Ch. 11: Social Learning: Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory

The acquisition of patterns of behavior that conform to social expectations; learning what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in a given culture. Also, learning that involves interaction among individuals.

The complex process of learning both those behaviors that are appropriate within a given culture and those that are less appropriate.

The primary agents of socialization are home, school, and peer groups.

The established social conventions and customs of a group often considered essential to its identification and preservation as a distinct cultural group.

The sum total of the attainments and accumulated customs,beliefs, and mores of a group. Human cultures are typically marked by shared languages, spiritual beliefs, habits, and so forth.

Copying behavior. To imitate a person's behavior is simply to use that person's behavior as a pattern. Bandura and Walters describe three different effects of imitation.

A term used synonymously with the expression "learning through imitation".

A representation, usually abstract, of some phenomenon or system. Alternatively, a pattern for behavior that can be copied by someone.

A model other than a real-life person. For example, books, television, and written instructions are important symbolic models.

Reinforcement that occurs as a direct consequence of a behavior--such as getting paid to work.

Reinforcement that results from observing someone else being reinforced. In imitative behavior, observers often act as though they are being reinforced when in fact they aren't, but they think that the model is.

A largely unavoidable emotional reaction associated with a conditioned stimulus, acquired through repeated exposure to specific emotion-related situations.

The type of imitative behavior that involves learning a novel response.

The effect of imitative behavior that results either in the suppression (inhibition) or appearance (disinhibition) of previously acquired deviant behavior.

Involves engaging in a previously inhibited, deviant behavior as a result of observing a model. The inhibitory effect involves refraining from a deviant behavior.

Imitative behavior in which the observer does not copy the model's responses but simply behaves in a related manner.

A thought that pertains to the self. Self-referent thought concerns our own mental processes (for example, thoughts that evaluate ours abilities or monitor our progress in solving problems).

An orientation, described by Bandura, that emphasizes the extent to which people are authors (agents) of their own actions (rather than simply experiencing that which happens to them) as is evident in their use intentionality, forethought, self-reactiveness, and self-reflectiveness.

The belief members of a group share about their ability to influence events so as to attain common goals.

Bandura's notion that personal characteristics, behavior, and the environment all affect each other reciprocally--that individuals are both products and producers of their environments.

Label used by Bandura to emphasize that the reciprocal interactions between person and environment also include the person's behavior. All three influence and change each other.

A procedure in which students are removed from situations in which they might ordinarily be rewarded. Time-out procedures are widely used in classroom management.

An approach to therapy based largely on social/cognitive theory, where the therapist attempts to boost relevant feelings of self-efficacy. Widely used in the treatment of phobias.