Theories_of_Personality 7th Ed Feist

Feist−Feist: Theories of

Personality, Seventh

Edition

V. Learning Theories 17. Rotter and Mischel:

Cognitive Social Learning

Theory

© The McGraw−Hill^551

Companies, 2009

Because both Rotter and Mischel are realistic and pragmatic, they are diffi-
cult to rate on the optimismversus pessimismdimension. They believe that people
can be taught constructive strategies for problem solving and that they are capa-
ble of learning new behaviors at any point in life. However, these theorists do not
hold that people have within themselves an inherent force that moves them in-
evitably in the direction of psychological growth.
On the issue of conscious versus unconscious motives,cognitive social learn-
ing theory generally leans in the direction of conscious forces. People can con-
sciously set goals for themselves and consciously strive to solve old and new prob-
lems. However, people are not always aware of the underlying motivations for much
of their present behavior.
On the issue of personality being shaped by social or biological influences,
cognitive social learning theory emphasizes social factors.Rotter especially stressed
the importance of learning within a social environment. Mischel also highlighted
social influences, but he does not overlook the importance of genetic factors. He
and Shoda (Mischel & Shoda, 1999) maintained that people have both a genetic
and a social predisposition to act in a given manner. The genetic predisposition, of
course, flows from their genetic endowment, whereas their social predisposition re-
sults from their social history.
As for stressing uniqueness or similarities,we place Rotter in a middle posi-
tion. People have individual histories and unique experiences that allow them to
set personalized goals, but there are also enough similarities among people to
allow for the construction of mathematical formulas that, if sufficient information
were available, would permit reliable and accurate prediction of behavior.
By comparison, Mischel clearly places more emphasis on uniqueness than on
similarities. Differences among people are due to each individual’s behavioral sig-
nature and to unique patterns of variation in each person’s behavior. In summary,
cognitive social learning theory views people as forward-looking, purposive, uni-
fied, cognitive, affective, and social animals who are capable of evaluating present
experiences and anticipating future events on the basis of goals they have chosen
for themselves.

Chapter 17 Rotter and Mischel: Cognitive Social Learning Theory 545

Key Terms and Concepts

• The cognitive social learning theoriesof both Rotter and Mischel attempt
  to synthesize the strengths of reinforcement theory with those of cognitive
  theory.


• According to Rotter, people’s behavior in a specific situation is a function
  of their expectations of reinforcementsand the strength of the needs
  satisfied by those reinforcements.


• In specific situations, behavior is estimated by the basic prediction formula
  that suggests that the potential for a given behavior to occur is a function
  of the person’s expectancy plus the value of the reinforcement.