Ch. 17 Social Cognitive Theory

Question 1

tenets of social cognitive theory

Answer 1

(1) plasticity = central to human characteristic
- people adapt y change to their environment

(2) emphasis on vicarious learning / watching others
(3) rely on behavioral, environmental (fortuitous events y chance encounters) y personal factors
(4) people have capacity to regulate nature y their lives [agentic perspective]
(5) in morally ambiguous situations, people regulate selves through moral agency

Question 2

Albert Bandura

Answer 2

Alberta, Canada

professor @ Stanford for over 50yrs
1974 - president of APA
investigates hypotheses generated by social cognitive theory

• *published a lot
• *received many/all psychology awards

Question 3

observational learning

Answer 3

learn through action of others

• learning can occur in absence of response
• reinforcement or punishment to a response not essential

(ie) modeling

**aka vicarious learning

Question 4

modeling

Answer 4

involves cognitive processes and not just imitation

• important, core method of learning
• characteristics of models and observers are important

Question 5

processes governing observational learning

Answer 5

what affects observational learning

Attention
Representation (symbolically in memory)
Behavioral Production
Motivation`

Question 6

enactive learning

Answer 6

learning from consequences

• inform us of effects of our actions [learn from doing something and its consequence]
• motivate future behaviors
• reinforce behavior (not essential)

Question 7

variables that affect human action (3)

Answer 7

interact together

environment [social factors]
behavior
person [cognitive processes]

Question 8

differential contributions

Answer 8

the relative influence of behavior, environment, and person depends on which of the triadic factors is strongest at the moment
- not equal @ all times

(ie) fire increases influence or impact on reaction/behavior

Question 9

chance encounters / fortuitous events

Answer 9

unintended meeting of persons unfamiliar to each other or environmental experience that is unexpected or unintended

Question 10

human agency

Answer 10

the capacity to exercise control over our lives

Question 11

features of human agency:

Answer 11

(1) intentionality
(2) forethought
(3) self-reactiveness
(4) self-reflectiveness

Question 12

intentionality

Answer 12

(human agency) intentionally performing an action

Question 13

forethought

Answer 13

(human agency) anticipate and select behaviors for a desired outcome

Question 14

self-reactiveness

Answer 14

(human agency) monitoring progress toward actions

Question 15

self-reflectiveness

Answer 15

(human agency) ability to analyze and evaluate motivations, values and effect on other people
- self-efficacy = most important mechanism of reflecting

Question 16

self-efficacy

Answer 16

people’s expectations and beliefs that they can or cannot execute the action necessary for successful change
- fluctuates based on situation

Question 17

sources of self-efficacy (4):

Answer 17

mastery experiences
social modeling
social persuasion
physical y emotional states

Question 18

mastery experiences

Answer 18

(source of self-efficacy) esp. of past performances

- most powerful source of self-efficacy

Question 19

social modeling

Answer 19

(source of self-efficacy) observing someone succeed or fail

Question 20

social persuasion

Answer 20

(source of self-efficacy) someone of high status or credibility believes you can succeed/fail

Question 21

physical y emotional states

Answer 21

(source of self-efficacy)

• moderate anxiety may enhance efficacy
• intense physiological arousal can lower efficacy expectations

Question 22

proxy agency

Answer 22

(mode of human agency) a person authorized to act for another (indirect of certain aspects of one’s life)

(ie) police, fire department, mechanics

Question 23

collective efficacy

Answer 23

(mode of human agency) the confidence people have that their combined efforts will produce social change

• sum of each individual’s evaluations of personal capabilities
• each individual member’s confidence in their group
• level of efficacy in a group

Question 24

self-regulation based on:

Answer 24

external factors

internal factors

Question 25

internal factors in self-regulation (3)

Answer 25

self-observation judgmental process self-reaction

Question 26

types of judgmental processes:

Answer 26

personal standards standard of reference value performance attribution

Question 27

personal standards

Answer 27

(internal factor) judgmental process of determining what's important to the individual

Question 28

standard of reference

Answer 28

(internal factor) judgmental process of how we compare ourselves to others

Question 29

value

Answer 29

(internal factor) judgmental process - high = high effort - low = low effort

Question 30

performance attribution

Answer 30

(internal factor) judgmental process of how we attribute our success

Question 31

self-reaction

Answer 31

(internal factor) how we reinforce or punish ourselves

Question 32

self-regulation through moral agency

Answer 32

(1) redefine behavior (2) disregard/distort consequences of behavior (3) displace or diffuse responsibility (4) dehumanize or blame victims

Question 33

moral agency

Answer 33

justification or disengagement of control

Question 34

redefine behavior

Answer 34

justify otherwise reprehensible actions by a cognitive reconstructuring that allows them to escape responsibility - self-regulation through moral agency

Question 35

disregard/distort consequences of behavior

Answer 35

downplay consequences - self-regulation through moral agency - may project (ie) I didn't hit him that hard

Question 36

displace or diffuse responsibility

Answer 36

self-regulation through moral agency (ie) blaming

Question 37

dehumanize or blame victims

Answer 37

victims @ fault or inhuman - self-regulation through moral agency (ie) Nazis + Holocaust

Question 38

subfunctions of depression

Answer 38

(1) misjudgment of self-observation (2) harsh judgment - judgmental process (3) punish self - self-reaction

Question 39

phobias

Answer 39

fears that have severe debilitating effects on one's daily life

Question 40

ways to learn phobias

Answer 40

(1) direct contact (2) inappropriate generalization (3) observational experiences

Question 41

aggression is learned through

Answer 41

(1) observation of others (2) direct experiences w/ positive or negative reinforcements (3) training or instructin (4) bizarre beliefs

Question 42

Bobo doll experiment (Bandura, 1963)

Answer 42

all experimental groups (live, film, cartoon) showed aggressive behavior after seeing it modeled

Question 43

social cognitive theory therapy

Answer 43

(1) deviant behaviors = socially learned y maintained b/c they serve a function (2) ultimate goal: self-regulation (3) modalities

Question 44

different modalities

Answer 44

(1) overt or vicarious modeling (2) covert or cognitive modeling (3) enactive mastery

Question 45

overt or vicarious modeling

Answer 45

modality of observing others (ie) observation of anxiety y phobia

Question 46

covert or cognitive modeling

Answer 46

modality of visualizing

Question 47

systematic desentization

Answer 47

treatment technique that involves the extinction of anxiety or fear through self- or therapist-induced relaxation - enactive mastery