Chapter 15: Social Cognitive Theory (Albert Bandura)

Question 1

_____ and _____ have been largely ignored by most personality theorists, even though most of us recognize that we have had unplanned experiences that have greatly changed our lives.

Answer 1

Chance encounters, fortuitous events

Question 2

Bandura agrees with Skinner that people can and do learn through direct experience, but he places much more emphasis on _____ learning, that is, learning by observing others.

Answer 2

vicarious

Question 3

Through a _____ model that includes behavioral, environment, and personal factors, people have the capacity to regulate their lives.

Answer 3

triadic reciprocal causation

Question 4

With _____, people are able to rely on others for goods and services.

Answer 4

proxy agency

Question 5

_____ refers to people’s shared beliefs that they can bring about change.

Answer 5

collective efficacy

Question 6

Most of Bandura’s early publications were in clinical psychology, dealing primarily with psychotherapy and the _____ test.

Answer 6

Rorschach

Question 7

Bandura believes that _____ learning is much more efficient than learning through direct experience.

Answer 7

observational

Question 8

The core of observational learning is _____. Learning through _____ involves adding and subtracting from the observed behavior and generalizing from one observation to another.

Answer 8

modeling

Question 9

Bandura recognizes four processes that govern observational learning:

Answer 9

1. Attention - attractive,
2. Representation - patterns must be symbolically
   represented in memory
3. Behavioral production - “How can I do this?”, what am i doing, am i doing this right
4. Motivation -

Question 10

Every response a person makes is followed by some consequence.

_____ allows people to acquire new patterns of complex behavior through direct experience by thinking about and evaluating the consequences of their behaviors.

Answer 10

Enactive Learning

Question 11

His social cognitive theory explains psychological functioning in terms of _____. This system assumes that human action is a result of an interaction among three variables—environment, behavior, and person.

Answer 11

Triadic Reciprocal Causation

Question 12

Bandura uses the term _____ to indicate a triadic interaction of forces, not a similar or opposite counteraction.

Answer 12

“reciprocal”

Question 13

Bandura is the only _____ theorist to seriously consider the possible importance of these chance encounters and fortuitous events.

Answer 13

personality

Question 14

Bandura defined a _____ as “an unintended meeting of persons unfamiliar to each other”.

Answer 14

chance encounter

Question 15

A _____ is an environmental experience that is unexpected and unintended.

Answer 15

fortuitous event

Question 16

Social cognitive theory takes an agentic view of personality, meaning that humans have the capacity to exercise control over their own lives. Indeed, _____ is the essence of humanness.

Answer 16

human agency

Question 17

1. Intentionality - planning, commitment
2. Forethought - anticipate, set goals
3. Self-reactiveness - motivating, progress
4. Self-reflectiveness - evaluate

Answer 17

Core Features of Human Agency? Four core features of human agency.

Question 18

People’s most crucial self-reflective mechanism is _____: that is, their beliefs that they are capable of performing actions that will produce a desired effect.

Answer 18

self-efficacy

Question 19

Bandura defined _____ as “people’s beliefs in their capability to exercise some measure of control over their own functioning and over environmental events”.

Answer 19

self-efficacy

Question 20

Efficacy refers to people’s confidence that they have the ability to perform certain behaviors, whereas an _____ refers to one’s prediction of the likely consequences of that behavior.

Answer 20

outcome expectancy

Question 21

(1) mastery experiences, (2) social modeling, (3) social persuasion - criticism, and (4) physical and emotional states

Answer 21

What Contributes to Self-Efficacy? Sources of Self-Efficacy

Question 22

_____ involves indirect control over those social conditions that affect everyday living. Bandura noted that “no one has the time, energy, and resources to master every realm of everyday life.”

Answer 22

Proxy Agency

Question 23

Most people do not have the personal capability to repair an air conditioner, a camera, or an automobile. Through _____, however, they can accomplish their goal by relying on other people to repair these objects

Answer 23

proxy agency

Question 24

Proxy, however, has a downside. By relying too much on the competence and power of others, people may _____ their sense of personal and collective efficacy.

Answer 24

weaken

Question 25

The third mode of human agency is _____. Bandura defined _____ as “people’s shared beliefs in their collective power to produce desired results”. In other words, _____ is the confidence people have that their combined efforts will bring about group accomplishments.

Answer 25

collective efficacy

Question 26

When people have high levels of self-efficacy, are confident in their reliance on proxies, and possess solid collective efficacy, they will have considerable capacity to regulate their own behavior.

Answer 26

Self-Regulation

Question 27

_____ affect self-regulation in at least two ways. First, they provide us with a standard for evaluating our own behavior.

Second, _____ influence self-regulation by providing the means for reinforcement. Intrinsic rewards are not always sufficient; we also need incentives that emanate from _____.

