0390435333.pdf

Feist−Feist: Theories of

Personality, Seventh

Edition

V. Learning Theories 17. Rotter and Mischel:

Cognitive Social Learning

Theory

© The McGraw−Hill^521

Companies, 2009

that is, which button she
presses—is determined
by the reinforcement
value of each snack.
When expectancies
and situational variables
are held constant, behav-
ior is shaped by one’s
preference for the possi-
ble reinforcements, that
is, reinforcement value.
In most situations, of
course, expectancies are
seldom equal, and pre-
diction is difficult be-
cause both expectancy
and reinforcement value
can vary.
What determines
the reinforcement value
for any event, condition,
or action? First, the indi-
vidual’s perception con-
tributes to the positive or negative value of an event. Rotter calls this perception in-
ternal reinforcementand distinguishes it from external reinforcement,which
refers to events, conditions, or actions on which one’s society or culture places a
value. Internal and external reinforcements may be either in harmony or at a vari-
ance with one another. For example, if you like popular movies—that is, the same
ones that most other people like—then your internal and external reinforcements for
attending these types of movies are in agreement. However, if your taste in movies
runs contrary to that of your friends, then your internal and external reinforcements
are discrepant.
Another contributor to reinforcement value is one’s needs. Generally, a specific
reinforcement tends to increase in value as the need it satisfies becomes stronger. A
starving child places a higher value on a bowl of soup than does a moderately hun-
gry one. (This issue is more fully discussed later in this chapter in the section titled
Needs.)
Reinforcements are also valued according to their expected consequences for
future reinforcements. Rotter believes that people are capable of using cognition to
anticipate a sequence of events leading to some future goal and that the ultimate goal
contributes to the reinforcement value of each event in the sequence. Reinforcements
seldom occur independently of future related reinforcements but are likely to appear
in reinforcement-reinforcement sequences,which Rotter (1982) refers to as clus-
ters of reinforcement.
Humans are goal oriented; they anticipate achieving a goal if they behave in a
particular way. Other things being equal, goals with the highest reinforcement value
are most desirable. Desire alone, however, is not sufficient to predict behavior. The

Chapter 17 Rotter and Mischel: Cognitive Social Learning Theory 515

People do not behave in a vacuum but respond to cues in their
perceived environment.