Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionV. Learning Theories 17. Rotter and Mischel:
Cognitive Social Learning
Theory(^526) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
value on dominance, independence, love and affection, and each of the other needs,
then that person will perform those behaviors judged to have the greatest expectancy
of being reinforced. If the person performs behaviors leading to physical comfort,
for example, then there will be more freedom of movement in that need complex
than in any of the other need complexes. Ordinarily, of course, need value is not con-
stant, because most people prefer the satisfaction of one need over others.
Need Value A person’s need value(NV) is the degree to which she or he prefers
one set of reinforcements to another. Rotter, Chance, and Phares (1972) defined need
value as the “mean preference value of a set of functionally related reinforcements”
(p. 33). In the general prediction formula, need value is the analog of reinforcement
value. When freedom of movement is held constant, people will perform those be-
havior sequences that lead to satisfaction of the most preferred need. If people have
equal expectancies of obtaining positive reinforcement for behaviors aimed at the
satisfaction of any need, then the value they place on a particular need complex will
be the principal determinant of their behavior. If they prefer independence to any
other need complex, and if they have an equal expectation of being reinforced in the
pursuit of any of the needs, then their behavior will be directed toward achieving
independence.
General Prediction Formula
The basic prediction formula is limited to highly controlled situations where ex-
pectancies, reinforcement value, and the psychological situation are all relatively
simple and discrete. In most situations, however, prediction of behavior is much
more complex because behaviors and reinforcements usually occur in functionally
related sequences. Consider again the case of La Juan, the gifted student who was
having difficulty staying awake in a dull and boring class. The basic prediction for-
mula offers some indication of the likelihood that, in the specific situation of a bor-
ing lecture, La Juan will rest her head on her desk. However, a more generalized pre-
diction formula is needed to predict her need potential for gaining the
recognition-status that comes from graduating with highest honors. La Juan’s likeli-
hood of satisfying this need depends on a complex of behaviors. To make general-
ized predictions regarding a set of behaviors designed to satisfy needs, Rotter intro-
duced this general prediction formula:
NP= f (FM+ NV)
This equation means that need potential (NP) is a function of freedom of
movement (FM) and need value (NV). The formula is analogous to the basic pre-
diction formula, and each factor is parallel to the corresponding factors of that basic
formula. To illustrate the general prediction formula, we can look at La Juan’s situ-
ation with regard to her future academic work. To predict her need potentialfor
working toward graduation with highest honors, we must measure her freedom of
movement,that is, her mean expectancy of being reinforced for a series of behaviors
necessary to reach her goal, plus her need valueof all those reinforcements: that is,
the value she places on recognition-status or any other need she associates with re-
ceiving academic honors. The value La Juan places on recognition-status (need
520 Part V Learning Theories