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Like behaviorists, Albert Bandura (1925–) believed that the physical and social environments are important, but he also advocated for the role of thought and emotion as contributors to development. According to Bandura’s social learning theory, children actively process information—they think and they feel emotion—and their thoughts and feelings influence their behavior. The physical and social environment influences children’s behavior through their effect on their thoughts and emotions. For example, the teenager who breaks his curfew and is met by upset parents may experience remorse, which may then make him less likely to come home late in the future. In this example, the social environment (a discussion with upset parents) influenced the teen’s thoughts and emotions (feeling bad for upsetting his parents), which then influenced the teen’s behavior (not breaking curfew in the future). In other words, our thoughts and emotions about the consequences of our behavior influence our future behavior. We do not need to experience punishment or reinforcement to change our behavior (Bandura, 2012). We can learn by thinking about the potential consequences of our actions.

One of Bandura’s most enduring ideas about development is that people learn through observing and imitating others, which he referred to as observational learning (Bandura, 2010). This finding suggests that children who observe violence rewarded, such as a child grabbing (and successfully obtaining) another child’s toy, may imitate what they see and use aggressive means to take other children’s toys. People also learn by observing the consequences of others’ actions. A child observer might be less likely to imitate a child who takes another child’s toy if the aggressor is scolded by a teacher and placed in timeout. Observational learning is one of the most powerful ways in which we learn.

Bandura believed that children are active contributors to their development as described by his concept of reciprocal determinism, according to which individuals’ personal characteristics, behaviors, and environments interact and influence each other (Bandura, 2011). Children’s characteristics determine their behavior and the environments they seek. Children who are athletically inclined (personal characteristic) tend to engage in sports activities (behavior) and seek out environments that support their athletic interests, such as groups of children who play sports, like softball or dodgeball. Environments (children’s softball team), in turn, influence children’s personal characteristics (interest in athletic ability) and behaviors (playing softball). This is an example of the complex interplay among person, behavior, and physical and social environment that underlies much of what we will discuss throughout this book.

Behaviorist theories have made important contributions to understanding child development. Concepts such as observational learning, reinforcement, and punishment hold implications for parents, teachers, and anyone who works with children. Social learning theory and reciprocal determinism offer a more complex explanation for development and behavior than do behaviorist theories. We will revisit these concepts in later chapters.