of Science, the most prestigious scientific award in the United States, bestowed by President Obama.
Albert Bandura is an influential social cognitive psychologist who is perhaps best-known for his social learning theory, the concept of self-efficacy, and his famous Bobo doll experiments. He is a Professor Emeritus at Stanford University and is widely regarded as one of the greatest living psychologists.
