This theory refers to the cognitive capability to learn and adopt new knowledge in ways a human mind has not comprehended before. Its philosophical description deals with understanding of the psycho-social mechanisms, which affect human thought and action.

1. Social Cognitive Theory
in Mass Communication
FIZA ZIA UL HANNAN

2. Prefix
 Keeping in view media’s significant role in molding attitudes
and social structure, it is essential to study the psycho-social
mechanisms/processes through which symbolic
communication influences human thought, affect and
action.
 This theory basically deals with cognitive capability to learn
and adopt new knowledge in ways a human mind has not
comprehended before.
 There are several learning interferences in between
observation and information processing. Those
interferences can be termed as *models.

3. Crux
The theory basically deals with understanding of the psycho-social mechanisms,
which affect human thought and action.
Eight theories of Mass Communication which coincide with Social Cognitive Learning
Theory are as under:
1. Philosophical approach of uses and gratification
2. Philosophical approach of cultivation
3. Philosophical approach of cognitive dissonance
4. Philosophical approach of spiral of silence
5. Philosophical approach of priming
6. Philosophical approach of diffusion of innovation
7. Philosophical approach of two-step flow of information
8. Philosophical approach of agenda setting
9. Philosophical approach of knowledge-gap

4. Implementation in the literature of psychology
According to the previous studies:
The human behavior was static and is
explained through **uni-directional
causation.
However, according to Albert
Bandura’s model of cognitive learning
(1986), a human brain functions
through triadic reciprocal causation.

5. Triadic Reciprocal Causation
In this transactional view of self and society:
 Personal factors in the form of cognitive, affective, and biological events;
behavioral patterns; and environmental events all operate as interacting
determinants that influence each other ***bi-directionally.
 Reciprocality does not mean that the different sources of influences are of
equal strength.
 Reciprocal influences do not occur simultaneously.

6. Triadic Reciprocal Causation … (Contd).
 Due to bi-directional influential causation, a human is a product as
well as producer of the living-environment.
 A human brain is capable of forethought; an individual is
****proactive.
 Human’s cognitive distinctions depend upon their endowed
*****plasticity.

7. Neurophysiological/Neurobiological mechanisms of
cognitive and emotional control
 A human brain comprises hundreds of millions
of neurons. Different neurotransmitters exist for
different types of messages.
 The central nervous system has a communication
network of electric impulses
(Neurotransmission).
 The process involves chemical exchange between
two ******neurons.
 A human attitude is a co-efficient of neuro-
transmission.

8. Neurophysiological/Neurobiological mechanisms of cognitive
and emotional control … (Contd).
NEUROTRANSMITTERS INVOLVEMENT DEPRIVATION
Acetylcholine It is involved in wakefulness,
attentiveness, anger,
aggression, sexuality, and thirst,
among other things.
Alzheimer’s disease
Dopamine It is involved in controlling
movement and posture. It also
modulates mood and plays a
central role in positive
reinforcement and dependency.
The loss of dopamine in
certain parts of the brain
causes the muscle rigidity
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) It contributes in motor control,
vision, and many other cortical
functions. It also regulates
anxiety.
Some drugs that increase
the level of GABA in the
brain are used to treat
epilepsy and to calm the
trembling of people
suffering from
Huntington’s disease.
Glutamate It is a major excitatory
neurotransmitter that is
associated with learning and
memory.
It is also thought to be
associated with
Alzheimer’s disease,
whose first symptoms
include memory
malfunctions.
Norepinephrine It is important for attentiveness,
emotions, sleeping, dreaming,
and learning. Norepinephrine is
also released as a hormone into
the blood, where it causes blood
vessels to contract and heart
rate to increase.
Norepinephrine plays a
role in mood disorders
such as manic depression.
Serotonin It contributes to various
functions, such as regulating
body temperature, sleep, mood,
appetite, and pain.
Depression, suicide,
impulsive behavior, and
aggressiveness all appear
to involve certain
imbalances in serotonin.
(Figure: Rorschach inkblot test)

