The document summarizes Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory and the concept of self-efficacy. It discusses key aspects of Bandura's triadic reciprocal model including attention, symbolic representation, motivation, and self-regulation. Examples are given of how self-efficacy influences optimism, challenge-taking, coping, and decision-making. The document also provides biographical details about Bandura and reviews strengths and potential weaknesses of social cognitive theory.

2. SCT-Related Video Film content: The role of chance (fortuity) in human lives as seen in Bandura’s own life Bandura’s Triadic Reciprocal Model The processes involved in modeling and observational learning Attention Symbolic representation Transformation into action Motivational incentives The ways people develop efficacy Personal mastery Social modeling Social persuasion Learning to read one’s own physical and emotional states Results of efficacy beliefs Optimism vs. pessimism What challenges people take on How people emotionally cope with stress and depression What choices people make in their lives Moral disengagement De-humanizing foes Discounting others’ suffering Seeing destructive acts as serving higher purposes Shifting responsibility to others Visuals: It is a Davidson company joke that everyone in the world is in this film, reflecting the wide range of Dr. Bandura’s concerns. Among them are: On camera segments with Dr. Bandura speaking of his life Graphics illustrating the Triadic Reciprocal model A reenactment of Bandura’s crossing-the-street against-a red-light study Dr. Bandura’s original film of the Bobo Doll experiment Dr. Bandura’s original film sequences of therapy sessions for a snake phobia Scenes of Peace Corps volunteers working in Africa Television social dramas from Mexico, China and India with English subtitles Current college students talking about the role of efficacy in their lives Film segment of the Stanford Women’s Basketball team at practice 1960 newsreel clip of a Civil Rights March with Dr. King Newsreel clips from recent wars Film segments of an Amish cooperative barn raising An eloquent interview with a native sculptor from Labrador who talks of the social forces that shaped his work life

3. Born in 1925 in a small town in northern Alberta, Canada Parents were immigrants from Eastern Europe Did his undergraduate work at the University of British Columbia Did his Ph.D. work at the University of Iowa Married and has two daughters Has spent most of his career at Stanford University where he is still an active faculty member Past president of the American Psychological Association and recipient of many awards and honorary degrees in the US and abroad

9. three bi-directional arrows depicts a dynamic reality Within this system, self efficacy helps determine what people decide to do (based on their capability beliefs) and self-regulation helps them to set, monitor, and control their goals and motivation. What is implicit is Bandura’s agentic perspective of human behavior.

44. "If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning." ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~ "Whether you think that you can or you can't, you're usually right." ~HENRY FORD~

45. "Truth be told, it is self-efficacy that drives the Ph.D. student to complete the most daunting and exhausting tasks under excruciating deadlines!" ~ James Bohn, PhD 2003, University of Wisconsin [Dissertation: "The relationship of perceived leadership behaviors to organizational efficacy."] "Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.“ ~Marie Curie~

46. “ There is much talk about the validity of theories, but surprisingly little attention is developed to their social utility…Theories are predictive and operative tools. In the final analysis, the evaluation of a scientific enterprise in the social sciences will rest heavily on its social utility.” (2005)

47. Strengths Interdisciplinary and integrative Helps link agency and social structure SCT passes the test of self-reference Strong research methodology One of only a handful of social scientists to discuss fortuity Path models Many applications leading to social betterment

48. Weaknesses Perhaps gives too much weight to human freedom of action Perhaps gives too much weight to human rationality Downplays biological and upward causation (he does a great job on downward causation: agency/mind directing one’s intentionality and behavior) Perhaps tries to include too much conceptual territory in a single theory

49. • Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioural Change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215. • Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: W.H. Freeman. • Bandura, A. (2000). Health promotion from the perspective of social cognitive theory. In: P. Norman, C. Abraham, & M. Conner. (Eds) Understanding and Changing Health Behaviour: from Health Beliefs to Self-Regulation (pp. 299-343). Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers. • Bandura, A. (2001) Guide for Constructing Self-Efficacy Scales. URL www.emory.edu/Education/mfp/effguide.pdf. • Ewart, C. K. (1992). The role of physical self-efficacy in recovery from heart attack. In: R. Schwarzer (Ed) Self-efficacy: thought control of action. London: Taylor Francis. http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/Bandura/ http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/SelfEfficacy/section0.html Pajares (2002). Overview of social cognitive theory and of self-efficacy . Retreived: January 8, 2009 from http://www.emory.edu/EDUCATION/mfp/eff.html http://www.davidsonfilmsstore.com/support.htm I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence is published by HarperSanFrancisco, a division of HarperCollinsPublishers (ISBN 0-06-25119)