Albert Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory

1. Social Cognitive
Theory
Presented by: Rederia Bastatas and Trisha Ann Gaviola
Theories of Personality: Albert Bandura's

2. Case Study No. 27

3. Ruth
Drew
MAIN CHARACTERS:
Kevin

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Drew has returned to Albany, New York, for the
memorial service of his dear friend Ruth. He lived with
Ruth for three years while he was attending school in
Albany. He was 23 at the time he moved in; Ruth was
73. His cousin, who attended the same church as Ruth,
introduced the two of them because Ruth
occasionally rented out two of her rooms to boarders.
As a close friend of Ruth’s, Drew is to deliver a eulogy in
her honor. As he sits down to write his tribute, he
contemplates Ruth’s life, which was remarkable.
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) Ruth, a third child in a family with six children, lost her sight
when she was just five years old. At a time before antibiotics
were developed, she had contracted meningitis and had to
stay in bed for a week with a high fever. The doctor did not
think she would survive. She did survive; unfortunately, however,
she lost her sight. She was determined, though, to live her life as
a “normal” child—that is, one that could see. This determination
was sometimes taken too far, and Drew still smiles as he recalls
some of the stories Ruth told about her childhood. She would
roller skate with her friends and even learned to ride a bike! On
at least one occasion, Ruth walked on top of a fence—without
assistance. A neighbor stopped her before she got to the end of
the fence and fell off. Ruth wanted to go to school like her
brothers and sisters, but at that time, visually impaired
children did not attend school with the other children. Ruth
made her brothers and sisters do their homework aloud so she
could learn
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) As an adult, Ruth continued to be very independent. She
could have had a guide dog when they began to be
used but felt that they limited her independence
because they had to be cared for. She had a white cane
but did not want to use it, thinking the cane made her
condition too obvious. And Ruth did not want to be
obvious. In fact, she was determined to behave in the
same ways seeing people did. She sometimes did such
a good job at it that others thought she could see.
Once, when she was at the dentist’s, he held out an
instrument for her to take; Ruth, of course, could not
see it and so did not take it. He asked her why she would
not take the instrument and was surprised when she
replied that she did not see. He had had no idea about
her visual impairment. Ruth was quite proud of that
story. More than anything, she did not want to stand
out from others, especially from those who could see.
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) As an adult, Ruth was a home teacher for the blind until she met Kevin, who became her
husband. They met at a social function for visually impaired people; Kevin was also visually
impaired, although not totally blind like Ruth. After they were married, Ruth helped her husband
manage his newspaper/candy stand, which was located in a factory in Buffalo. This was a state
job geared specifically for the visually impaired, and they sold assorted sundries. Later they
moved to Albany and managed a similar stand at the state capital. This was a very interesting
enterprise because Kevin and Ruth were able to meet and get to know many politicians. They
knew all the assemblymen and all the governors, and likewise the politicians knew them. Ruth’s
favorite governor was Nelson Rockefeller. She thought he was very charismatic.
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) Ruth initially did not want Drew as a boarder. It had been years since
she had had a boarder, and she was not sure she wanted to adjust to
a new one. Conversely, it was Drew who had some trouble adjusting
to living with Ruth. Her house was always neat as a pin, and she
always had a place for everything. She had to. Because she could not
see, she had to keep things where they belonged so that she could
find them, and she had to keep the house clean so that she would
not trip and fall on something that was left out. Drew was fairly
disorganized and sloppy. Eventually he adjusted to Ruth’s lifestyle,
and they became good friends. Drew thought that one of the
reasons why Ruth’s mind remained so sharp, even until her death,
was the fact that she continuously used it to compensate for her not
being able to rely on her sight. Eventually, Drew married and moved
away, but Ruth and he kept in touch with phone calls. In many ways,
Ruth was a surrogate mother to Drew, and he knew he would
certainly miss her.
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9. Application Questions
Using Bandura’s social cognitive theory, explain Ruth’s
personality by answering the following questions.
1. 2. 3.
What does Bandura mean
by reciprocal
determinism? Find an
example of it in the case
and describe the
interrelationships between
the factors.
What does Bandura mean by self-
regulation? Find an example of it
in the case and describe it. Be sure
to mention each of the stages of
self-regulation involved in the
example; that is, what happens
during the self-monitoring, self-
evaluation, and self-reaction
stages?
What are some external
factors involved in self-
regulation? Describe and
explain the external
factors involved in your
self-regulation example.

