ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that learning occurs socially in terms of the modelling and imitation of specific tasks and behaviours but more importantly, it makes the claim that learning is highly contextual in nature and is dependent largely on the prior knowledge of the learner and also on the way in which tasks are modelled. Social learning theory grew out of the efforts of Albert Bandura and R. Walters to explain how children acquired information and behavior by observing people in natural settings. Initially they investigated youngsters’ simple imitation of common responses, such as aggression, by a model. Specific knowledge matters more than agen terms of cognitive functioning, social learning theorists take the view that a child’s level of task-specific knowledge is a critical factor rather than their age, and that this knowledge is based on their prior experience with family members and peers.
