"The FBI defines three types of terrorists: (1) a leader with a strong commitment to their groups belief system; (2) an "activist operator" who often has a criminal background and implements their groups agenda; and (3) an idealist who finds a sense of purpose in his commitment to their group." (Kressel, 82) In the field of psychology, it is the psychologists duty to try to come up with theories or correlations, which help people group and identify terrorist or terroristic behavior, quickly and consistantly. There are many common assumptions about the common terrorist, but there are no true or definite catagories to place them in. A terrorist is formed by his environment either through ways of social interaction, their economy class, media influence or simply societal expectation.The social learning theory of Bandura emphasizes the importance of observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Bandura stated that learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. He believed that most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling. From observing others he believed that one could form an idea of how new behaviors are preformed. This theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences. The social learning theory has been applied extensively to the understanding of aggression (Bandura, 1973) and psychological disorders, particularly in the context of behavior modification (Bandura, 1969). It is also the theoretical foundation for the technique of behavior modeling which is widely used in training programs. The most common examples of social learning situations are television commercials. Commercials suggest that drinking a certain beverage or using a particular hair shampoo will make us...