10. born on December 4, 1925 in
Mundare, Northern Alberta,
Canada
only boy in a family of five older
sisters
Parents are immigrants, his
He learned self-directiveness
Studied Psychology out of
Famous for his Social Cognitive
Theory and Self-Efficacy Theory
Father from Poland and his mother
from Ukraine
early in his childhood.
expediency
Albert Bandura

11. Bandura emphasized the impact of
chance encounters and fortuitous
events in changing our lives.

12. Bandura emphasized the impact of
chance encounters and fortuitous
events in changing our lives.

13. Albert Bandura's
Observational
Learning
Triadic Reciprocal
Causation or
Reciprocal
Determinism
Human Agency and
Self-Efficacy
1 2 3
Five Main Assumptions for the Social
Cognitive Theory:
Moral Agency
4 5
Self-Regulation

14. Social Cognitive Theory
The outstanding characteristic of humans is plasticity; that is,
humans have the flexibility to learn a variety of behaviors in
diverse situations.
First Assumption:

15. OBSERVATIONAL
LEARNING
- learning through
observation

16. - type of learning that
occurs when an
individual observes and
imitates the behaviors of
another individual.
THE PROCESSES OF
OBSERVATIONAL
LEARNING

17. ATTENTIONAL PROCESSES
This is the process of
selecting, attending
to, and understanding
the behavior being
observed.
RETENTION PROCESSES
Retention is the
process of storing the
observed behavior in
memory.

18. PRODUCTION PROCESSES
This is the process of
using the observed
behavior to create a
similar behavior.
INCENTIVE AND
MOTIVATIONAL PROCESSES
This is the process of
being motivated to use
the observed behavior
in order to achieve a
desired outcome.

19. BOBO DOLL
- a toy made of plastic or cloth
that is designed to be
punched, hit, or kicked and
then returned to an upright
position. It is used in
psychology experiments to
measure aggression and is
typically used in studies with
children.

21. Social Cognitive Theory
Through a triadic reciprocal causation model that includes
behavioral, environmental, and personal factors, people have the
capacity to regulate their lives.
Second Assumption:

22. What we know:
Behavior is developed through many things according to
different theorists.
Skinner Allport Eysenck
Conditioning:
Behavior is a function of the
environment; that is,
behavior ultimately can be
traced to forces outside the
person. As environmental
contingencies change,
behavior changes.
Psychology of an Individual:
An individual's experiences and
environment played a role in
shaping their personality. An
individual's personality is
influenced by their childhood
experiences, present
environment, and the interaction
between the two concepts.
Biologically-Based Factor
Theory:
Personality is biologically
based and that personality
traits include dimensions of
extraversion and neuroticism
that can be measured using a
personality questionnaire.

23. Triadic Reciprocal Causation
This system assumes that human action is a result of an
interaction among three variables—environment, behavior,
and person.
Also called "Reciprocal Determinism"

25. Chance Encounters Fortuitous Events
an unintended meeting of persons
unfamiliar to each other
an environmental experience that
is unexpected and unintended
Chance Encounters and Fortuitous Events
Bandura is the only personality theorist to seriously consider the possible
importance of these chance encounters and fortuitous events.

