By: Lisa Thomas and Jenny Johnson

Biographical Information
Born in 1925 in Alberta, Canada Grew up in a small town

Attended the U. of British Colombia

Enrolled in an Gen. Psych. Course by

chance Majored in Psychology and graduated in 1949 Went to graduate school at U. of Iowa and graduated in 1952 In 1953 he taught at Stanford and wrote his first book Adolescent Aggression with Richard Walters In 1974 he was elected President of the American Psychological Association Retired from teaching March 15th 2010.

 Social Cognitive Theory provides a large body of verified

knowledge about the determinants and psychological mechanisms governing observational learning of behavioral and social competencies, cognitive skills, and emotional propensities. (Bandura, Self-Efficacy)

Observational Learning
Bandura believes that we learn a great deal through imitation by

observing models and mentally coding what we see.

Bandura vs. Skinner

Bandura
Bandura argues that in social

Skinner
In Skinners theory, learning

situations we often learn much more rapidly simply through observing behavior of othersmore immediate

appears to be a gradual process in which organisms must act to learnbehavior shaped overtime by consequences

Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own action to inform them what to do.Bandura, 1977

Behaviors

Environment

Cognitions

Attentional Processes: what is selectively observed in the profusion of modeling influences and what information is extracted from ongoing modeled events Retention Processes: an active process of transforming and restructuring information about events for memory representation in the form of rules and conceptions

Production Processes: conceptions are translated to appropriate courses of actionwhen deficits exist, the sub-skills required for complex performances must 1st be developed by modeling and guided enactment
Motivation Processes: social cognitive theory distinguishes between acquisition and performance because people do not perform everything they learnpeople are more likely to exhibit modeled behavior if it results in valued outcomes than if it has unrewarding or punishing effects (Bandura, Self-Efficacy)

Bobo Doll Experiment

Observation Group A: Watched an adult hitting doll with a mallet Group B: Watched an adult play nicely with the doll Results Group A: In playroom, children battered the doll with mallet Group B: In playroom, children played nicely with doll

Bandura wanted to prove that behavior such as aggression is learned through observing and imitating others People who view aggression in society (consciously or unconsciously) think that the behavior is acceptable for them to imitate

Beliefs in ones capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments Bandura , Self-Efficacy
Plays

a major role in how one approaches goals, tasks, and challenges Center of Banduras Social Cognitive Theory

The Difference Between Self-Efficacy & Self-Esteem __________________________________________________

Often used interchangeably as though they represent the same phenomenon, when in fact they refer to entirely different things.
Self-Efficacy: concerned with judgments of personal

capabilities

Example: Im going to make this free-throw shot.

Self-Esteem: concerned with judgment of self-worth Example: Im a terrible person.

There is no fixed relationship between beliefs about ones capabilities and whether one likes or dislikes oneself. (Bandura, Self-Efficacy)

Sources of Self-Efficacy Appraisals

Actual Performance: efficacy perceived through performance experiences. Success builds a strong belief in ones personal efficacy, and failure undermines it. Bandura believes this to be the most influential source of knowledge 2. Vicarious Experiences: appraising ones capabilities in relation to the attainment of others 3. Verbal Persuasion: easier to sustain a sense of efficacy, especially when struggling with difficulties, if significant others express faith in ones capabilities than if they convey doubts 4. Psychological Cues: In judging their capabilities, people rely partly on somatic information conveyed by physiological and emotional states. (Bandura, Self-Efficacy)
1.

Is verbal persuasion or a childs actual performance the most influential source of a childs self-efficacy appraisal? If verbal persuasion is most effective, does it matter whether it is positive or negative in regard to the effect it has on the childs recorded running time? To what degree do vicarious experiences affect the childs self-efficacy appraisal.

Hypothesis
Since society today focuses primarily on

encouraging students through verbal persuasion, this study will attempt to disprove Banduras conclusion about actual performance as the most effective source by proving verbal persuasion, negative or positive, to be the most influential source.

