BANDURA'S SOCIAL- COGNITIVE THEORY

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CHAPTER 17

• BANDURA'S SOCIAL- COGNITIVE THEORY

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Assumptions of the Social-cognitive Approach

• Behavior occurs as the result of a complex
  interplay between inner processes (cognitions,
  motivations, personality factors) and
  environmental influences.
• triadic reciprocal determinism - belief that
  cognition, behavior, and the environment operate
  interactively as determinants of one another.
• assume that we represent external events
  symbolically
• verbal representation - word that signifies an
  object in the environment. For example, the word
  cat is a verbal representation of a purring
  quadruped that exists in the environment.
• imaginal representation - image conjured up by a
  person that resembles an object in the
  environment.

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Assumptions of the Social-cognitive Approach
(cont.)

• assume that most of our behavior is not
  controlled by immediate external reinforcement.
• much of our behavior is controlled by anticipated
  outcomes - persons expectancy that the
  performance of certain behaviors will secure
  certain reinforcers, and modeling, type of
  learning in which individuals learn new behavior
  by observing others.

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Modeling Theory

• Whether or not the person imitates observed
  behavior of a model depends on three factors.
• characteristics of the observer.
• characteristics of the model.
• rewards and punishments associated with the
  model's behavior.
• vicarious reinforcement - willingness to imitate
  the behavior of a model after observing that the
  model was reinforced for the behavior.

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Aggression and Violence in Films, Television, and
Video Games

• Factors Facilitating the Occurrence of Violence
  and Aggression
• observers who watch models being rewarded for
  certain behaviors tend to repeat them, whereas
  observers who watch models being punished for
  their actions tend not to repeat those actions.
• observers are more likely to imitate aggressive
  models who receive no punishment for their
  behavior.
• even when models are punished for their actions,
  observers can and will imitate them if given
  strong incentives.

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Aggression and Violence in Films, Television, and
Video Games (cont.)

• Factors (cont.)
• observers will imitate even a disliked model who
  has been rewarded for his aggression if they
  believe his actions are exciting and fun.
• observers will imitate aggressive behavior
  performed by models if the aggression is
  justified.
• observers are more apt to behave aggressively if
  they are low on impulse control.

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Aggression and Violence in Films, Television, and
Video Games (cont.)

• Factors (cont.)
• observers behave more aggressively if they
  identify with the aggressor.
• observers are more apt to be aggressive if they
  can dehumanize the victim, or when the injuries
  suffered by the victim are minimized or
  sanitized.

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Aggression and Violence in Films, Television, and
Video Games (cont.)

• Recommendations to Reduce Violence in the Media
• media executives need to be encouraged by members
  of the public to create more constructive shows
  and video games.
• parents need to limit their childrens exposure
  to media violence by monitoring the content of
  programs in advance, modeling nonaggressive
  behavior for their children, and rewarding
  nonviolent behavior.

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Role of Efficacy Expectations in Determining
Behavior

• Efficacy Expectations - individuals convictions
  or beliefs that they can execute the behaviors
  required to produce certain response
  consequences.
• Efficacy Expectations Depend on Four Factors
• performance accomplishments.
• vicarious experiences.
• verbal persuasion.
• emotional arousal.
• Research on Efficacy Expectations
• academic development and achievement
• career choices and job performance
• physical and mental health

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Personality Development

• Important Factors
• children learn and develop via rewards provided
  by their caretakers learn what not to do by
  being disciplined (not physically punished) for
  their wrong actions
• children learn through watching successful
  parents
• multiple models - learning more difficult when
  models are performing behaviors that conflict
  with one another.
• children eventually learn to apply
  self-reinforcers and self- punishers to their own
  behavior.

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Therapeutic Assessment Techniques

• No Use of Traditional Techniques (free
  association, dream analysis, transference)
• Heavy Reliance on Experimentation to Assess
  Personality Functioning and Change.
• modeling used to reduce or eliminate undesirable
  behavior and to teach new, more desirable
  behavior.
• guided participation modeling - procedure in
  which models first show study participants how to
  successfully tolerate increasingly threatening
  interactions with dreaded objects, and then guide
  the participants through these threatening
  activities until they are finally able to master
  their fears.

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Therapeutic Assessment Techniques (cont.)

• Heavy Reliance (cont.)
• eliminate fears by raising efficacy expectations.
  
• self-modeling - type of learning in which
  individuals watch themselves behave in a
  situationally-appropriate manner via videotape
  and then show the same behaviors later on.

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Evaluative Comments

• Comprehensiveness - broad in scope.
• Precision and Testability - precise and testable.
  
• Parsimony - parsimonious.
• Empirical Validity - strong empirical support.
• Heuristic Value - high heuristic value, proving
  stimulating to researchers in clinical
  psychology, social psychology, health psychology,
  and vocational counseling.
• Applied Value - strong applied value, especially
  in the areas of education and psychopathology.