social cognitive theory
takes chance encounters and fortuitous events seriously, even while recognizing that these meetings and events do not invariably alter one’s life path
Bandura’s 5 assumptions
plasticity
triadic reciprocal causation model allows for cognitive meditation
agentic perspective, humans have capacity to exercise control over lives
regulate our behaviour via external, environmental, and internal forces
moral agency, we are moral creatures
learning
we are constantly ______
vicarious
most learning is ______, done by watching others
more efficient
observational learning
allows people to learn without performing any behaviour
without direct reinforcement
efficient
modeling
observation of others and thus learning from their actions
more than imitation
addition and subtraction of specific acts
observation of consequences of others’ behaviour
take in observation of others, cognitively represent it, and then do it ourselves
factors of learning from a model
characteristics of model themselves
experienced, competent
characteristics of self
lacking skill
consequences of modelled behaviour
value we place on it
processes governing observational learning
attention
cognitive representation
behavioural production
motivation
attention
(process governing observational learning)
attend to the person we want to learn from
people we know, attractive people, value what they are doing
cognitive representation
(process governing observational learning)
symbolically represent activity and store in memory
proto linguistically or symbolically
practice helps, but is not necessary
verbal coding speeds up learning process
behavioural production
(process governing observational learning)
produce what we have observed
use cognitive representations to guide behaviour
“how do we do this”, “what are we doing”, “am I doing it right”
motivation
(process governing observational learning)
_____ to perform modelled behaviours
we could learn lots observationally, but will remain cognitive representation unless motivated
enactive learning
performed behaviours, learning by doing
thinking about and evaluating consequences
often self-regulated rewards, not always physical
we know what our behaviour does
foresight, modelling future outcomes
consequences reinforce our beahviour
cognitively involved
learning more effective when we are ------ ------ in the situation and understand what behaviours precede successful responses
triadic reciprocal causation
system assumes that human action is a result of an interaction among three variables - environment, behaviour, and person (cognitive factors)
reciprocal as forces are constantly interacting in circular capacity
chance encounter
an unintended meeting of persons unfamiliar to eachother
we can set ourselves up for random encounters
fortuitous event
environmental events that are unexpected and unintended
make accurate predictions nearly impossible
prepared mind
chance favours only the ------ ----
able to escape unpleasant encounters by anticipating their possibility and taking precautions
human agency
ability of people to use cognitive abilities to control their lives
capacities for regulating self, acting proactively, organizing who we are
essence of humanness
core features of human agency
intentionality
forethought
self-reactiveness
self-reflectiveness
intentionality
(core feature of human agency)
our actions are typically intentional
constantly modifying intentions as we see consequences of earlier behaviour
forethought
(core feature of human agency)
set goals for self, plan ahead
anticipate outcomes
enables someone to break free from environmental constraints
self-reactiveness
(core feature of human agency)
monitoring and reacting to selves
setting self up to succeed
revising goals so they are specific
self-reflectiveness
(core feature of human agency)
always reflecting on selves, what we are doing, why we are doing it
evaluating how we are affected by others
self-efficacy
people’s beliefs in their capability to exercise some measure of control over their own functioning and over environmental events
foundation of human agency
not a global or generalized concept, unique to each situation
combines with environmental responsiveness to enable predictions
efficacy expectations
beliefs on ability to do something a certain way
confidence
not the same as aspiration
outcome expectations
how we predict our actions will lead to consequences
factors of self-efficacy
mastery experience
social modeling
social persuasion
physical and emotional states
mastery experiences
(factor of self-efficacy)
successful performance raises efficacy expectancies, failure tends to lower them
increased SE with successful performance proportionate to task
increased SE more for individual achievements than collective
decreased SE with failure when we put best effort
little impact SE with failure under high emotional arousal or distress
decreased SE with failure prior to establishing mastery
little impact SE when we fail occasionally
social modelling
(factor of self-efficacy)
SE raised when we observe accomplishments of another person of equal competence, lowered when they fail
more powerful when we see them fail
social persuasion
(factor of self-efficacy)
persuasion from others can raise or lower SE
to believe the persuader:
must be credible
we must be able to perform the behaviour
most effective when developed into a feedback, paired with successful performance
physical and emotional states
(factor of self-efficacy)