Answer 27

External factors (Self Regulation)

Question 28

1. Self-Observation - monitor own performance
2. Judgmental Process - self-awareness
3. Self-Reaction - self-incentives

Answer 28

Internal Factors in Self-Regulation

Question 29

This concept of _____ is a sharp contrast to Skinner’s notion that the consequences of behavior are environmentally determined.

Bandura hypothesizes that people work to attain rewards and to avoid punishments according to self-erected standards.

Answer 29

self-mediated consequences

Question 30

People also regulate their actions through moral standards of conduct. Bandura sees moral agency as having two aspects:

Answer 30

(1) doing no harm to people and (2) proactively helping people.

Question 31

Self-regulatory influences are not automatic but operate only if they are activated, a concept Bandura calls _____.

Answer 31

selective activation

Question 32

Bandura’s answer is that “people do not ordinarily engage in
reprehensible conduct until they have justified to themselves the morality of their actions”. By justifying the morality of their actions, they can separate or disengage themselves from the consequences of their behavior, a concept Bandura calls _____.

Answer 32

disengagement of internal control

Question 33

Mechanisms through which self-control is disengaged or selectively activated: (4)

Answer 33

1. Redefine the Behavior (3)
2. Disregard or Distort the Consequences of Behavior
3. Dehumanize or Blame the Victims
   4 Displace or Diffuse Responsibility

Question 34

1. Moral Justification
2. Palliative Comparison
3. Euphemistic Labels

Answer 34

3 ways to Redefine the Behavior

Question 35

Redefine the Behavior Mechanism: The child who vandalizes a school building uses the excuse that others broke even more windows.

Answer 35

palliative comparisons

Question 36

A third technique in redefining behavior is the use of euphemistic labels. Politicians who have pledged not to raise taxes speak of “revenue enhancement” rather than taxes; some Nazi leaders called the murder of millions of Jews the “purification of Europe” or “the final solution”.

Friendly fire, collateral damage

Answer 36

use of euphemistic labels

Question 37

Mechanisms through which self-control is disengaged: Disregard or _____ the Consequences of Behavior.

First, people can minimize the consequences of their behavior. For example, a driver runs a red light and strikes a pedestrian. As the injured party lies bleeding and unconscious on the pavement, the driver says, “She’s not really hurt badly. She’s going to be okay”.

Second, people can disregard or ignore the consequences of their actions, as when they do not see firsthand the harmful effects of their behavior. In wartime, heads of state and army generals seldom view the total destruction and death resulting from their decisions.

Finally, people can distort or misconstrue the consequences of their actions, as when a parent beats a child badly enough to cause serious bruises but explains that the child needs discipline in order to mature properly.

Answer 37

Distort

Question 38

Mechanisms through which self-control is disengaged: Displace or _____ Responsibility.

Examples include an employee who claims that her boss is responsible for her inefficiency and a college student who blames his professor for low grades.

Answer 38

Diffuse

Question 39

Dysfunctional Behavior

Answer 39

1. Depression - frequent failures
2. Phobias - fears, inappropriate generalization
3. Aggression - bobo doll

Question 40

The ultimate goal of social cognitive therapy is _____. To achieve this end, the therapist introduces strategies designed to induce specific behavioral changes, to generalize those changes to other situations, and to maintain those changes by preventing relapse.

Answer 40

self-regulation (Therapy)

Question 41

Bandura has suggested several basic treatment approaches.

The first includes _____ modeling. People who observe live or filmed models performing threatening activities often feel less fear and anxiety and are then able to perform those same activities.

Answer 41

overt or vicarious

Question 42

Bandura has suggested several basic treatment approaches.

In a second treatment mode, _____ modeling, the therapist trains patients to visualize models performing fearsome behaviors. Overt and covert modeling strategies are most effective, however, when combined with performance oriented approaches.

Answer 42

covert or cognitive

Question 43

Bandura has suggested several basic treatment approaches.

A third procedure, called _____, requires patients to perform those behaviors that previously produced incapacitating fears. Enactment, however, is not ordinarily the first step in treatment. Patients typically begin by observing models or by having their emotional arousal lessened through systematic desensitization.

Answer 43

enactive mastery

Question 44

Related Research: (2)

Answer 44

Self-Efficacy and Terrorism

Self-Efficacy and Diabetes

Question 45

An increased sense of self-efficacy might help to alleviate the negative feelings and sense of insecurity associated with terrorist attacks. Religion helps.

Answer 45

Self-Efficacy and Terrorism

Question 46

Sacco and his colleagues therefore sought to explore the role of selfefficacy as a variable that could increase adherence to the disease management plan and decrease negative physical and mental health symptoms. Their prediction was that the greater level of self-efficacy patients felt, the more likely people would be to adhere to their disease management plan and therefore the better the patients would feel.

Answer 46

Self-Efficacy and Diabetes