[Solved] What is `this` inside a Backbone model?

this inside initialize is the instance of the model.

.bind is an alias for .on method inside backbone.Events module which allows you to bind event handlers on an object

change:name is just the event name, it allows you to track changes of a model’s attribute named 'name'.

initialize is a constructor method which will be called initially when you instantiate the model.

defaults is an object (or it can be a function) that sets default model attributes.

So initialize and defaults are indeed methods inside an object (except that defaults can be also a property), but they have special meaning for backbone. And that object is extended with all other methods and properties of Backbone.Model which makes it a functional model.

read more in backbone docs