Abstract: The Social Cognitive Theory is perhaps the most comprehensive and complex learning theories in the field of psychology. The theory attempts to explain how our social environment has a great influence on our behaviors and actions. Albert Bandura is the most notable psychologist of the Social Cognitive Theory. He has conducted intense research and experiments for over 50 years and continually strives to improve the strengths and correct the limitations of the theory. The Social Cognitive Theory is applied today in many behavioral and cognitive therapeutic settings. It is unique from other learning theories because of the belief that self-efficacy, goals, and outcome expectancies are likely to determine behavioral changes. Social Cognitive Theorists believe that we have the power to change our environment because our environment is affected by our behavior. Does the paper sound interesting after reading the abstract? The Social Cognitive Theory is a psychological learning theory that attempts to explain the psychosocial functioning through the view of self and society and how these two factors have a bidirectional influence. Social Cognitive Theorists believe that individuals are reactive and shaped by environmental events. It is believed that this causes us to be self-reflective and proactive in our nature. The Social Cognitive Theory believes that abstract modeling and strategic observation leads to higher levels of learning. There are five main constructs of
Social learning theory (SLT), cognitive approach, behaviorist approach, humanistic approach, psychodynamic approach and biological approach.
If given a changes to redone my intervention the only thing I would change about it the theory I use. Instead of the Social Cognitive Theory, I would use the Social Capital Theory. SCT states that social obligation and/or relationships can have either a positive or a negative effect on our life. The Social Capital Theory have three constructs: bonding, bridging, and linking social capital. The strongest social capital is bonding, which defined as relationships that are part of our social identity. Bridging social capital is the relationship we form when meet acquaintances. The weakest and last social capital is linking which is refer as relationships we respect/trust on an authority gradient. Based on this belief many will think that everybody
The two theories discussed here will be the Psychodynamic Theory and the Social Learning Theory. Psychodynamic theories include the wisdom of Freud and Jung. Freud discusses, defense mechanisms, understanding the ego as it relates to rational thinking and the superego in regard to mortality. Whereas the Social Learning Theory includes those works from Bandura, Watson, and Piaget among others. This theory will focus on imitation, observation and modeling another’s behavior to achieve a certain desired outcome. Although their conceptual theories differ, they both reflect, shape, and interpret the very essence of the human psyche and how we have evolved and developed over the years.
-A person’s behavior can be influenced by observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influence.
There were three questions asked at the start of this paper. What is Social Psychology all about? Why is the study of it so important? Is there truly a purpose or benefit from the findings of the studies? Social Psychology is the study of attitude, behavior, and interactions of individuals within a group setting. You may have heard the saying "for every action, there is a reaction," Social Psychologists observe and interpret behaviors in effort to provide further explanation of cause and effect. It is thru the studies of Social Psychology we can learn how to get into the cause and begin to foresee patterns of reactions. A simple yet sophisticated theory.
Social learning theory, developed by Bandura, discusses how people learn from one another through observation, modeling, and imitation bridging an individual’s attention, memory and motivation. Social learning theory identifies the importance of cognition, observable behavior, individual self-efficacy, and the extent of how the events surrounding an individual affect them; their locus of control. Social learning theory also looks at individual problem behavior being influenced by positive or negative reinforcement (Ashford & LeCroy, 2012).
The social cognitive theory is a social psychology theory created by Albert Bandura that stems from the social learning theory. Social cognitive theory suggests that there are multiple factors that shape and affect the behavior of an individual. Personal, behavioral, and environmental factors can influence each other and influence how an individual behaves. The hypothesis for this study was that nature based leisure experiences would benefit military veterans by improving psychological well-being, social functioning, and life outlook.
The second part of the social cognitive theory is socioenvironmental factors. Socioenvironmental factors include observational learning, normative beliefs, social support, and barriers and opportunities.
Social cognitive theory was developed by Albert Bandura (1986, 2012) and other psychologists. Social cognitive theory traditionally focuses more on learning by observation and on the cognitive processes that underlie personalities (Rathus, 2015). Additionally, social cognitive theorists see people influencing their environment as much as it influences them (Rathus, 2015). They also affirm that “variables” within people are to be considered to understand them. These can include knowledge and skills, ways of interpreting experiences, and systems and plans (Bandura, 2012). This theory focuses mainly on variables and observational learning of human behavior. Furthermore, this theory was placed third on the spectrum because of its relevance to both nature, and nurture perspectives.
Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory explains psychological functioning in terms of triadic reciprocal causation. Triadic reciprocal causation is a system assuming human action as a result of an interaction with the environment, behavior, and a person. Bandura explains "person" as being a cognitive factor such as memory, anticipation, and planning. It is because of these cognitive capacities that some people can select or restructure their environment.
The concept of interest is self-efficacy. This began in 1977 with Bandura’s social learning theory that was renamed social cognitive theory in 1986, of which self-efficacy was one of the major concepts of his theory. Self-efficacy makes a difference in how people will feel, think, behave, and motivate themselves. A low sense of self-efficacy can be associated with stress, anxiety, depression, and feelings of helplessness. Such individuals also have low self-esteem and become pessimistic about their accomplishments and personal development. In thinking terms, a strong sense of efficacy facilitates cognitive processes and performance in a variety of settings, including the quality of decision-making and academic achievement. When it comes to behavior, self-efficacy can be said to influence people’s choice of activities as self-efficacy levels can foster or decrease a person’s motivation. People with high self-efficacy approach difficult tasks as challenges and do not try to avoid them. People’s self-efficacy beliefs determine their level of motivation, as reflected in how much effort they will
The social-cognitive theory follows behaviorism closely, however the difference between the two is the social-cognitive theory states that people learn by observing others and the cognitive processes that underlie personal differences; whereas behaviorism focuses on how situational behavior influences people (Rathus, 2014, p.254). Personality is defined by how one thinks and responds to their social environment. This pulls the social-cognitive theory to the nurture side because it shows that our personality and behavior is influenced by what we learn by observing others. However, the nature side of the social-cognitive theory is the thought process during observation. It the person’s decision on what they observe and focus on, and it also their decision on whether they want to engage in the social
What is the triadic reciprocal causality process? This is a process that contributes to learning through the cause and effect relationship between behaviors, the environment, and the individual in question. This is arguably one of the more important concepts that should be addressed in the classroom. It is always stated that a teacher must have a “safe and effective learning environment” in which all students adhere to certain behavioral expectations. If a teacher fills the classroom with distracting elements and visuals that have no bearing on what is to be learned and allows individual students be off task, and then the triadic reciprocal process tells us that any given student in that classroom will most likely not attempt to engage in any given learning activity in a desirable way. If the teacher decorates the room with content specific material and only allows behaviors that help maintain a learning environment, then an individual student will more likely exhibit those behaviors (which contribute to that environment).
This research is reinforced by Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1977; as cited in Redmond, 2010) which states that self-efficacy or a person’s belief in one’s ability to succeed in a particular situation plays an essential role in how goals, tasks, and challenges are approached. It continues to evolve as people acquire new skills, experiences, and understanding. It can have an impact on everything from psychological states to behavior to motivation. Bandura believed that the key to successful therapy is self-efficacy. Bandura's theory proposed that learning can also occur by simply observing the actions of others (Ross, 2007). It was stated that people can learn new information and behaviors by watching other people which is known as observational learning. Underneath the social cognitive theory is the social learning theory. There are three core concepts at the heart of social learning theory. In this study, the researchers will only use the two concepts which
In regards to social cognitive theory, one is looking at the fact that people learn by observing behavioral