Social Cognitive Theory

Albert Bandura
Walter Mischel

People are viewed as

-Active problem solvers,
-Active construers of their world, and
                -Users of their cognitive processes to
-Represent events
-Anticipate the future
-Choose among courses of action
                                 -Communicate with others

Emphasizes the social origins of behavior

Emphasizes systematic research to learn about personality

Reciprocal Determinism

Observational Learning: Model & Observer

                 Acquisition vs Performance
-Observers learn without being directly rewarded
                                -Observers perform only the behaviors they believe will lead to reinforcement
-Bobo doll studies: Consequences to the model (model rewarded, punished, or no consequences for
                                                aggression; observers in no incentive or positive incentive condition)
                Vicarious Conditioning
               Expectancies: anticipated or predicted consequences of specific behaviors in specific situations
-Expectancies, not reinforcement, maintain behavior

                               Generalized Expectancies: Locus of Control (Rotter)

                               Situation-Specific Expectancies
                            Outcome Expectancies: If...then expectancies
If this kind of situation, then this is what can expect to happen.

                -Behavioral Signatures (Mischel)

                -Self-Efficacy Expectancies: Beliefs about ability to handle the tasks and challenges presented by
                            particular kinds of situations

                -Microanalytic research strategy

Self-Regulation:
               Goals
Internal Standards
Self-reinforcement (Self-produced consequences)
               Competencies-Skills

-Cognitive Competencies: Ability to solve problems to achieve goals

 -Behavioral Competencies: Ability to perform tasks to achieve goals

The Role of Self-Efficacy in Self-Regulation

               -Goal Selection
                -Effort, Persistence, Performance
                -Emotion
-Coping

Basen-Engquist (1994)
Question: How can we motivate people to use condoms?
Hypothesis: Higher self-efficacy people will use condoms more.
Manipulated self-efficacy by placement into three groups
Group 1: Participated in a safe-sex efficacy workshop
Group 2: Listened to a lecture on HIV
Group 3: Listened to a lecture on an unrelated topic
                Outcome:
                                Post-Test: Compared to Group 3, Groups 1 and 2 scored higher on safe-sex self-efficacy and were
more
                                           likely to report the intention to use a condom.
                                Follow-up: Two months later, Group 1 was more likely than both
                                           other groups to have increased actual condom use.
               Conclusion: The increase in safe-sex self-efficacy, not mere
                            information about HIV, produced the change in condom use.
                            -Self-efficacy expectancies influence behavior.
-Results suggest a difference between learning & performance: people perform behaviors that they believe
they can perform successfully and that they believe will yield the outcomes they desire, not every
behavior they have learned.
-Sex education is inadequate to alter safe-sex behavior because information is not always translated into
behavior.

Psychopathology
                -The result of maladaptive learning from direct experience or from exposure to inadequate or aberrant models.
               -We learn and are vicariously rewarded for many behaviors, even maladaptive ones.
 
               Dysfunctional Expectancies
                               -Maladapative expectations about the consequences of specific behaviors, e.g., avoidance learning
Dysfunctional Self-conceptions
                               -Perceived low self-efficacy or perceived inefficacy: the feeling that one cannot perform the
necessary
                                           tasks or cope with the demands of the situation
                                -Anxiety: the result of perceived low self-efficacy to potential threats
                                -Fear-of-fear: the perceived inability to cope with anxiety
                                -Depression: the result of perceived low self-efficacy to gain desired rewarding outcomes. often due
to
                                -Dysfunctional self-evaluations: maladaptive, excessively high goals and standards for reward
                                           and self-reward
                 -Self-efficacy and Health:
              -Self-efficacy Expectancies affect health-related behaviors
               -Self-efficacy Expectancies affect physiological functioning, especially the response to stress

Behavior Change through Modeling and Guided Mastery

Through watching models and receiving guidance in performing the modeled behavior, changes in self-efficacy
expectancies can occur. These changes in self-efficacy expectancies can lead to behavior change

Strengths of Social Cognitive Theory

              1. Accumulated an impressive research record
              2. Concerned with important human social behaviors
              3. An evolving theory that is open to change
              4. Focused on important theoretical issues, e.g., role of reward in learning, the stability of behavior
              5. Reasonable view of people and concern with the social implications of the theory
Limitations of Social Cognitive Theory
                1. Not a fully systematized, unified theory; loosely organized
              2. Controversial issues:
                             -Is reinforcement necessary for both learning and performance?
                             -Is self-efficacy just another outcome expectancy?
                             -Why are some self-efficacy expectancies stable and others susceptible to rapid change?
                             -If self-efficacy expectancies are situation specific, how do they relate to broader personality?
                             -Why are some self-efficacy beliefs apparently unrelated to behavior, e.g., stop smoking?
                             -Relies on self-reports excessively
              3. Neglected areas:
                             -Maturation and changes over the lifespan ignored
                             -Minimal attention to motivation, conflict, and emotion
              4. Findings are preliminary
                             -Are cognitive processes the basic concepts of personality?
                             -Are modeling and guided participation able to handle many psychological problems?

https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/vince/www/psy205/wwwcourse.205.lec22.SocialCognitiveTheory.handout
.htm