Social learning theory: This theory was made famous by Albert Bandura and states that social behavior is learned primarily by observing and imitating the actions of others.

Some may know him as the behaviorist who conducted the Bobo doll experiment in 1961.

 

 

In this clip, Sonny can be seen playing a prank by placing a stick on the ground where a person rollerblading is bound to cross over. The man falls into the lake to Sonny’a amusement, and this is all taken in by Julian. In the next cut, Julian is seen following Sonny’s lead and trips the man rollerblading by placing a stick in his path. Like Sonny, he finds it funny and cheers after the man falls, and is even further encouraged by Sonny saying, “That’s my boy.”

These clips from Big Daddy illustrate the social learning theory. Julian is a young child and at that age, children learn by observing others and imitating their actions. Observing a role model encourages people, especially children, to be more likely to engage in the same type of behavior. Being rewarded increases the likelihood of repeated actions. Sonny is the only adult figure in Julian’s life at the time, so he is constantly taking in information and learning to act in a similar way. He doesn’t know what is right and what is wrong unless someone he looks up to tells him so. Since no one taught him that tripping someone is a bad action, he feels no remorse for his actions. By copying Sonny’s mean actions and being rewarded with a smile and favorable comments, Julian is encouraged more and this is essentially the social learning theory. He is engaging in behavior that he learned in a social setting and from a figure that he looks up to.

This is seen often in today’s society, where people copy the behavior of others because they were not told that it is wrong. Common examples are stealing, making fun of others, and cheating. If the person is not caught, they are also more likely to engage in the same behavior. Social learning theory can encourage both positive and negative actions.