Social Cognitive Theory Flashcards
Why “social-cognitive” ?
Emphasizes (1) cognitive processes in analyses of personality and (2) the social context/situation
Social cognitive theory
We learn and acquire our own thoughts about ourselves (and others) through interaction with the environment
Social cognitive perspectives
Psychodynamic approaches overemphasize the unconscious
SC → recognize “cognitive unconscious” but believe conscious processes are of greater importance
Opposed to trait theories nomothetic nature
SC → More important to study the variability in one’s actions (rather than an overall pattern)
Behaviourism too focused on the external (stimuli) environments’ behavioural effect on people
SC → Behaviours don’t occur in a vacuum of cause and effect, our perception of the situation is
what is more important to understand
Note the nod to phenomenology and the meaning of objects, people, situations and cognitions
Social cognitive approach
Similar to phenomenological approach and kelly’s personal construct theory
Emphasis on:
- people as active agents
- social origins of behaviors
- cognitive processes
- collective behavioral tendencies and variability in behavior
- the learning of complex patterns of behavior in the absence of objective rewards
SCT’s view of the person
Persons are beings that can reason about the world using language
Persons can reason about the present, past and future (abstraction – learn & predict)
The reasoning commonly involves reflection on the self (introspection, meta-cognition)
SCT’s science of personality
SCT tries to use all aspects of psychology and utilise all significant advancements
Patchwork of developmental, neuroscientific, cultural, cognitive, social, etc. psychologies
Uses both nomothetic and idiographic
Pragmatic – utility in its application
SCT Competencies and skills
Differences and variations between and within people due to competency or skill on a task
e.g. a person may appear introverted because they lack social skills/competency
Competencies involve both thinking about (cognitive) the task and executing (behavioural)
Competencies are context specific and can be changed or acquired because they are based on our beliefs, standards and goals…
Declarative knowledge
Knowledge we can express in words
Procedural (tacit) knowledge
Cognitive and behavioral capacities that we cant articulate the exact nature of
Three ways people think about and interact with the world
Beliefs: a system of thoughts about the future that can vary across situations
Evaluative standards: beliefs about what the world should be
Goals: Beliefs about what we can attain in the world
self-efficacy beliefs
our expectations of our abilities and performance
Perceived self-efficacy
our perceptions of our own capabilities for actions in future situations
Why is self-efficacy important?
It influences:
1)Decisions – Decide to attempt difficult tasks
2) Persistence – Persist in your efforts
3) Affect – remain calm rather than anxious
4) Analytical thoughts – keep your thoughts organised and on task
self-efficacy vs self-esteem
self-esteem is an overall global affect whereas self-efficacy is determined by the situation
e.g. I have a high self-efficacy that I can publish a particular research paper but low self-efficacy
that I could learn a foreign language BUT, neither of these would necessarily effect my self-esteem (pos. or neg.)
Self-efficacy expectations vs outcome expectations
Outcome expectations (OE) are beliefs about the rewards (or punishments) that will occur
given a behaviour
Self-Efficacy Expectations (SEE) are beliefs of whether or not you can even perform the
behaviour
High self-efficacy means:
(1) Selection
select more difficult and challenging tasks
(2) Effort, Persistence & Performance
show greater effort and persistence on task (don’t give up so easily)
(3) Emotion
approach task with less anxiety
(4) Coping
better at (emotional) coping with disappointments, setbacks and stress
goal
A goal is a mental representation of the aim of an action or course of actions
Goals motivate us, help us select and make decisions that go beyond momentary influences
Goals can be organised as hierarchical, time-related and varying focus
SCT addresses personality in 2 ways:
(1) General Theoretical Principles:
Reciprocal Determinism - the analysis of the causes of behaviour
Cognitive Affective Processing System (CAPS)
(2) Analysis of psychological functions
Observational learning (e.g. modelling)
Motivation
Self-Control
Reciprocal determinism (Bandura)
Each aspect influences the other – no direct causality
People as ‘active agents’
e.g. a basketball star that always plays great at
“home”
Cognitive affective processing system (CAPS)
Mischel & Shoda (2008): Personality is a complex system (many parts working in a coherent way)
(1) Cognitive and Emotional personality variables are linked to each other
Thoughts about goals may trigger thoughts about skills …which triggers thoughts about selfefficacy …which affect emotions and self-evaluations in a situation
(2) Situations trigger varying cognitive subsets to be activated within the overall system
The ‘anxiety’ subset, the ‘conscientiousness’ subset, the ‘relationship’ subset, etc.
(3) The varying subsets will cause a variation in behaviour from situation to situation
e.g., “If X…then Y…” …but every X is slightly (or largely) different
Importantly, M & S argue that this variation is what defines our personality
how we differ from situation to situation and why!
