Theories of Communication

Lecture# 16
 Social Learning Theory
 Social Cognitive Theory
 Social Learning Theory

 Imitation
 Identification
Stimulus – Response Learning Concept
 Social Cognitive Theory

• Behavior
• Personal characteristics
• Environmental factors or events
 Social Cognitive Theory

 Social cognitive theory emphasizes the

importance of these uniquely human
characteristics known as:
 Symbolizing capacity
 Self-regulatory capacity
 Self-reflective capacity
 Vicarious capacity (Bandura, 1994)
 Symbolizing Capacity

Human communication is based upon a system of

shared meanings known as language that is
constructed of various symbols.
 Symbolizing Capacity
– These symbols occur at more than on conceptual
level – letters of the alphabet are symbols used to
construct words and words serve as symbols to
represent specific objects, thoughts, or ideas.

– The capacity to understand and use these symbols

allows people to store, process and transform
observed experiences into cognitive models that
guide them in future actions and decisions.
 Self-Regulatory Capacity

 The self-regulatory capacity includes the

concepts of motivation and evaluation.
 People have the ability to motivate
themselves to achieve certain goals.
 They tend to evaluate their won behavior and
respond accordingly.
 In this way, behavior is self-directed and self
regulated.
 Self-Reflective Capacity
 This capacity involves the process of thought
verification.
 It is the ability of a person to perform a self-check to
make sure his or her thinking is correct.
 Bandura identified four different self-reflective
“modes” used in thought verification:
– Enactive
– Vicarious
– Persuasive
– Logical
 Enactive mode
In enactive mode a person assesses the
agreement between thoughts and the results
of actions.
 Person’s actions corroborate his/ her thought
and provide verifications.
 Vicarious mode
In vicarious mode observation of another’s
experiences and the outcomes of those
experiences serve to confirm or refute the
veracity of thoughts.
 Persuasive mode
An effective advertisement serves as the best
demonstration of the persuasive mode, especially a
commercial in which a person on the street is
convinced to change brands.
 Despite the added cost, the viewer might be
persuaded by the decision of the person to purchase
the product advertised.
 Logical mode
Logical mode involves verification by which
previously acquired rules of inference.
Perhaps the person who was convinced to
try the new product liked it so much that he
decided to try the higher-priced brands of
other types of products.
 Vicarious Capacity

The ability to learn without direct experience,

emphasizes the potential social impact of
mass media - for better or for worse.
 As an example, of positive social impact the
vicarious capacity allows a person to learn all
sorts of beneficial things by simply reading or
watching a television program presenting
these pro-social behaviors. On the other
hand on the negative side, people may
witness and learn certain antisocial behaviors
to which they might not otherwise have been
exposed.
 Observational Learning

 Social learning and social cognitive theories

place much emphasis on the concept of
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING. A person
observes other people’s action and the
consequences of those actions, and learns
from what has been observed. The learned
behavior can then be re-enacted by the
observer.
 Modeling

 The phenomenon of behavior re-enactment is

called MODELING.

 Modeling is the acquisition of behaviors

through observation.
 Modeling

 It includes four component processes:

– Attention
– Retention
– Motor reproduction
– Motivation
Attention
 A person must pay attention to any behavior
and perceive it accurately in order to model it
successfully.
Retention
 Modeled behavior must be remembered or
retained in order to be used again; the
permanent memory stores the information by
means of symbolic representations that
subsequently can be converted into actions.
Motor reproduction
 At first motor reproduction may be difficult
and even faulty as the beginner has to ‘think
through’ all the various steps involved in
making a successful swing.
 The natural ability or the superior motor
memory of the beginner largely determines
the length of time required for mastery of the
modeled action.
Motivation
 For various reasons, people are not always
motivated to model the behaviors they learn.
Motivation becomes a major factor in the
decision to use modeled behavior.
 Motivation

 Positive outcomes through direct

performance of the behavior.
 Observation of another’s behavior and the
subsequent outcome.
 Evaluation based upon personal values or
standards of behavior.
 Abstract Modeling

 New life situations require people to apply

the rules of behavior learned in the past to
the new and different situations.

 Abstract modeling takes learning to a higher

level than mere mimicry of observed
behavior and therefore offers many practical
advantages.
 Abstract Modeling

 Rules of behavior learned in the past serve

as a guide for new life situations. These rules
often provide an abstract framework for
decisions making in new situations.
 Whenever a person observe behavior or
receives information that conflicts with
established patterns of behavior or principles
of conduct, the inner conflict causes a
reexamination of motivations to perform the
established behavior.
 In other words, existing standards of
behavior are not perfect or constant for each
new situation. A person is merely guided by
the outcomes of his or her own past
experiences or the observed experiences of
other people.
 Effects Of Modeling

 Sometimes a person observes behavior or

receives information that conflicts in some
way with that person’s established pattern of
behavior. Two major effects are associated
with such situation:
 Inhibitory effects
 Disinhibitory effects
 Inhibitory Effects

 Inhibitory effects occur whenever new

information or the observation of new behavior
inhibits or restrain a person from acting in a
previously learned way.

 Inhibitory effects occur whenever a person

refrains from reprehensible conduct for fear of
the consequences.
 Seeing a model punished from a behavior is
sufficient to reduce the likelihood that the
observer will make that behavior.
 Disinhibitory Effect

 Disinhibitory effect disinhibits or lifts previously

learned internal restraints on certain behaviors.

 Seeing a model rewarded for a prohibited or

threatening behavior increase the likelihood that
the observer will make that behavior.

 Disinhibitory effects lift previously learned

internal restraints on certain behaviors.