17 kids (9 boys and 8 girls) Age range: 6-17 years old

We divided the kids into 4 groups: actual performance, vicarious experience, negative verbal persuasion, and positive verbal persuasionleaving out psychological cues. 2. Each child observed the measured distance of about 100 feet and predicted how long it would take he or she to run it. 3. After implementing the different sources of self-efficacy appraisal in each group and we then asked for a second prediction from the child. 4. Then depending on the group, after the child ran, he or she gave a third prediction
1.

Actual Performance Group

Name Age 1st Prediction 15 seconds 1st Run 2nd Prediction 9 seconds 2nd Run Joseph 11 years 9 seconds 9 seconds

Grace
Ryan James

9 years
9 years 16 years

45 seconds
10 seconds 13 seconds

14 seconds
10 seconds 9 seconds

20 seconds
10 seconds 7 seconds

15 seconds
10 seconds 8 seconds

Actual Performance

Vicarious Experience Group

Name A g e 6 6 1st Prediction Revised 1st Run prediction 20 sec. 15 sec. 20 sec. 12 sec. 10 sec. 12 sec. 11 sec. 12 sec. 12 sec. 3rd Prediction 12 sec. 12 sec. 12 sec. 2nd Run Mariella Will 12 sec. 11 sec. 12 sec.

Michaela 7

Kieran
Beth

9
8

20 sec.
10 sec.

12 sec.
10 sec.

11 sec.
13 sec.

11 sec.
12 sec.

11 sec.
12 sec.

Vicarious Experience

Verbal Persuasion (Positive) Group

Name A 1st Prediction g e 7 60 sec. Revised Prediction 1st Run 3rd Prediction 2nd Run

Lochlan

40 sec.

11 sec.

10 sec.

12 sec.

Martin

13 sec.

10 sec.

13 sec.

1o sec.

13 sec.

Erin

12 11 sec.

9 sec.

9 sec.

9 sec.

9 sec.

Claire

17 12 sec.

10 sec.

8 sec.

9 sec.

9 sec.

Verbal Persuasion-Positive

Verbal Persuasion (Negative) Group

Name A g e 7 1st Prediction Revised Prediction 1st Run 3rd Prediction 2nd Run

Rose Mary Rachel Brandon

10 sec.

13 sec.

10 sec.

10 sec.

11 sec.

10 10 sec. 11 10 sec.

10 sec. 10 sec.

10 sec. 9 sec.

10 sec. 9 sec.

11 sec. 9 sec.

Jeff

12 8 sec.

8 sec.

9 sec.

9 sec.

9 sec.

Verbal Persuasion-Negative

Which has the most Influence?

1st Prediction
Actual Performance Vicarious Experience Verbal PersuasionPositive Verbal PersuasionNegative
21 seconds

2nd Prediction
12 seconds

Difference
9 seconds

17 seconds

11 seconds

6 seconds

24 seconds

17 seconds

7 seconds

10 seconds

10 seconds

0 seconds

Comparing
Influences of Self- Efficacy
Actual Performance Vicarious Experience

st 1

Runs
1st Runs
11 seconds 12 seconds 10 seconds 10 seconds

Verbal Persuasion- Positive Verbal Persuasion- Negative

Told ya so!

Our Conclusion:

Bandura was Right!

Our Conclusion
Through our testing we found our hypothesis to be

INCORRECT:
Like Bandura, our test results proved actual

performance to be the most influential source of selfefficacy appraisal Negative and positive verbal persuasion had the same effect on the childs running time Vicarious experience was the 3rd most influential source of self-efficacy appraisal.

Not have parents present

Do it in a even more controlled setting Focus more on gender and age

Make sure that the kids are not

sharing scores between groups Include Physiological Cues

Does gender matter when using different sources of self-efficacy appraisal? How does age affect the childs selfefficacy appraisals?

Further Questions

Bandura

Nature
Rousseau Piaget

Nurture
Locke

Its appealing to imagine children making their own discoveries and creating their own ideas. In reality, however, childrens minds are structured by the environment, by the models and the social training practices the environment provides (Bandura, 1977)

Thank you for your time!

Hope you have a Happy Easter!