9. The psycho-social mechanisms
The advanced neural systems, specialized for processing, retaining and
using coded information, provide the capacity for the very capabilities
that are distinctly human:
1. Symbolization
2. Self-regulation
3. Self-reflection
4. Vicarious capability

10. Psycho-social functioning … Overview
Cognitive Level (Attitude)
Triggered
Suppressed
Affective Level (Behavior)
 Action
 Ceased

11. Symbolization
 symbolization provides humans with a powerful tool for
comprehending their environment and creating and
regulating environmental events that touch virtually
every aspect of their lives.
 It is with symbols that people process and transform
transient experiences into cognitive models that serve
as guides for judgment and action. Through symbols ,
people give meaning, form, and continuity to their
experiences.

12. Symbolization … (Contd).
A human brain is limited in observation. Symbolization
processes incoming information through Cognitive Filters
within a human brain:
 Personal Identity/Relevance and Acceptance: Segments
of an environment which are more closely associated
with an individual’s background, experience, affiliation,
and preferences are likely to be retained and processed
later on in his/her life.
 Comprehension: Observing styles differ in human brains.

13. Activity
Refer to slide no. 8

14. Self-regulation
A brain regulates an individual’s actions. It is a self-driven
organ of a human body. People are products as well as
performers of their environment.
 External sanction: A prompt processing in the brain to
cease an act due to social restriction.
 Internal sanction: The self-regulation of motivation,
affect and action operates partly through internal
standards and evaluative reactions to one’s own
behavior (Bandura, 1991).

15. Self-regulation … (Contd).
 Incentive motivators: The anticipated self-satisfaction
gained from fulfilling valued standards and discontent
with substandard performances regulate a brain’s action.
Individual
Self-satisfaction
Self-discontentment
Incentive motivators
(cognitive)
Standard Criteria
(social)

16. Self-regulation … (Contd).
 Non-static human behavior: Cognitive standards precisely
change as a human brain gets more exposed to its
environment.
 Proactive/Inhibitive triggers: The inhibitive form is
manifested in the power to refrain from behaving
inhumanely. The proactive form of morality is expressed in
the power to behave humanely (Bandura, 1999).
 Fore-thought: It is itself a self-regulatory trigger. It could be
a prediction, analysis, anticipation etc. The future is not
there but you consider it in your present.

17. Self-reflection
A brain assess/appraise its every course of action. An individual
possesses a self-examining disposition with the behavior.
 Thought verification: In verifying thought by self-reflective
means, people generate ideas, act on them or judge from
the results the adequacy of their thoughts, and change
them accordingly. Four different modes of thought
verification can be distinguished as under:
1. Enactive verification
2. Vicarious verification
3. Social verification
4. Logical verification

18. Enactive Verification
 This is a thought verification that determines decision-making.
 A human brain looks at the closeness between its thoughts
and the results of course of action.
(e.g. this type of thought verification is shrewd in visionary
individuals)

19. Vicarious Verification
 Observing other people's transactions with the environment
and the effects they produce provides a check on the
correctness of one's own thinking.
(e.g. stories of perished nations in Honorable Quran)

20. Social Verification
 A human brain evaluates the soundness of attitude by
checking it against external approaches/sanctions.
(e.g. people take suggestions from others when they are in a
confused frame of mind)

21. Logical Verification
 A human brain checks for fallacies in checking its thinking by
deducing an already existent knowledge.
 It can also be termed as deduction.
(e.g. shall I pursue plan-A or plan-B?)

22. Vicarious capability
Humans have evolved an advanced capacity for
observational learning that enables them to expand their
knowledge and skills rapidly through information conveyed
by the rich variety of models.
Symbolic Reception: All behavioral, cognitive, and affective
learning from direct experience can be achieved by
observing people's actions and its consequences for them
(Bandura, 1986; Rosenthal & Zimmerman, 1978).

23. Role of Models (Interpersonal Communication)
 The previous psychological theories held environmental models to
be responsible in influencing attitudes and behavior.
 A lot of psychology theories give least to minimal consideration to
the impacts which mass media can create upon audience mindset.

