Social Cognitive theory Flashcards
Explain social cognitive theory.
Social cognitive theory is the notion that learning can be done directly or indirectly. The direct way of learning is actually experiencing that action or behaviour and the indirect way of learning is observing that action of behaviour. This is an attempt to explain how we learn from others and to be more specific can explain one etiology of aggression. This started off first as social learning theory which basically notes that learning was just conditioning a response from a stimulus. Based on observation learning: classical and operant condition. Classical conditioning is linking two things in the environment together one that creates a natural response and one that does not. Operative condition is the use of rewards and punishments. Within social cognitive theory people are being socialized (taught how to act in society): parents, peer, school and the media. Two ways to learn these behaviour: directly and indirectly. This theory relies on four mediating variables: attention (have to pay attention to learn something), retention (ability to remember the information), motor reproduction (actually physically capable of doing it) and motivation (the learner must want to do it).
