Social Cognition Theory

Albert Bandura developed the Social Cognitive Theory based on the concept that learning is affected by cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors. In contrast to the traditional psychological theories that emphasized learning through direct experience, Bandura posited that virtually all learning phenomena can occur by observing other people’s behavior and the consequences of it. SCT provides opportunities for social support through instilling expectations and self-efficacy, as well as using observational learning and other reinforcements to achieve behavior change.

Features:
The main goal of this theory is to explain how people regulate their behavior through control and reinforcement to achieve goal-directed behavior. In his original formulation, he included five constructs, including the related social learning theory and self-efficacy.

Reciprocal Determinism:
Reciprocal determinism is the central concept of social cognitive theory and refers to the dynamic and reciprocal interaction of individuals with a set of learned experiences, the environment, external social context, and behavior, the response to stimuli to achieve goals. Its main tenet is that people seek to develop a sense of agency and exert control over the important events in their lives. This sense of agency and control is affected by factors such as self-efficacy, outcome expectations, goals, and self-evaluation.

For example, a student who believes they can succeed on an exam (self-efficacy), they are more likely to put forth the necessary effort to study (behaviour). Similarly, if they believe they can pass, they are less likely to study for that exam, as they have no hope of doing well in that particular exam. This, in turn, will also affect their future beliefs and behaviour. If the student does pass the exam, they are likely to believe that if they put in effort, they will do better in the future, and thus put more effort into studying (of course, we do not do that as we believe we’ll pass without studying next time as well.)

Behavioral Capability:
It refers to an individual's ability to perform a behavior using their knowledge and skills. This means to carry out any behavior, a person is familiar with. People tend to learn from the outcomes, which would further affect the environment in which they live.

Reinforcements:
Reinforcements refer to the internal or external responses to a person’s behavior that affect the likelihood of continuing or discontinuing the behavior. These reinforcements can be self-initiated or in one’s environment, either positive or negative. Positive reinforcements increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated, while negative reinforcers decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Reinforcements can also be either direct or indirect. Direct reinforcements are an immediate consequence of a behavior that affects its likelihood, such as getting a paycheck for working (positive reinforcement). Indirect reinforcements are not immediate consequences of behavior but may affect its likelihood in the future, such as studying hard in school to get into a good college (positive reinforcement).

Expectations:
Expectations, meanwhile, refer to the anticipated consequences that a person has of their behavior. Outcome expectations, for example, could relate to the consequences that someone foresees an action having on their health. As people anticipate the consequences of their actions before engaging in a behavior, these expectations can influence whether or not someone completes the behavior successfully. Expectations largely come from someone’s previous experience. Nonetheless, expectancies also focus on the value that is placed on the outcome, something that is subjective from individual to individual. For example, a student who may not be motivated to achieve high grades may place a lower value on taking the steps necessary to achieve them than someone who strives to be a high performer.