Social Cognitive Theory

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Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) - Started as the Social Learning Theory (SLT) in the 1960s by Albert Bandura. - It states that learning occurs in a social context with a dynamic and reciprocal interaction of the person, environment, and behavior - People learn through observing other people’s behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors. “Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms and idea of how new behaviors are performed and on later occasions serve as a guide action” – Bandura *Reciprocal Determinism - Is the central concept of SCT. - 3 Factors: * the environment * the individual and, * the behavior itself. Essentially, Bandura believes that an individual's behavior influences and is influenced by both the social world and personal characteristics. According to Bandura, personality speculates that it is the product of three interacting forces: environment, behavior, and thoughts. Example: (SHORT SKIT) Anna is a shy student who usually keeps to herself (the personal/cognitive component). She enters a room on the first day of class to find that all of the other students are already present (the environment). In most cases, she would just quietly slip into a seat at the back of the class in order to avoid becoming the center of attention (the behavioral component). In this instance, another student at the front of the room boisterously greets Anna and invites her to sit down in an adjacent seat. In this instance, the environment has introduced a new reinforcing stimuli (the friendly student) that has led to a change in Anna's normal routine. As a result, her behavior has changed. ASSUMPTIONS OF SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY 1. People can learn by observing others. Learners can acquire new behaviors and knowledge by simply observing a model. A model is a person

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