Study Unit 6

Question 1

Social cognitive theory: View of the person

Answer 1

Reciprocal determinism
- behaviour is determined by the interaction of three factors: the person, the situation and the behaviour that takes place in this situation
- G= f (P x S x B)
- response repertoire, where an individual has various behaviours at their disposal

Mischel held the interactional point of view which argues that behaviour is not determined exclusively by either the individual or the situation, but rather the interaction between the characteristics of the individual and those of the situation

Question 2

Rotter’s Person variables

Answer 2

• behaviour is determined by the joint influence of their subjective preferences regarding the possible rewards that may follow their behaviour, and their expectation that certain actions will lead to the rewards they seek
• BP = f(E,RV)
  BP: behaviour potential
  E: expectancy
  RV: reinforcement value

Locus of control
- the extent to which people perceive an internal or external point of control in their lives
- internal locus of control: perceives whatever follows their behaviour as the result of their actions and therefore believe that they can exercise considerable control over what happens to them
- external locus of control: tend to believe that the outcome of their behaviour that depends on extraneous influences such as good fortune, coincidence, fate or the influence of other people. They therefore believe that they can exercise little control over their lives

Question 3

Bandura’s Person variables (SFSVS)

Answer 3

• individuals possess various capabilities that underlie their functioning in the context of the interaction between person, situation and behaviour:

1. Symbolising capability
   - being able to conserve and manipulate experiences in the form of cognition
   - enables people to communicate with one another
   - can formulate ideas about matters that you haven’t experienced yourself
2. Forethought capability
   - people do not simply react only to the immediate situation and are also not programmed by yheir pasts
   - we can devise plans and goals for the future and act in accordance with these
3. Vicarious capability
   - individual’s ability to learn from the experiences of others
   - enables individuals to learn, by observation of others, complex and dangerous behaviours that could never be acquired through direct experience
4. Self-regulatory capability
   - people’s ability to live by their own standards
   - independent of other people’s approval and control
5. Self-reflective capability
   - one’s self-image, reflecting and evaluating oneself
   - self-efficacy: people’s belief about their capabilities to function effectively in a given situation

Question 4

Mischel’s Person Variables (CESSE)

Answer 4

Encoding strategies
- a situation that one person experiences as life threatening is experienced by another as challenging, while a third person views it as boring
- for each, his perception (encoding) of the situation determines how they will react

Expectancy
- the person’s expectations regarding the outcomes of his or her behaviour

Subjective values
- similar to Bandura’s concept of reinforcement value
- if two people have the same expectations of reward in a given situation, they may still behave differently because the reward has different values for each of them

Self-regulating systems
- the standards persons set for themselves, the goals they strive for, the way they react to success or failure

Competencies
- their ability to deal with the environment
- things such as knowledge, skills and ability to generate cognitions and actions

Question 5

Learning from the social cognitive learning perspective

Answer 5

Difference from radical behaviourism
- regards individuals as active participants who can influence their own learning process in a number of ways
- acknowledges 3 types of learning: learning through direct experience, observational learning, and learning through self-regulation
- radical behaviourism believes reinforcement only comes from external agents. This theory distinguishes between direct, vicarious and self-reinforcement

Question 6

3 types of learning

Answer 6

Learning through direct experience
- behaviour changes as a result of performing a behaviour, which is then rewarded or punished by an external agent
- known as operant and classical conditioning in Skinner’s theory
- people don’t just produce behaviour, but also consciously perceive and think about the result of their behaviour
- even if people regularly received positive reinforcement for a particular response, they would not persist with the behaviour if they believed that it was not going to be rewarded in future
- not only linked to direct reinforcement, but also to self-reinforcement. The success of conditioning depends on whether the person accepts the reinforcement as a reward or not

Observational learning
- the most important form of learning
- 3 important aspects:
1. Attention
2. Retention
3. Reproduction
- the subject needs to observe the behaviour while paying attention in order to retain the behaviour. Thereafter, they will only reproduce the behaviour with adequate motivation

Important terms
- model
- observer
- reinforcement agent (person or object that reinforces or punishes the behaviour of the model)
- vicarious reinforcement (when the observer learns the behaviour)
-modelling (behaviour of the model)
- imitation (behaviour of the observer)
- counter-imitation (when the observer does the opposite of what they have observed)

Factors influencing observational learning
- the nature of the modelled behaviour
- the characteristics of the model
- the characteristics of the observer
- the results of the model’s behaviour
- self-efficacy

Learning through self-regulation
- refers to the individual’s ability to regulate their own behaviour, particularly their learning process
- Internal self-regulation refers to people’s subjective evaluation of their behaviour and whether they reinforce or punish themselves in their mind
- External self-regulation refers to rewarding or punishing themselves in a concrete way

Question 7

Social Cognitive theory: Optimal developmental

Answer 7

• optimally developed people are able to recognise and take into account the factors that are relevant to effective functioning in a given situation and succeed in producing behaviour that meets their own standards
• have realistic self-efficacy perception
• the environment greatly determines what the individual will regard as desirable and valuable

Question 8

Social Cognitive Theory: Psychopathology

Answer 8

• psychological behaviour is learnt
• they agree with other behaviourists that psychopathological behaviour does not have a underlying dynamic cause
• Bandura thought that a lack of self-efficacy is important in the development of undesirable behaviour
• Learnt helplessness is characterised by feeling you’re at the mercy of the situation, a decrease in attempts to change the situation and a general inability to make the connection between behaviour and its results, even in situations where you have control