Albert Bandura

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Albert Bandura (December 4, 1925 – July 26, 2021) was a Canadian-American psychologist. He was a professor of social science in psychology at Stanford University.

Bandura was responsible for contributions to the field of education and to several fields of psychology, including social cognitive theory, therapy, and personality psychology, and was also of influence in the transition between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. He is known as the originator of social learning theory, social cognitive theory, and the theoretical construct of self-efficacy, and is also responsible for the influential 1961 Bobo doll experiment. This Bobo doll experiment demonstrated the concept of observational learning where children would watch an adult beat a doll and as a result do the same.

A 2002 survey ranked Bandura as the fourth most frequently cited psychologist of all time, behind B. F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, and Jean Piaget. During his lifetime, Bandura was widely described as the greatest living psychologist, and as one of the most influential psychologists of all time.