Unit 16—Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory

Front 1

Define and give examples of observational learning

Back 1

Bandura believes that observation allows people to learn without performing any behaviour. Assumption of social cognitive theory: people learn through observing. Diff from Skinner: reinforcement not essential to learning.More efficient than learning through direct experience.Learning through observation people are spared countless responses that might be followed by punishment or reinforcement. Ex. observe characters on tv.

Front 2

A) Modeling: Core of observational learning.

Back 2

Def_ adding and subtracting from observed behaviour and generalizing from one observation to another.Mimicry or imitation”Factors: 1) Characteristics of model are important. High status people, competent. Powerful.2) Characteristics of the observer. Lack status, skill or power are most likely to model.3) Consequences of the behaviour being modeled. Greater the value more like ly the observer will acquire the behaviour.

Front 3

List and define the processes governing observational learning.

1) Attention
2) Representation
3) Behavioural Production
4) Motivation

Back 3

1) B4 we model we must first attend to that person. Factors that regulate attention:
More chances to observe people with whom we frequently associate. Attractive models are more likely to be observed. 2) Response patterns must be symbolically represented in memory. Verbal coding speeds the process of observational learning but not necc.3) 3rd step: we produce behaviour.4) Observational learning most effective if person is motivated.

Front 4

Define Bandura's concept of triadic reciprocal causation.

Back 4

Assumption: human action is a result of an interaction among 3 variables 1) Environment2) Behaviour3) Person: includes cognitive factors like memory.People have capacity to re-structure their environment.Cognition determines which environmental events people attend to.
What value they place on these events and how they organize these events for future use.Cognition is formed by behaviour and environment. Includes: Gender, physical attractiveness, social position, size and cognitive factors.Reciprocal relationship. Do not need to be of equal strength.

Front 5

Define and discuss Bandura's concept of human agency.

Back 5

Bandura: people are self-regulating, proactive, self-reflective, and self-organizing. They have power to influence their own actions to produce desired consequences.
Does not mean : people are able to make decisions that are consistent with their view of self. Nor does it mean that people react automatically to external and internal events.
It is an active process of exploring, manipulating and influencing the environment in order to attain desired outcomes.

Front 6

Define and discuss Bandura's concept of human agency.
con't ...
a) Intentionality
b) Forethought
c) self-reactiveness
d) self-reflectiveness

Back 6

Core features:

a) acts a person performs intentionally. includes: planning. b) set goals to anticipate likely outcomes of their actions c) Goals must be specific. within a person’s ability to achieve them, not too far in the future. d) Think about and evaluate their motivations, values and meaning of their lives.

Front 7

Define and give examples of self-efficacy.

Back 7

people’s beliefs in their capability to exercise some control over their own functioning and over environmental events. Foundation of human agency.. Not: the expectation of our actions outcomes. Efficacy refers to people’s confidence the person has ability to perform certain behaviour. vs Outcomes: one’s prediction of the likely consequences of that behaviour. Differ from: Not the ability to execute execute basic motor skills. NOr imply that we can perform without anxiety, fear,. Can have self efficacy in one area but not others. Varies from situation to situation.

Front 8

High and low Self-Efficacy combine with responsive/unresponsive environment to produce four predictive variables:

1) LE and RE
2) HE and UR
3) HE and RE
4) LE and UR

Back 8

1) be depressed. See others successful in task

2) Intensify efforts to change environment social activism.

3) people are successful

4) feel apathy, helplessness and resignation.

Front 9

Describe the following source of self-efficacy:

1) Mastering Experiences

Back 9

1) Most influential source.
Successful personal performance raises efficacy expectancies ; failures tend to lower them.
a) Success raises SE in proportion to the difficulty of the task.
b) Tasks successfully accomplished by self are more efficacious than those completed with the help of others.

c) Failure decrease E when we know that we put forth our best effort.

d) Failure under conditions of high emotional arousal or distress are not as self-debilitating as failure under maximal conditions.

e) Failure prior to establishing sense of mastery is more determinant to feelings of personal efficacy than later failure.

f) occasional failure has little effect of efficacy especially for people with high expectancy of success.

Front 10

Describe the following source of self-efficacy:

2) Social Modelling

Back 10

2) Aka vicarious experience provided by other people. SE raised when we observe the accomplishments of another person of equal competence. Dissimilar person will have little effect on SE.
Not as strong as personal performance.
Can last a lifetime.

Front 11

Describe the following source of self-efficacy:

3) Social Persuasion

Back 11

3) Limited effects of this source. But persuasion can raise or lower SE. Conditions needed for this to happen include: Person believe persuader. Exhortations and criticisms from credible source have more power.
Boosting self efficacy only occurs if activity person is trying to complete is with their own repertoire of behaviour. (Can’t run 100 m in 8 sec just because of verbal persuasion). Power of suggestion is related to the perceived status and authority of the persuader. More effective with successful performance. Persuasion may convince person to attempt activity. If both accomplishment and subsequent verbal rewards will increase future efficacy.

Front 12

Describe the following source of self-efficacy:

4) Physical and Emotional States

Back 12

4) Strong emotion lowers performance, when experience intense fear, acute anxiety, or high levels of stress. Moderate anxiety can increase performance. However reduction in anxiety can improve performance. Higher arousal the lower the SE. Nature of task plays factor. If emotional arousal may facilitate completion of simple tasks, but interfere with complex task.

Front 13

Describe the sources of self-efficacy:

Back 13

1) mastery experiences

2) social modeling

3) social persuasion

4) physical and emotional states

Front 14

Describe Bandura's approach to understanding dysfunctional behavior.

Back 14

________ is learned through the mutual interaction of the person (including cognitive and neurophysiological processes), the environment (including interpersonal relations), and behavioral factors (especially previous experiences with reinforcement).