Rotter and Mischel: Cognitive Social Learning Theory Flashcards
Cognitive factors, more than immediate reinforcements, determine how people will react to environmental forces; our expectations of future events are major determinants of performance
Social Learning Theory
This position holds that human behavior is based largely on the interaction of people with their meaningful environments
Rotter’s interactionist position
Assumes that people choose a course of action that advances them toward an anticipated goal
Rotter’s empirical law of effect
The possibility that a particular response will occur at a given time and place in relation to its likely reinforcement
Behavior potential
People’s confidence that a particular reinforcement will follow a specific behavior in a specific situation or situations; can either be general or specific
Expectancy
A person’s preference for any particular reinforcement over other reinforcements if all are equally likely to occur
Reinforcement value
The individual’s perception of an event
Internal reinforcement
Society’s evaluation of an event
External reinforcement
The value of an event is a function of one’s expectation that a particular reinforcement will lead to future reinforcements
Reinforcement−reinforcement sequences
Part of the external and internal world to which a person is responding
Psychological situation
The potential for a behavior to occur in a particular situation in relation to a given reinforcement is a function of people’s expectancy that the behavior will be followed by that reinforcement in that situation
Basic prediction formula
People’s expectations based on similar past experiences that a given behavior will be reinforced; include people’s needs−that is, behaviors that move them toward a goal
Generalized expectancies
Functionally related categories of behaviors
Needs
The need to excel, to achieve, and to have others recognize one’s worth
Recognition−status
The need to control the behavior of others, to be in charge, or to gain power over others
Dominance
The need to be free from the domination of others
Independence
The need to have others take care of us and to protect us from harm
Protection−dependency
Needs to be warmly accepted by others and to be held in friendly regard
Love and affection
Behaviors aimed at securing food, good health, and physical security
Physical comfort
The possible occurrences of a set of functionally related behaviors directed toward the satisfaction of similar goals
Need potential
A person’s overall expectation of being reinforced for performing behaviors directed toward satisfying some general need
Freedom of movement
The extent to which people prefer one set of reinforcements to another
Need value
Need potential is a function of freedom of movement and need value
General prediction formula
Rotter’s two most famous scales for measuring generalized expectancies
The Internal−External Control Scale and the Interpersonal Trust Scale