526 Part VI Learning-Cognitive Theories
that will shape future behavior and can choose to ignore or augment previous
experiences. Human agency suggests that people who have high personal
and collective efficacy and who make efficient use of proxies have a great
amount of influence on their own actions. However, some people have more
freedom than others because they are more adept at regulating their own
behavior. Bandura (1986) defined freedom as “the number of options available
to people and their right to exercise them” (p. 42). Personal freedom, then, is
limited; it is restricted by physical constraints such as laws, prejudices, regula-
tions, and the rights of other people. In addition, personal factors such as
perceived inefficacy and lack of confidence restrict individual freedom.
On the issue of causality or teleology, Bandura’s position would be
described as moderate. Human functioning is a product of environmental factors
interacting with behavior and personal variables, especially cognitive activity.
People move with a purpose toward goals that they have set, but motivation
exists in neither the past nor the future; it is contemporary. Although future
events cannot motivate people, people’s conception of the future can and
does regulate present behavior.
Social cognitive theory emphasizes conscious thought over unconscious
determinants of behavior. Self-regulation of actions relies on self-monitoring,
judgment, and self-reaction, all of which are ordinarily conscious during the
learning situation. “People do not become thoughtless during the learning
process. They make conscious judgments about how their actions affect the
environment” (Bandura, 1986, p. 116). After learnings are well established,
especially motor learnings, they may become unconscious. People do not
have to be aware of all their actions while walking, eating, or driving a car.
Bandura (2001) believes that the division of biological and social factors
is a false dichotomy. Although people are limited by biological forces, they have
a remarkable plasticity. Their social environments allow them a wide range of
behaviors, including using other people as models. Each person lives in a num-
ber of social networks and is thus influenced by a variety of people. Modern
technology in the form of the World Wide Web and the media facilitates the
spread of social influences.
Because people have a remarkable flexibility and capacity for learning,
vast individual differences exist among them. Bandura’s emphasis on unique-
ness, however, is moderated by biological and social influences, both of
which contribute to some similarities among people.Key Terms and Concepts
∙ (^) Observational learning allows people to learn without performing a
behavior.
∙ (^) Observational learning requires (1) attention to a model, (2) organization
and retention of observations, (3) behavioral production, and (4)
motivation to perform the modeled behavior.