Social Learning Theory Essay
In 1898, Edward Thorndike accentuated the strengths and weaknesses of stimulus-response connections with the introduction of the theory of learning. The premise of Thorndike’s research implied that rewards and punishment have distinct yet an equal impact on human behaviors. However, one of the more well-known learning theorists in modern times is B.F. Skinner, who shares comparable behavioral observation as Thorndike, in that behaviors are learned as a consequence of actions. Further testing of this theory, Skinner developed the prominently distinguished Skinner box, which observed animal training and behaviors. Initially, the Skinner box was used to detect the behaviors of rats. A metal bar is positioned in an area of the experimental
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While social learning theory subscribes to an operant view that learning takes place as a result of direct environmental effects, it also accentuates that learning can also occur vicariously through observation of social, environmental effects of other people’s consequence (Bandura, 1969). “Behavior can be shaped into new patterns …practices of a culture are taught to each new member by selective reinforcement of fortuitous behaviors…most of the behaviors that people display are learned either deliberately or inadvertently, through the influence of example” (Bandura, 1976, p. 5). Brown and Duguid (2001) posit that social interactions and relationships, based on social learning, facilitate higher levels of tacit knowledge transmission. Social learning relationships are cultivated through direct contacts or from the observations of others. Effective collaborator relationships are designated as relational capital and embeddedness (Kogut & Zander, 1999), transparent with its rules, routines and norms (Chiva & Alegre, 2005). Organization behavioral theorists contend, that learning takes a bi-directional or complementary approach (either in an exchange sense between superior and subordinate, or between organizational participant and situation), but preserves a unidirectional view concerning the behavior itself (Davis & Luthans,
While social learning theory subscribes to an operant view that learning takes place as a result of direct environmental effects, it also accentuates that learning can also occur vicariously through observation of social, environmental effects of other people’s consequence (Bandura, 1969). “Behavior can be shaped into new patterns …practices of a culture are taught to each new member by selective reinforcement of fortuitous behaviors…most of the behaviors that people display are learned either deliberately or inadvertently, through the influence of example” (Bandura, 1976, p. 5). Brown and Duguid (2001) posit that social interactions and relationships, based on social learning, facilitate higher levels of tacit knowledge transmission. Social learning relationships are cultivated through direct contacts or from the observations of others. Effective collaborator relationships are designated as relational capital and embeddedness (Kogut & Zander, 1999), transparent with its rules, routines and norms (Chiva & Alegre, 2005). Organization behavioral theorists contend, that learning takes a bi-directional or complementary approach (either in an exchange sense between superior and subordinate, or between organizational participant and situation), but preserves a unidirectional view concerning the behavior itself (Davis & Luthans,