Bandura, Albert
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Commentary
Albert Bandura (1925- ) is widely recognised as the founder of social learning theory. In the 1960s, Bandura's research focused on the foundations of human learning and the willingness of children and adults to imitate behaviour observed in others, in particular, aggression. In 1963, together with colleagues Dorothea and Sheila Ross, Bandura conducted an influential study on children’s willingness to imitate aggression presented in a film. This was later to be remembered as the bobo doll experiment.
Bandura’s work is highly cited – he is believe to be the fourth most cited Psychologist of all time. His work was influential in the behaviourist to cognitive shift in the 1980s and his development of Social Learning Theory.