Plain English Meaning

A psychologist whose work showed that people learn a lot by watching others, not just by doing things themselves. He also showed that a learner's belief in their own ability to succeed strongly affects how well they actually learn.

Full Definition

Albert Bandura (1925–2021) was a Canadian-American psychologist whose social learning theory holds that people learn not only through direct experience and reinforcement, but also by observing others and modeling their behavior. He emphasized the role of cognitive processes — attention, memory, and motivation — in shaping how observed behaviors are adopted, and he introduced the concept of self-efficacy, the learner's belief in their own ability to succeed at a task.

Context Anchor

Seen in the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook during discussion of how people learn, especially learning by observation and example.