24. Role of Models (Mass Media Communication)
 A vast amount of information about human values, styles of
thinking, and behavior patterns is gained from the extensive
modeling in the symbolic environment of the mass media.
 Unlike learning by doing, which requires altering the actions of each
individual through repeated trial-and-error experiences, in
observational learning a single model can transmit new ways of
thinking and behaving simultaneously to countless people in widely
dispersed locales.

25. Mechanisms Governing Observational Learning
Observational learning is governed by four sub-functions
which are as under:
1. Attentional process
2. Cognitive representational process
3. Behavioral production process
4. Motivational processes

26. Attentional processes
 It determines what is selectively observed in the profusion of
modeling influences and what information is extracted from
ongoing modeled events.
 A number of factors influence the exploration of what is modeled.
Some of these determinants concern the cognitive skills,
preconceptions and value preferences of the observers.

27. Cognitive representational process (Retention)
 A human brain cannot be much influenced by observed events if it
could not remember the information.
 This process involves an active process of transforming and
restructuring information conveyed by modeled events into
conceptions for memory representation.
 Retention is greatly aided by symbolic transformations of modeled
information into memory codes and cognitive rehearsal of the
coded information.

28. Behavioral production process
 This is achieved by tallying conception processes by which behavioral
patterns get constructed and executed on the basis of conceptual model
for adequateness.
 The coded information passes on from limbic brain for processing into
course of action.
 Every thought does not generate an action (next…).
 Practice makes an excelled cognitive development.

29. Motivational process
Social cognitive theory distinguishes between acquisition and performance
because people do not perform everything they learn.
A human brain gets a signal for course of action through the below mentioned
incentive motivators:
 Vicarious: People are more likely to exhibit modeled behavior if it results in
valued outcomes than if it has unrewarding or punishing effects.
 Self-produced: Individuals pursue activities they find self-satisfying and give
them a sense of worth but reject those they personally disapprove.

30. Motivational process … (Contd.)
 One type of conflict between social and self-produced sanctions arises
when individuals are socially punished for behavior they highly value – this
determines that whether the behavior will be restrained or expressed.
 Socially approved act is a source of self-pride whereas socially condemned
act is self-censured within regular cognition.

31. Abstract Modelling
 This is an indirect observed learning.
 There are several abstract models around a human brain
and unconsciously it learns from the attributes within its
social environment.
 When exposed to models of differing styles of thinking
and behaving, observers vary in what they adopt and
thereby create new blends of personal characteristics
that differ from the individual models.

32. Acquisition and Modification of affective dispositions
 Vicarious arousal operates mainly through an
intervening self-arousal process (Bandura, 1992).
 A human brain’s emotional arousal is in proportionality
to model’s emotional experiences (Wilson & Cantor,
1985).
 Observers can acquire lasting emotional reactions and
behavioral proclivities towards people, places or things
that have been associated with modelled emotional
experiences.

33. Acquisition and Modification of affective dispositions
… (Contd.)
 A human brain tends to fear things those of which had
frightened models. However, it likes those which had
gratified it (Bandura, 1986; Duncker, 1938).
 A human mind needs to be shrewd in critical evaluation
in order to recognize fiction and non-fiction.

34. Social Construction of reality
 Televised representations of social realities reflect ideological bents
in their portrayal of human nature, social relations, and the norms
and structure of society (Adoni & Mane, 1984; Gerbner, 1972).
 Heavy exposure to this symbolic world may eventually make the
televised images appear to be the authentic state of human affairs.
 Televised influence is best defined in terms of the contents people
watch rather than the sheer amount of television viewing.
 Verification of personal conceptions against televised versions of
social reality can thus foster some collective illusions.

