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LEARNING THEORY: SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY

Learning Theory: Social Cognitive Theory

Kelsey R. Tieken
University of Nebraska Medical Center
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LEARNING THEORY: SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY
Learning Theory: Social Cognitive Theory

There are many schools of thought on how a learner acquires and retains

knowledge. Each learning theory contains some aspects that apply to different types of

knowledge acquisition, and the complexity of the human brain is so vast that we may

never fully understand exactly how the process works. In my personal practice, while I

can draw up examples of how I use aspects of each theory, the theory I believe that I

use the most when working with students, and the way I understand how I personally

learn the best is the social cognitive theory. According to Schunk (2020), the social

cognitive theory emphasized the importance of learning from others in a social

environment.

Social cognitive theory focuses on the fact that learning occurs both enactively,

by doing, and vicariously, by observing, reading and listening. Learning in health care is

constantly relying on these principles. Students learn about normal and abnormal

physiology in medical school by relying on listening to prepared lectures given by faculty

and reading about disease processes in texts and online (vicarious learning) and

practicing interactions such as taking a history and physical exam with a simulated

patient (enactive learning). In social cognitive theory, importance is also placed on the

role of modeling in learning. In medicine, we practice the concept of modeling on a daily

basis, especially when considering the concept of observational modeling. When I work

with a medical student for the first time in the operating room, for example, I teach them

about closing surgical incisions. Using the concept of cognitive modeling, I discuss the

layers in which we close, what suture types we use, and then narrate step-by-step

exactly what I am doing and why. The second time we work together the student can
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LEARNING THEORY: SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY
then perform the task using the idea of overt guidance; they are performing the task as I

remind them of the steps. I give real-time feedback on what they are doing well to help

improve their motivation and self-efficacy for the task, as well as provide suggestions for

improvement so that they are able to improve over time and master subsequent, more

difficult tasks, Over the course of their time on the rotation, the goal is to allow them to

practice to the point that they achieve the ability to suture using covert self-instruction

and my only task is to observe.

I also attempt to increase motivation in students during my time with them.

Motivation is an important concept in social cognitive theory and addresses a learner’s

goals, values and expectations of the learning process. Of course, not every student

who rotates on a surgical service is going to want to become a surgeon. I attempt to

increase motivation for learning about surgical considerations by making it relevant to

what specialty they plan to pursue. For example, if a student is interested in family

medicine, during teaching opportunities I highlight reasons a patient may need to be

referred to a surgeon or what initial imaging they should obtain prior to referral. My goal

as an educator is to provide students with the tools they need to succeed, break skills

down into smaller pieces to master, and foster their own motivations for pursuing

knowledge. By doing so, the student should have increased self-efficacy to believe that

the task at hand, whether it be interviewing a patient, suturing skin, or determining a

differential diagnosis for a patient is something they are able to achieve (Schunk, 2020).

With advances in technology, the ability to provide quality education online has

significantly improved. Learners can now access content such as textbooks, articles,

videos, modules, and social media platforms on their home computers which means
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LEARNING THEORY: SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY
they can view and review materials as needed in order to ensure adequate acquisition

of required knowledge. This exponentially enhances their ability to learn vicariously as

social cognitive theory defines it. Miltiadou and Savenye (2003) discussed the

importance of learner-learner interactions in an online course. They found that higher

levels of learner-learner interaction were positively correlated with increased student

success in an online environment. Activities such as discussion boards where students

are able to post and reply to each other increased the effectiveness of information

transfer. While not specifically related to an online course, this reminds me of social

media platforms where doctors can post and discuss (in a HIPAA compliant manner)

difficult patient cases and ask for help from experts around the world in order to make

the best decisions for patient care, or to increase their knowledge base as a lifelong

adult learner. Online courses also allow for students to enactively accomplish tasks by

interacting personally with online platforms to build a product or learn a skill. For

example, I recently had to renew my advanced cardiac life support certification. I took

the course online where I interacted with a module that not only modeled a provider

running a code and providing patient care, but it also required me to “run a code” on a

virtual patient in multiple different scenarios before going and taking the in-person skills

exam. The online environment allowed me to learn by doing prior to having to perform

the task in real life.

While social cognitive theory is the learning theory by which I feel I teach most

effectively, as stated earlier, there are applications from each of the other theories that I

still use regularly as an educator. The behaviorist learning theory postulates that

learning occurs as a result of environmental events that we experience; something

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LEARNING THEORY: SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY
happens in the environment, we respond in a certain way based on prior experiences,

and the outcome is positively or negatively reinforcing for future environmental events.

For example, in the operating room, I may ask a student a question about a specific

anatomical structure that is important for a case. If they provide the correct response I

respond with a “good job” and may be more willing to let them be more active in a

portion of the procedure that I feel is level-appropriate for them, which would ideally

then reinforce for them to prepare well for the next case prior to scrubbing in. What

behaviorism doesn’t explain is how the learner cognitively understands the reasoning

for their reinforcement or, in the above example, why they choose to prepare well for

each subsequent case. The theory leaves out the idea of self-regulation or self-efficacy

in a learning model.

Another theory, the information processing theory, describes how we attend to

information, process it, and store it for future use. The theory focuses on memory and

how information is linked into neural networks. During teaching about disease

processes, neural networks can help strengthen a concept for a learner. For example, if

a student reads about diabetes in class, then sees a patient with diabetes in clinic and

plays a role in helping manage their insulin regimen, the following time they encounter a

patient with diabetes, spreading activation should occur such that they recall what

they’ve read and their experience with similar patients in the past that they can then

apply to this new encounter. What this theory doesn’t address, similar to behaviorism, is

the role of motivation and self-regulation in the learning process, which I believe is

crucial to learning in a health care environment and as an adult learner in person and in

online experiences (Schunk, 2020).

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LEARNING THEORY: SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY
Finally, constructivism is the idea that learners construct their own knowledge

through interaction with their environments, and I feel is the most similar to the social

cognitive theory of those discussed. Both focus on the role of modeling or

apprenticeship in education as well as a cognitive role in processing information.

Constructivist learning environments are built to provide rich experiences for a learner

and emphasize self-discovery and synthesis of information. My role as an educator is

often in a very hands-on environment when taking learners through specific patient

interactions or specific operative skills which fits with the “apprenticeship” idea of

learning in the constructivist theory. However, as with the other two theories, motivation

for learning is not emphasized in this theory (Schunk, 2020).

In summary, social cognitive theory aligns with my own instructional tendencies

more than behaviorism, information processing theories, or constructivism, though I do

use strategies from each theory on a regular basis. The social cognitive theory is also

very evident in online learning, as our social network is increased in an online

environment compared to in person and distance learning is made possible. The

emphasis on motivation in social cognitive theory is especially important in an online

environment, particularly an asynchronous one, because the learner must choose to

spend time and effort on the material in their own time.

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LEARNING THEORY: SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY

References

Miltiadou, M. & Savenye, W.C. (2003). Applying Social Cognitive Constructs of

Motivation to Enhance Student Success in Online Distance Education. AACE

Review (formerly AACE Journal), 11(1), 78-95. Norfolk, VA: Association for the

Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved October 3, 2021

from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/17795/.

Schunk, D. H. (2020). Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective (8th ed., pp. 124-

167). N.p.: Pearson.