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Review of Key Points
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Reciprocal determinism refers to the concept that behavior, personal factors, and environmental factors are equal, interlocking determinants of each other.
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Observational learning is a specific type of social learning in which observers view the behavior of models.
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Highly aggressive children appear to learn this behavior at home, having experienced their parents modeling aggressive behavior.
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When models are rewarded for aggressive behavior, the result can be the disinhibition of aggression that had previously been restrained.
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Social learning is different than either simple imitation or identification, in that social learning implies underlying psychological processes (cognition).
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In order for social learning to occur, conditions must be met that support the components of this process: attention, retention, production, and motivation.
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Since observers do not copy behavior perfectly, and since they may choose to mix and match the behavior of different models, observational learning can lead to new and different behaviors.
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Self-regulation refers to the processes of self-reinforcement and self-punishment. Self-reinforcement works primarily through its motivational effects.
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Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s capabilities to perform specific behaviors in order to accomplish specific outcomes.
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Self-efficacy and self-esteem are separate concepts. An individual may lack a certain ability and be well aware of it, but if one’s concept of self-worth is not tied to that skill, there will be no corresponding loss of self-esteem.
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Bandura referred to the ability to act as an agent of change in one’s environment as personal agency.
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Bandura believed that behavioral approaches have an advantage over other methods of therapy because of their basis in rigorous, scientific testing.
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Behavioral therapies can only be successful if they focus on goals characterized by clear and observable behaviors.
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Rotter proposed that one must understand four kinds of variables in order to make reasonable predictions about behavior: behavior potential, expectancy, reinforcement value, and the psychological situation.
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Internal versus external control of reinforcement (aka, locus of control) may be the most important generalized expectancy underlying behavior, according to Rotter.
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Rotter developed the I-E scale in order to measure locus of control.
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A key element in locus of control is contingency awareness, the knowledge that one’s behavior is capable of producing specific outcomes.
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Rotter also developed the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank, specifically designed to measure the personality and psychological adjustment of college students.
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Delayed gratification refers to the concept of working (or restraining oneself) at the present time for a reward that will be granted only at a later time.
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Working together, Mischel and Bandura showed that modeling can alter the preference of children for delayed or immediate gratification.
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Mischel addressed what is known as the personality paradox, the appearance that behavior is inconsistent, while our intuition suggests that behavior is consistent.
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Mischel and Shoda proposed the Cognitive-Affective Processing System (CAPS) in order to address the personality paradox. By developing situation-behavior profiles, it is possible to identify patterns in the apparent inconsistency of individual behavior.
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fMRI studies have demonstrated specific brain activity that appears to correspond to the cognitive-affective units that underlie the CAPS.
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Situation-behavior characteristics have helped to address some of the problems that arise in situations in which diverse groups do not come together easily.