Social Learning Explains All Learning. Explain

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Social relates to activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other. Learning is the acquisition of knowledge of skills through experience, study or by being taught. Social learning is a process in which individuals observe the behaviour of others and its consequences, and modify their own behaviour accordingly. Through observing others, behaviours are performed and perceived. This in future serves as a guide for a person’s actions. Social learning or process can be applied to many but not all of a person’s traits. The process of social learning can be accidental or on purpose. Albert Bandura, the founder of social learning theory (SLT) which later became social cognitive theory (SCT), asserts that learning occurs through observation and modelling. Observation is the act of careful watching and listening. Modelling is a miniature representation of something. When learning by observation is taking place, cognitive processes are functioning simultaneously. This is the knowledge of how people use their knowledge. Their cognitive process will then determine goals set, predicted outcomes and evaluation of performance. Learning however is not merely about imitation but also classical and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs when two stimuli is repeatedly paired to elicit a result when one stimuli is introduce. Operant conditioning is a process of behaviour modification in which the likelihood of a specific behaviour is increased or decreased through positive or negative reinforcement. Learning begins as a child, and children are heavily reliant on observation. Observational learning suggests that an individual’s environment, cognition and behaviour all integrate and ultimately determine how the individual functions, (Bandura 1971). Suppose a young boy ‘Kudzi’
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