0390435333.pdf

Feist−Feist: Theories of

Personality, Seventh

Edition

V. Learning Theories 16. Bandura: Social

Cognitive Theory

(^514) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
Key Terms and Concepts

• Observational learningallows people to learn without performing a
  behavior.


• Observational learning requires (1) attentionto a model, (2) organization
  and retentionof observations, (3) behavioral production,and
  (4)motivationto perform the modeled behavior.


• Enactive learningtakes place when our responses produce consequences.


• Human functioning is a product of the mutual interaction of environmental
  events, behavior, and personal factors, a model called triadic reciprocal
  causation.


• Chance encountersand fortuitous eventsare two important environmental
  factors that influence people’s lives in unplanned and unexpected ways.


• Human agencymeans that people can and do exercise a measure of control
  over their lives.


• Self-efficacyrefers to people’s belief that they are capable of performing
  those behaviors that can produce desired outcomes in a particular
  situation.


• Proxy agencyoccurs when people have the capacity to rely on others for
  goods and services.


• Collective efficacyrefers to the confidence that groups of people have that
  their combined efforts will produce social change.


• People have some capacity for self-regulation,and they use both external
  and internal factors to self-regulate.


• External factorsprovide us with standards for evaluating our behavior
  as well as external reinforcement in the form of rewards received from
  others.


• Internal factorsin self-regulation include (1) self-observation,
  (2) judgmental processes, and (3) self-reaction.


• Through selective activationand disengagement of internal control,people
  can separate themselves from the injurious consequences of their actions.


• Four principal techniques of selective activation and disengagement of
  internal control are (1) redefining behavior,(2) displacing or diffusing
  responsibility, (3) disregarding or distorting the consequences of behavior,
  and (4) dehumanizing or blaming the victims for their injuries.


• Dysfunctional behaviors,such as depression, phobias, and aggression, are
  acquired through the reciprocal interaction of environment, personal
  factors, and behavior.


• Social cognitive therapyemphasizes cognitive mediation, especially
  perceived self-efficacy.

508 Part V Learning Theories