35. Social prompting of human behavior
 The actions of others can also serve as social triggers for
previously learned behavior that observers can perform but
have not done so because of insufficient inducements,
rather than because of restraints.
 The actions of models acquire the power to activate and
channel behavior when they are good predictors for
observers that positive results can be gained by similar
conduct.
 Advertising relies significantly on the social prompting
potency of models

36. Dual-link versus Multi-pattern flow of influence
 It has been commonly assumed in theories of mass communication that
modeling influences operate through a two-step diffusion process.
 Watt and van den Berg (1978) tested several alternative theories about how
media communications relate to public attitudes and behavior.
 Media sets a trend and the trend is passed on from the influencers to rest of the
audience. The influencers sometimes set incentive motivators.
 Mass media models are sometimes least to minimal persuasive and hence most
behavior is the product of multiple determinants operating in concert.
 Audience give attention and retain media content relative to their personal
identity (need for orientation).

37. Social Diffusion through Symbolic Modeling
 Modeling can transmit information of virtually limitless variety to vast numbers
of people simultaneously through the medium of symbolic modeling.
 Televised modeling is now being used to effect social change at community and
society-wide levels (Bandura, 1997; Sabido, 1981; Singhal & Rogers, 1999;
Winett, Leckliter, Chinn, Stahl, & Love, 1985).
 Extraordinary advances in technology of communication are transforming the
nature, reach, speed and loci of human influence (Bandura, 2001)
 Social cognitive theory analyzes social diffusion of new behavior patterns in
terms of three constituent processes and the psychosocial factors that govern
them:
1. Acquisition of knowledge about innovative behaviors
2. Adoption of those behaviors in practice
3. Social networks through which the ideas are spread and are supported

38. Factors affecting the diffusion process
1. Modeling Determinants
2. Adoption Determinants
3. Social Networking Determinants

39. Modeling Determinants
 Knowledge-gap: Differences in the knowledge, skills and resources particular
innovations require produce variations in rate of acquisition.
 Persuasion: The stronger the preexisting perceived self- efficacy, and the more
the media campaigns enhance people's beliefs in their self-regulative efficacy,
the more likely they are to adopt the recommended practices.
 Conveyance: Innovations, that are difficult to understand or use, receive more
reluctant consideration than simpler ones (Tornatzky & Klein, 1982).
 Physical Proximity: Not all innovations are promoted by the mass media.
Often, close associates determine which innovations will be repeatedly
observed and thoroughly learned.

40. Adoption Determinants
The acquisition of knowledge and skills regarding innovations is necessary, but not sufficient for their adoption
in practice.
 External-sanctions: A number of factors determine whether people will act on what they have learned.
Environmental inducements serve as one set of regulators.
 Personal preferences: People adopt what they value, but resist innovations that violate their social and
moral standards or that conflict with their self-conception. Promoters strive to get people to adopt new
practices by altering their preferences and beliefs about likely outcomes, mainly by enlisting vicarious
incentives.
 Competition: Many innovations serve as a means of gaining social recognition and status. Indeed, status
incentives are often the main motivators for adopting new styles and tastes.
 Cost: Individuals won’t tend to adopt innovations even though they are favorably disposed toward them if
they lack money, skills, or accessory resources that might be needed in adoption. The more resources
innovations require, the lower is their adoptability.

41. Social Networking Determinants
Information regarding new ideas and practices is often conveyed through
multilinked relationships (Rogers & Kincaid, 1981).
 Inter-personal Communication: People are connected within either strong
or loosely tied communities, which can affect their impact on what
spreads through their network.
 Multi-directional Communication: People share information, give
meaning by mutual feedback to the information they exchange, gain
understanding of each other's views, and influence each other. Through
interactive electronic networking people link together in widely dispersed
locals, exchange information, share new ideas, and transact any number of
pursuits.

42. References
• Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication, Media Effects (Advances in theory and Research)
by Jennings Bryant and Dolf Zillmann
• Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality by James M. Nelson
• Theoretical Foundations of Health Education and Health Promotion by Manoj Sharma
• Neurophysiological mechanisms of cognitive and emotional control in ADHD by Karalunas, Sarah (PI) Mentored
Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award
• Drug withdrawal research foundation, Psychiatric medication tampering program, (Link:
http://www.withdrawalresearch.org/neurotransmission.html)
• The brain, (Link: http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_01/i_01_m/i_01_m_ana/i_01_m_ana.html#2)
• Wikipedia