CHAPTER 17BANDURA: SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORYI. Overview of Bandura's Social Cognitive TheoryBandura's social cognitive theory takes an agenticperspective, meaning that humans have some limitedability to control their lives.In contrast to Skinner,Bandura (1) recognizes that chance encounters andfortuitous events often shape one's behavior; (2)places more emphasis on observational learning; (3)stresses the importance of cognitive factors in learning;(4) suggests that human activity is a function ofbehavior and person variables, as well as theenvironment; and (5) believes that reinforcement ismediated by cognition.II. Biography of Albert BanduraAlbert Bandura was born in Canada in 1925, but he hasspent his entire professional life in the United States.He completed a PhD in clinical psychology at theUniversity of Iowa in 1951 and since then has workedalmost entirely at Stanford University, where hecontinues to be an active researcher and speaker.III. LearningBandura takes a broad view of learning, believing thatpeople learn through observing others and byattending to the consequences of their own actions.Although he believes that reinforcement aids learning,he contends that people can learn in the absence ofreinforcement and even of a response.A. Observational LearningThe heart of observational learning ismodeling,which is more than simple imitation, because itinvolves adding and subtracting from observedbehavior. At least three principles influencemodeling: (1) people are most likely to model high-status people, (2) people who lack skill or status aremost likely to model, and (3) people tend to modelbehavior that they see as being rewarding to themodel.Bandura recognized four processes thatgovern observational learning: (1) attention, ornoticing what a model does; (2) representation, orsymbolically representing new response patterns inmemory; (3) behavior production, or producing thebehavior that one observes; and (4) motivation; thatis, the observer must be motivated to perform theobserved behavior.B. Enactive LearningAll behavior is followed by some consequence, butwhether that consequence reinforces the behaviordepends on the person's cognitive evaluation of thesituation.V. Triadic Reciprocal CausationSocial cognitive theory holds that human functioning ismolded by the reciprocal interaction of (1) behavior; (2)personal factors, including cognition; and (3)environmental events—a model Bandura calls triadicreciprocal causation.A. Differential ContributionsBandura does not suggest that the three factors inthe triadic reciprocal causation model make equalcontributions to behavior.The relative influence ofbehavior, environment, and person depends onwhich factor is strongest at any particular moment.
At the height of his career, Rogers engaged in a series of debates with
BF Skinner
As a young boy, Rogers
Was shy and frequently teased by his older brothers and sisters.
Rogers described the formative tendency as the tendency for
matter to evolve from simpler to more complex forms.
Rogers believed that all behavior relates to one's
actualizing tendency
Healthy people evaluate their experiences as good or bad according to this criterion
the actualizing tendency
In Rogerian theory, the actualization tendency
Refers to the person's organismic experiences
Inner tension arises, Roger said, when a conflict exists between the
self-actualization tendency and the organismic self
A discrepancy between the self-concept and the ideal self results in
incongruence
Taylor's parents praise her whenever her behavior meets with their standards. However, they punish Taylor when her behavior fails to meet with their approval. From this information it appears that Taylor is experiencing
conditions of worth
Tyler has a negative view of himself. To increase his self-concept, his parents and teachers continually praise and compliment him. Rogers believed that such praise and compliments are most likely to
be distorted by Tyler
Carl Rogers' parents were teachers, and they encouraged him to become a teacher.
False
Rogers' theory of personality grew out of his experiences as a psychotherapist
True
Rogers' approach to psychotherapy is most accurately called nondirective
False
As a schoolboy, Rogers became interested in scientific farming, an interest that contributed to his later research abilities.
True
After receiving his PhD, Rogers spent more than 10 years in clinical practice, mostly isolated from the academic community, and this isolation helped him develop an approach to therapy that was unique.
True
According to Rogers, all living organisms possess the actualizing tendency
True
Once the self-concept is formed, change becomes difficult
True
Self-actualization is a subsystem of the actualizing tendency
True
In Rogerian theory, the actualizing tendency refers to the person's organismic or physiological experiences.
True
Rogers believed that healthy people adjust their organismic self in order to make it congruent with their ideal self
False
Rogers wanted to be a ____ after he graduated from the University of Wisconsin, but he switched to psychology when he went to Columbia University.
Minister
Roger's system of therapy is called ____, and his theory of personality can be called person-centered.
Client-centered
The ____ tendency suggests that people tend to move toward completion or fulfillment of potentials
Actualization
The ____ tendencysuggests that all matter tends to evolve from simpler to more complex forms.
Formative
A state of ____ exists when the organismic self, the perceived self, and the ideal self are in harmony.
Congruence
To Rogers, the real self and the ____ self are the same concept.
Organismic
Rogers believed that each of us has an ____ self, that is, a picture of our self as we would wish to be.
ideal
Discrepancies between the ____ and the organismic self results in incongruence.
Self-concept
People often deny or ____ both positive and negative experiences because these experiences threaten an established self-concept.
Distort
A discrepancy between self-concept and organismic experiences is called ____.
Incongruence
Bandura believes that human functioning is a product of the mutual interaction of person, environment, and
Behavior
Bandura's social cognitive theory takes ____ perspective.
an agentic
Bandura first became interested in clinical psychology when he
worked on the Alaska highway after graduation from high school.
Bandura believes that learning
Can occur in the absence of a response
According to Bandura, there are two major types of learning-- observational and
enactive
Modeling is enhanced when teh person being modeled is
Attractive
According to Bandura, reinforcement
is cognitively mediated.
According to Bandura, the essence of humanness is
human agency
The primary component of Bandura's P factor is
Cognition
Chance encounters enter the triadic reciprocal causation paradigm at this point.
Environment
Bandura's social cognitive theory assumes that people have the capability to exercise some control over their lives
True
Compared with Skinner, Bandura has developed a much more cognitive theory.
True
Bandura believes that chance plays a role in people's environment and behavior.
True
Basic to Bandura's social cognitive theory is the assumption that consistency of behavior is the outstanding characteristic of humans.
False
Compared to Skinner, Bandura places more emphasis on observational learning
True
Bandura's triadic reciprocal causation notion assumes that behavior is the product of two variables-- heredity and environment
False
Most of our chance encounters have a significant and permanent impact on our personalities.
False
Bandura believes that personality is mostly the product of heredity.
False
In Bandura's triadic reciprocal causation hypothesis, all three factors typically make equal or nearly equal contributions to action.
False
Chance encounters and fortuitous events enter the triadic reciprocal causation model at the point of behavior.
False
Bandura's ____ reciprocal causation determinism model assumes that personality is shaped by an interaction of person, behavior, and environment.
triadic
A _____ encounter is an unintended meeting of persons unfamiliar to each other.
chance
A ____ event is an environmental experience that is unexpected and unintended.
Fortuitous
If behavior was completely a function of the ____, Bandura believes it would be much more varied and less consistent.
environment
The core of observational learning is ____.
Modeling
Adolescents are most likely to model ____ people.
high-status
The first process governing observational learning is ____.
attention
Bandura believes that ____ factors, such as memory and foresight, give some unity to personality.
cognitive
Self-____ refers to our beliefs about our capabilities to exercise control over events that affect our lives.
efficacy
Those expectations that refer to the likely consequences of our behavior are called ____.
outcome