L&B Week 6

1. Social Cognitive Learning Theory

2. Albert Bandura (1925-)
Social Cognition
•Compared to Behaviorism
•Social Cognitive Theory differs in three ways
•The way learning is viewed
•The way consequences are interpreted
•The way interactions among behavior, the environment, & personal factors are described
–Reciprocal causation
•Bandura proposed two factors as the major components of relatively permanent change:
•Context
•Beliefs

3. Bandura developed the concept of reciprocal determinism to account for human behavior.
OVERT BEHAVIOR
PERSONAL FACTORS
ENVIRONMENT
Social Cognition

4. Social Cognition
Bandura believes that human beings have specific abilities and that only reciprocal determinism can explain their operation and interaction:
• Model and imitate
• Regulate own behavior
• Self-reflect

5. Observational Learning
Bandura’s earlier work on observational learning set the stage for his work in social cognition.
Observational (or social) learning proposed two primary modes of learning:
• Modeling
• Imitation

6. Cognitive modeling
Example
Description
Type
Mina imitates Joci in studying for exams.
Simply attempting to imitate the model's behavior
Direct
modeling
Teenagers begin to dress like characters on a popular TV show.
Imitating behaviors displayed by characters in movies, television,..
Symbolic
modeling
A child uses a chair to open a cupboard door after both seeing her sister use a chair to get a book from a shelf & seeing her mother open the cupboard door.
Developing behaviors by combining portions of observed acts
Synthesized
modeling

7. Observational Learning
Bandura hypothesized a four-step pattern that combined a cognitive and operant view of learning.
Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation
remembers what was noticed
produces an action that is a copy of what was noticed
consequence changes the probability the behavior will be emitted again
notices something in the environment

8. Observational Learning
In a set of well-known experiments, called the "Bobo doll" studies, Bandura showed that children (ages 3 to 6) would change their behavior by simply watching others.
• One group of children saw an adult praised for aggressive behavior
He observed three different groups of children:

9. Observational Learning
In a set of well-known experiments, called the "Bobo doll" studies, Bandura showed that children (ages 3 to 6) would change their behavior by simply watching others.
• A second group saw the adult told to go sit down in a corner and was not allowed to play with the toys.
He observed three different groups of children:
• A third group saw the adult simply walking out of the room.

10. Observational Learning
•Gender Differences

11. Observational Learning

12. Self-Efficacy
Self-reflection is a second human quality and is expressed in the concept of self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy is influenced by:
•Mastery experiences
•Vicarious experiences
•Social persuasions
•Physiological states

13. Mastery experiences

14. Mastery experiences
•The difficulty of the task
•The amount of effort they expend
•The amount of external aid they receive
•The circumstances under which they perform
•The temporal pattern of their successes and failures

15. Vicarious experiences

16. Model Characteristics
•Attractiveness
•Social power
•Status
•Competence
•Nurturance
•Interaction level with the observer
•Similarity

17. Observational Learning
Part of the Cognitive-Social Learning Theory
1.Person wants to be like the model.
2. Person believes they are like the model.
3. Person experiences emotions like those the model is feeling.
4. Person acts like the model.

18. Effects of modeling on learning new behavior
Modeling can affect behavior in at least four ways:
•Learning new behaviors
•Facilitating existing behaviors
•Changing inhibitions
•Arousing emotions

19. Social persuasions
•Who the persuaders are
•Their credibility
•How knowledgeable they are about the nature of the activities

20. Physiological State

21. Self-Regulation
Self-regulation is a third human capability and has several sub-functions:
•Goal-setting
•Self-observation and monitoring
•Performance judgment & evaluation
•Self-reaction

22. Social Cognition
“People's level of motivation, affective states, and actions are based more on what they believe than on what is objectively the case.”
Bandura’s basic position is that

23. From Mirroring to Imitation
Humans are prone to spontaneous imitation of both behaviors and emotions (“emotional contagion”).
This includes even overimitating, that is, copying adult behaviors that have no function and no reward.
Children with autism are less likely to cognitively “mirror,” and less likely to follow someone else’s gaze as a neurotypical toddler (left) is doing below.

24. Cognitive-Social Learning
•emphasizes thinking and social learning in behavior.
•People have attitudes, beliefs, expectations, motivations that affect learning.
•Observational Learning