Social Cognitive

• Social cognitive theory emphasizes learning within a social context
• People are active agents who can influence and be influenced by their environment
• Founded by Albert Bandura, known for observational learning, self-efficacy, and reciprocal determinism
• Assumption: new behaviors are learned by observing others and the consequences of their behavior
• Imitation is likely if behavior is rewarded (positive or negative reinforcement), less likely if punished
• Children imitated aggressive behavior of a model praised for being aggressive to the Bobo doll
• Used to explain a wide range of human behaviors, from positive to negative social behaviors
• Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory: human behavior results from personal factors, environmental influences, and behavioral patterns
• Emphasizes observational learning, social experience, and reciprocal determinism
• People are influenced by and actively influence their environments
• Social cognitive theory includes cognitive processes like conceptions, judgment, and motivation
• People actively influence their learning by interpreting outcomes of their actions
• Bandura highlights the role of observational learning and imitation in human behavior
• Bandura's theory avoids the assumption of radical behaviorism that all human behavior is learned through trial and error
• Bandura's perspective applied to personality development, psychological disorders, education, health promotion, advertising, and more
• Central tenet of Bandura's theory: people seek to develop a sense of agency and control over important events in their lives
• Factors affecting agency and control: self-efficacy, outcome expectations, goals, and self-evaluation
• Observational learning: learning through observation and imitation of others' behavior
• Focuses on mental processes involved in learning, not just behavior itself
• Stages of Social Learning Theory (SLT)
• Factors determining effective learning: attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation
• Attention: influenced by characteristics of the model, such as attractiveness, prestige, competence
• Retention: storing observed behavior in long-term memory, often mediated by symbols
• Motor Reproduction: ability and skills to physically reproduce observed behavior
• Motivation: observer must be motivated to perform the behavior, influenced by expectancy, value, and affective reaction
• Imitation more likely with positive reinforcement from the model (vicarious reinforcement)
• Imitation is more likely to occur if the model is positively reinforced, known as vicarious reinforcement
• Imitation is also more likely if we identify with the model, seeing them as sharing characteristics like age, gender, and social status
• Social cognitive theory aims to explain how people regulate their behavior through control and reinforcement to achieve goal-directed behavior that can be maintained over time
• Bandura included five constructs in his social learning theory, adding self-efficacy to his final social cognitive theory
• Reciprocal determinism is the central concept of social cognitive theory, involving the dynamic and reciprocal interaction of individuals, the environment, and behavior to achieve goals
• People seek to develop a sense of agency and exert control over important events in their lives
• Behavioral capability refers to a person's ability to perform a behavior using their own knowledge and skills
• Reinforcements can be internal or external responses to a person's behavior that affect the likelihood of continuing or discontinuing the behavior
• Expectations refer to the anticipated consequences a person has of their behavior, influencing whether or not the behavior is completed successfully
• Self-efficacy is the level of a person's confidence in their ability to perform a behavior, influenced by individual and environmental factors
• Modeling media provides a way for people to observe and imitate behaviors with little risk, influencing learning and behavior adoption
• Modeling media can prompt individuals to adopt certain behaviors and provide reinforcement for desired behaviors