M3. Lesson 4: Social Cognitive Theory

Question 1

What is observational learning?

Answer 1

Observational learning allows people to learn without performing a behavior.

Question 2

What does observational learning require?

Answer 2

Observational learning requires (1) attention to a model, (2) organization and retention of observations, (3) behavioral production, and (4) motivation to perform the modeled behavior.

Question 3

What is enactive learning?

Answer 3

Enactive learning takes place when our responses produce consequences.

Question 4

What is human functioning?

Answer 4

Human functioning is a product of the mutual interaction of environmental events, behavior, and personal factors, a model called triadic reciprocal causation.

Question 5

What are two important environmental factors that influence people’s lives in unplanned and unexpected ways?

Answer 5

Chance encounters and fortuitous events are two important environmental factors that influence people’s lives in unplanned and unexpected ways.

Question 6

What are chance encounters and fortuitous events?

Answer 6

Chance encounters and fortuitous events are two important environmental factors that influence people’s lives in unplanned and unexpected ways.

Question 7

What are chance encounters and fortuitous events?

Answer 7

Chance encounters and fortuitous events are two important environmental factors that influence people’s lives in unplanned and unexpected ways.

Question 8

What is human agency?

Answer 8

Human agency means that people can and do exercise a measure of control over their lives.

Question 9

What is self-efficacy?

Answer 9

Self-efficacy refers to people’s belief that they are capable of performing those behaviors that can produce desired outcomes in a particular situation.

Question 10

What is proxy agency?

Answer 10

Proxy agency occurs when people have the capacity to rely on others for goods and services.

Question 11

What is collective efficacy?

Answer 11

Collective efficacy refers to the confidence that groups of people have that their combined efforts will produce social change.

Question 12

People have some capacity of what? And what kind of factors do they use for it?

Answer 12

People have some capacity for self-regulation, and they use both external and internal factors to self-regulate.

Question 13

What are external factors?

Answer 13

External factors provide us with standards for evaluating our behavior as well as external reinforcement in the form of rewards received from others.

Question 14

What are internal factors?

Answer 14

Internal factors in self-regulation include (1) self-observation, (2) judgmental processes, and (3) self-reaction.

Question 15

What can people do through selective activation and disengagement of internal control?

Answer 15

Through selective activation and disengagement of internal control, people can separate themselves from the injurious consequences of their actions.

Question 16

What are the four principal techniques of selective activation and disengagement of internal control?

Answer 16

Four principal techniques of selective activation and disengagement of internal control are (1) redefining behavior, (2) displacing or diffusing responsibility, (3) disregarding or distorting the consequences of behavior, and (4) dehumanizing or blaming the victims for their injuries.

Question 17

How are dysfunctional behaviors acquired?

Answer 17

Dysfunctional behaviors, such as depression, phobias, and aggression, are acquired through the reciprocal interaction of environment, personal factors, and behavior.

Question 18

What does social cognitive therapy emphasize?

Answer 18

Social cognitive therapy emphasizes cognitive mediation, especially perceived self-efficacy.

Question 19

What is the perspective of Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory?

Answer 19

Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory takes chance encounters and fortuitous events seriously, even while recognizing that these meetings and events do not invariably alter one’s life path. How we react to an expected meeting or event is usually more powerful than the event itself.

Question 20

What are the basic assumptions of social cognitive theory?

Answer 20

First, the outstanding characteristic of humans is plasticity; that is, humans have the flexibility to learn a variety of behaviors in diverse situations.

Second, through a triadic reciprocal causation model that includes behavioral, environmental, and personal factors, people have the capacity to regulate their lives.

Third, social cognitive theory takes an agentic perspective, meaning that humans have the capacity to exercise control over the nature and quality of their lives.

Fourth, people regulate their conduct through both external and internal factors.

Fifth, when people find themselves in morally ambiguous situations, they typically attempt to regulate their behavior through moral agency, which includes redefining the behavior, disregarding or distorting the consequences of their behavior, dehumanizing or blaming the victims of their behavior, and displacing or diffusing responsibility for their actions.

Question 21

What is the first assumption of social cognitive theory?

Answer 21

First, the outstanding characteristic of humans is plasticity; that is, humans have the flexibility to learn a variety of behaviors in diverse situations. Bandura agrees with Skinner that people can and do learn through direct experience, but he places much more emphasis on vicarious learning, that is, learning by observing others. Bandura also stresses the idea that reinforcement can be vicarious; people can be reinforced by observing another person receive a reward. This indirect reinforcement accounts for a good bit of human learning.

Question 22

What is the second assumption of social cognitive theory?

Answer 22

Second, through a triadic reciprocal causation model that includes behavioral, environmental, and personal factors, people have the capacity to regulate their lives. Humans can transform transitory events into relatively consistent ways of evaluating and regulating their social and cultural environments. Without this capacity, people would merely react to sensory experiences and would lack the capacity to anticipate events, create new ideas, or use internal standards to evaluate present experiences. Two important environmental forces in the triadic model are chance encounters and fortuitous events.

Question 23

What is the third assumption of social cognitive theory?

Answer 23

Third, social cognitive theory takes an agentic perspective, meaning that humans have the capacity to exercise control over the nature and quality of their lives. People are the producers as well as the products of social systems. An important component of the triadic reciprocal causation model is self-efficacy. People’s performance is generally enhanced when they have high self-efficacy: that is, the confidence that they can perform those behaviors that will produce desired behaviors in a particular situation. In addition to self-efficacy, both proxy agency and collective efficacy can predict performance. With proxy agency, people are able to rely on others for goods and services, whereas collective efficacy refers to people’s shared beliefs that they can bring about change.

Question 24

What is the fourth assumption of social cognitive theory?

Answer 24

Fourth, people regulate their conduct through both external and internal factors. External factors include people’s physical and social environments, whereas internal factors include self-observation, judgmental process, and self-reaction.

Question 25

What is the fifth assumption of social cognitive theory?

Answer 25

Fifth, when people find themselves in morally ambiguous situations, they typically attempt to regulate their behavior through moral agency, which includes redefining the behavior, disregarding or distorting the consequences of their behavior, dehumanizing or blaming the victims of their behavior, and displacing or diffusing responsibility for their actions.