Albert Bandura

Albert Bandura OC (/bndr/; born December 4, 1925) is a psychologist who is the David Starr
Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University. 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 and the theoretical construct of self-efficacy, and is also
responsible for the influential 1961 Bobo doll experiment.
Social learning theory is how people learn through observing others. An example of social learning
theory would be the students imitating the teacher. Self-efficacy is "the belief in ones capabilities to
organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations." To
paraphrase, self-efficiacy 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, andJean 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