How we perceive the variation is always uniquely our own
observational learning (modelling)
We can learn complex forms of behaviour by simply observing it
People (especially children) can learn by observing the behaviours of others
E.g., We already know (for the most part) how to drive before we ever attempt it
SMART goals
Specific
Measurable
Actionable
Realistic
Timebound
Schemas
Self-Schemas are elements of our self knowledge
we use them to organise our information processing when we encounter situations
People, due to differential experiences with the environment, will have different self-schemas
We become biased towards our self-schemas and more likely to pay attention and remember
information that fits our self-schema
self-schemas motivate us to process info in 2 ways:
self-enhancement
self-verification
Self-enhancement
People are biased towards maintaining a positive view of the self
e.g. if I fail an exam its because the test was “unfair” [externalised – fundamental attribution bias]
This may also causes us to over-estimate our positive attributes (e.g., defensively, misattribution, and/or irrationally)
e.g., raising our SEE, despite performance – grandiosity in clinical narcissism as an extreme [internalised
self-verification
Very strong motive to be consistent in who we are (whether good or bad for us) to avoid threat/anxiety
i.e., can cause dogmatic thinking; lacking psychological flexibility (lack of assimilation of ideas; denial)
Self-schema: “I’m virtuous because I’m always honest: I tell it like it is, and some people cant handle it”
the person says hurtful things under a “veil of truth”
But its judgmental and biased to their own perception to reinforce their own behaviour/values as a means of
self-verification (i.e., if I can verify that you agree with me then that reinforces/enhances my self-verification)
Therapeutic efforts are used to modify these self-schemas and challenge cognitive distortions
E.g., self-verification can also suffer from black or white (all or none) and catastrophic thinking (i.e., cog. distortions)
Learning vs performance goals
Learning: more interested in what can be learnt
Performance: more interested in achievement
Ellis and REBT
People respond to their beliefs about events not the events themselves
2 ways of coping with stress:
(1) Problem-focused (externalise)
Cope by altering aspects of the situation (external; reality)
(2) Emotion-focused (internalise)
Attempt to improve internal emotional state
e.g., seek social support, talk it out, cognitive distancing, mindfulness, coping, etc.)
Cognitive therapy
Designed to identify and correct distortions in thinking and beliefs
Help clients to monitor their own negative thoughts and to substitute more reality-orientated interpretations in their place
The database?
Excellent.
Mischel, Bandura and colleagues built their theory on a systematic accumulation of
objective scientific evidence
Very diverse
Correlational, laboratory and longitudinal studies
Looked at behavioural change
Ran clinical studies
Participants in studies have been every imaginable type
Along with Trait theory it is based on the largest databases of scientific knowledge
And continues to grow
systematic?
Not very good.
No over-arching network of assumptions that tie together all theoretical elements
More of a strategy for studying personality than a full theory
Theory could indicate the sort of things we should assess, but too diverse to collate it
all together
The SCT approach prides itself on assessing the whole person – no easy feat
Testable?
Yes, highly.
Clear concepts that can be measured
Comprehensive?
SCT have addressed:
Motivation
Development
Self-concept
Self-control (gratification delay)
Psychopathologies
Behavioural change
But…
Biological aspects as synergistic elements (cause and effect, neuromodulator roles
in bx, etc)
Temperament? (genetic; attachment theory; Eysenck P-E-N)
Applications?
Excellent. CBT considered the gold-standard in clinical approaches
Most commonly used in modern day psychological therapy
But, the “gold-standard” is denoted for its empirical evidence (testable) (reliability>validity)
Do CBT ‘tasks’ really address the underlying problem? (neurotic; anxiety disorders)
Behavioural change is important but what caused the anxiety in the first place? (e.g., Neuroticism)
CBT process → identifies negative/distorted thoughts (and bx) and develops strategies to
address those thoughts
But where do these maladaptive thoughts and behaviours come from – and why?
Resilience
the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands
4 components of resilience
(1) Build your connections (social connection)
Prioritize relationships (e.g., beneficial/supportive, non-judgmental, unconditional positive regard and empathy)
Join a group, belong, be social, be kind (e.g., Maslow - belongingness & responsibility)
(2) Foster wellness (coping)
Take care of your body (e.g., exercise)
Take care of your mind (e.g., mindfulness)
Avoid negative outlets (e.g., maladaptive coping; short term gain; mood/emotion)
(3) Find purpose (life strategy)
Look for opportunities for self-discovery (e.g., the obstacle is the way; enter the unknown)
Help others (e.g., empathy, active listening, and compassion – “be there”)
Be proactive and move toward your goals (e.g., SMART goals, short and long term, baby steps – just start)
(4) Embrace healthy thoughts (perception & cognition)
Keep things in perspective and use reason in addressing automatic thoughts (impression → reason → meaning)
Accept change (e.g., openness vs resistance); have the wisdom to discern what you can and can’t control
Maintain a hopeful outlook (e.g., this too shall pass; amore fate – love fate