when people experience intense fear, acute anxiety, or high levels of stress, they are likely to have lower efficacy expectancies
the higher the arousal, the lower the SE
SE higher for realistic fears
emotional arousal can lead to success of simple tasks, but likely interferes with performance of complex activities
proxy
indirect control over those social conditions that affect everyday living
can accomplish goals through relying on other people to repair objects
collective efficacy
confidence people have that their combined efforts will produce social change
techniques for measuring collective efficacy
combine individual members’ evaluations of personal capabilities
measure confidence each person has in group’s ability
factors that undermine collective efficacy
transnational world, our actions impact the entire world → send of hopelessness
recent technology that we don’t understand
layers of bureaucracy prevent social change
scope and magnitude of human problems
self-regulation
people reactively attempt to reduce discrepancies between accomplishments and goals then proactively set newer and higher goals for themselves
reactive self-regulation
try to reduce discrepancies between accomplishing a goal
proactive self-regulation
after reaching goals, set new goals
external factors in self-regulation
standards for behaviour evaluation, looking for examples
provide means of reinforcement
internal factors in self-regulation
self-observation, monitoring behaviours
judgemental process
self-reaction, responding to own behaviours
judgemental process
(internal factors in self-regulation)
cognitive mediation, judging the worth of our actions based on the goals we set for ourselves
personal standards
referential performances
valuation of activity
performance attribution
selective activation
self-regulatory influences are not automatic but rather operate only if they are activated
disengagement of internal control
displacement or diffusion of responsibility for the injurious effects of one’s actions
justifying the morality of their actions allows them to disengage from the consequences
key aspects of moral standards
do best not to hurt others
help others when we can
mechanisms of disengaging self control
redefine the behaviour
disregard or distort the consequences of behaviour
dehumanize or blame the victims
displace or diffuse responsibility
redefine the behaviour
(mechanism of disengaging self-control)
people justify otherwise reprehensible actions by a cognitive restructuring that allows them to minimize or escape responsibility
moral justification
palliative comparisons, other people have done worse
euphemistic labels, use abstract terminology
disregard or distort the consequences of behaviour
(mechanism of disengaging self-control)
obscuring the relationship between the behaviour and its detrimental consequences
obscure relationship between what we do and consequences of it
minimize consequences
ignore consequences we don’t experience first hand
distort or misconstrue consequences of our actions
dehumanize or blame the victims
(mechanism of disengaging self-control)
obscure responsibility for their actions by dehumanizing victims or attributing blame
displace or diffuse responsibility
(mechanism of disengaging self-control)
dissociate actions from consequences by displacing or diffusing responsibility
displacement
placing responsibility on outside source
diffusion
spreading responsibility so thin that no one person is responsible
dysfunctional depression
as a result of failure, people undervalue their accomplishments
chronic misery, worthlessness, lack of purposefulness, pervasive depression
self observation: misjudge own performances, exaggerating mistakes
judgemental process: unrealistic standards for self
self-reaction: treat self harshly
dysfunctional phobia
fear learned by direct contact, inappropriate generalization, and observational experience
difficult to extinguish
dysfunctional aggression
acquired through observation of others, direct experiences with positive and negative reinforcements, training, instruction, and bizarre beliefs
Bobo doll
reasons for aggression
like inflicting injuries
avoid aversive consequences of other peoples aggression
receive harm or injury for not being aggressive
have internal personal standard to live up to by being aggressive
observe others being reported for aggression
social cognitive therapy
ultimate goal is regulation
difficult because it involves eliminating behaviours that are satisfying to the person
vicarious model
covert/cognitive modelling
enactive master
vicarious model
(type of social cognitive therapy)
observe someone doing something we find threatening and we are more likely to do it ourselves
covert / cognitive modeling
(type of social cognitive therapy)
imagining self performing the behaviour
systematic desensitization
enactive mastery
process that involves performing behaviour in hierarchical way while remaining relaxed
systematic desensitization
self-efficacy and terrorism
more intrinsically religious people higher SE
when saliency of terrorism is high, intrinsically religious people in a better mood due to SE
when salience low, no difference
self-efficacy and diabetes
higher levels SE associated with lower depression, lower BMI, higher listening to doctor, decreased diabetic symptoms
higher BMI led to lower SE and increased depression
critique of social cognitive theory
conceptual and logical issues
things in psych are not required to be empirically tested
what do we really know about someone from their SE