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Social Cognitive Theory defined:
Social Cognitive Theory defined:
This theory provides "a perspective that can help us understand how our students learn by observing others, how they develop a sense of confidence in their abilities in specific activities, and how, in the process, they begin to take control of their own behavior" (Ormrod, 2020, p. 363).
Five basic assumptions that underlie Social Cognitive Theory:
(Ormrod, 2020, p. 364)
“People can learn by observing others.”
Learners can actually acquire new things from observing models
“Learning is an internal process that may or may not lead to a behavior change.”
Mental changes that occur after learning might not result in behavioral change
“Cognitive processes influence motivation as well as learning.”
Cognition affects motivation by use of mental goals, expectations, and beliefs about self-efficacy
“People and their environments mutually influence each other."
Reciprocal causation is the idea of constant interaction between people, their behavior, and their environment
“Behavior becomes increasingly self-regulated."
Children become better and better at engaging in self-regulation
(Ormrod, 2020, p. 364)
Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura
An important name to know in Social Cognitive Theory is Albert Bandura. His perspective came to prominence in the 1980s, and he emphasized how people want to develop their own sense of agency and control over their lives. Behavior is then a combination of the interplay among environment, behavior patterns, and personal factors (Nickerson, 2024).
← https://www.simplypsychology.org/social-cognitive-theory.html ↓
Bandura introduced observational learning with Social Learning Theory, which argues that we learn by observing others.
This happens when we focus our attention on the stimuli/behavior, store that observation in long-term memory, have the capability to imitate the behavior, and are motivated to do so (Nickerson, 2024).
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