26. Social Cognitive Theory
The social cognitive theory takes an agentic perspective, meaning
that humans have the capacity to exercise control over the nature
and quality of their lives
Third Assumption:

27. Human Agency
an active process of exploring, manipulating, and influencing the environment in order to attain
desired outcomes
Forethought
Self-reflectiveness
the ability to examine own functioning; to think about and
evaluate one's motivations, values, and the meanings of their life
goals, and to think about the adequacy of their own thinking
to anticipate likely outcomes of their actions, and to select
behaviors that will produce desired outcomes and avoid
undesirable ones
Self-reactiveness to monitor progress toward fulfilling choices
Intentionality refers to acts a person performs intentionally

28. ALL ABOUT
SELF-EFFICACY

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

30. TYPES OF SELF-EFFICACY
HIGH SELF-EFFICACY LOW SELF-EFFICACY
High self-efficacy is
a belief in one’s
ability to
successfully
complete a task or
to achieve a goal.
Low self-efficacy is the
opposite of high self-
efficacy, and is a belief
in one’s inability to
successfully complete
a task or achieve a
goal.

31. PROXY AGENCY
occurs when people have
the capacity to rely on
others for goods and
services.

32. refers to the confidence
that groups of people
have that their
combined efforts will
produce social change.
COLLECTIVE EFFICACY
TEAM

33. Social Cognitive Theory
People regulate their conduct through both external and internal
factors.
Fourth Assumption:

34. External Factors Internal Factors
Self-Regulation
is defined as a system of conscious personal management that helps us control
what we think, say and do. It assists us in becoming the person we want to be, in
both short- and long-term situation.
the environment the person

35. Social Cognitive Theory
When people find themselves in morally ambiguous situations,
they typically attempt to regulate their behavior through moral
agency.
Fifth Assumption:

36. MORAL
AGENCY
SELF-REGULATION THROUGH

37. Presentation by
People also regulate their actions
through moral standards of conduct.
Bandura (1999's) sees moral agency as
having two aspects: (1) doing no harm
to people and (2) proactively helping
people.
Margarita Perez

38. SELECTIVE ACTIVATION AND
DISENGAGEMENT OF
INTERNAL CONTROL
people can separate themselves from the
injurious consequences of their actions

39. Redefining Behavior
Disregarding Or Distorting
The Consequences Of
Behavior
Displacing Or Diffusing
Responsibility
Dehumanizing Or Blaming The
Victims For Their Injuries
TYPES OF SELECTIVE ACTIVATION
AND DISENGAGEMENT OF INTERNAL
CONTROL

40. People justify otherwise reprehensible actions by a cognitive
restructuring that allows them to minimize or escape
responsibility.
REDEFINE THE BEHAVIOR
Presentation by Margarita Perez
The first is moral justification, in which otherwise culpable
behavior is made to seem defensible or even noble.
A second method of reducing responsibility through redefining
wrongful behavior is to make advantageous or palliative
comparisons between that behavior and the even greater atrocities
committed by others.
A third technique in redefining behavior is the use of
euphemistic labels.

41. A second method of avoiding responsibility involves distorting or
obscuring the relationship between the behavior and its
detrimental consequences
DISREGARDING OR DISTORTING THE CONSEQUENCES
OF BEHAVIOR
Presentation by Margarita Perez
First, people can minimize the consequences of their
behavior
Second, people can disregard or ignore the consequences of
their actions, as when they do not see firsthand the harmful
effects of their behavior.
Third, people can distort or misconstrue the consequences
of their actions

42. Third, people can obscure responsibility for their
actions by either dehumanizing their victims or
attributing blame to them
DEHUMANIZING OR BLAMING THE VICTIMS
FOR THEIR INJURIES

43. The fourth method of dissociating actions from their
consequences is to displace or diffuse responsibility
DISPLACING OR DIFFUSING RESPONSIBILITY
With displacement, people minimize the consequences
of their actions by placing responsibility on an outside
source.
A related procedure is to diffuse responsibility—to
spread it so thin that no one person is responsible.

44. Social Cognitive
Theory
Presented by: Rederia Bastatas and Trisha Ann Gaviola
Theories of Personality: Albert Bandura's