Topic 5c: Social-Cognitive Approach {by 11/18}
There are two Bandura (1976) readings due this week. Address the following discussion points: (1) What does Bandura have to say about self-efficacy (include motivation in your discussion)? (2) Explain the key components of what Bandura refers to as reciprocal determinism. Your original post should be posted by the beginning of class 11/18. Have your two replies no later than 11/20. *Please remember to click the “reply” button when posting a reply. This makes it easier for the reader to follow the blog postings.
Dr. Adam M Volungis 
Nov 17, 2015 @ 15:21:41
1. According to Bandura (1977), self-efficacy is a personal belief that one has to ability to perform certain tasks to obtain a desired outcome. Efficacy does, however have more influence than many realize. This view of one’s abilities influences what situations one will avoid or seek out, whether or not a particular coping skill will be initiated or continued, and how much effort will be given to an endeavor. This bleeds over into motivation. Individuals with high self-efficacy in a particular area will be more motivated or persistent to continue a particular task even in the face of obstacles. Individuals with low self-efficacy in a particular area may not put as much effort into a task or give up when faced with minor obstacles. Bandura names four ways in which self-efficacy can be gained: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and emotional arousal. Performance accomplishment is the ideal because this is when the task or similar tasks have been successfully performed in the past. Most people have heard of the saying “history tends to repeat itself” and this can apply to the efficacy gained from performance accomplishments. The thought is that “I’ve done it before, I can do it again.” Vicarious experience can be tricky to accomplish. The individual has to connect with the model they are living vicariously through. Seeing someone perceived as at a similar performance level succeed could motivate an individual and increase self-efficacy. The thought for this source is “if he can do it, so can I.” Verbal persuasion is essentially what it sounds. Someone tells you that you can do a certain task and you believe it. However it can also occur that an individual becomes motivated to complete a task because someone said “you can’t.” Verbal persuasion can also be through self-talk, making the thought as simple as “I can and I will.” Finally emotional arousal. I am still not entirely sure why Bandura believed this was a source of efficacy. I understand that a certain window of arousal will result in optimal task performance, however I am not quite sure how that necessarily can translate into efficacy. When it comes to being motivated for task performance, self-efficacy plays a role, but what level of efficacy is best? Bandura suggests high, but what about those individuals who know that they are not proficient at a particular skill but continue to try in hopes of improving? Do these individuals have something other than efficacy motivating them? Or what about the individuals who know they could easily complete a task well but are unmotivated to perform? I think that while efficacy is important part of the motivation equation, it is not sufficient to fully explain it.
2. Reciprocal determinism refers to how personal determinants and environmental determinants influence each other (Bandura, 1976). Personal determinants includes the internal personal factors and behaviors of an individual (Bandura, 1976). Environmental determinants are completely outside of the individual and is seen as more of potentialities to be brought into actuality by the behavior of the individual (Bandura, 1976). The now actualized environment influences future behaviors by being either rewarding or punishing toward the individual (Bandura, 1976). This all becomes extremely philosophical and difficult to understand. Basically, there are two forces, the individual and the environment. Both of these forces act upon and influence each other, I like to use the imagery of a dance. There is a give and take, an action and a response, a question and an answer. When one force shifts his weight the other responds with a shift or turn. When this shift or turn occurs the first then responds with another shift or turn. Back and forth between the two forces, shifting and turning, moving around the dance floor.
Nov 17, 2015 @ 17:36:16
Erin,
Thank you for your blog post and thinking outside of the “box”. Thinking of reciprocal determinism in the imagery of a dance is extremely helpful. the forces within reciprocal detmerinism influence/act on each other. So the way you thought about it with a dance really simplified it. When the person move, the other has to move, similar to reciprocal determinism where behavior, personal factors, and enrionmental factors operate as interlocking determinants. I agree with your statement how this is philisophical and hard to understand at first which is why you thinking of it in a different context helped me grasp this concept better. Great job, Erin.
Nov 17, 2015 @ 19:55:01
Your interpretation of what reciprocal determinism reminded you of, give-take, action-response, question-answer really cleared up the slight bit of lack of understanding I was still experiencing after reading the articles. Your description of it being almost like a dance influenced me to come up with my own comparison to better understand the concept. I thought of a scale that always needed to be evened out. When “weight” is added to one side in order to even it out “weight” will be added to the other. This continual back and forth reminds me of the different aspects involved in reciprocal determinism.
Nov 19, 2015 @ 21:26:35
Erin, your explanation of reciprocal determinism to dance is an interesting comparison. In dance, there are many influencing factors which control the “behavior”. The actions of one person are shaped by themselves, their environment, and the behavior itself. One step is met with another from their partner and is determined by the type of music, or environment. This relationship captures the essence of Bandura’s reciprocal determinism as every action elicits a response and further responses are shaped by previous experiences, the environment, and by the behavior being engaged.
Nov 20, 2015 @ 16:32:42
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the example of using the dance to further explain reciprocal determinism. To capture the essence of this theory, I thought of the example of an individual who struggles holding a job and based on their distorted belief system or perception they conclude that they are just not good enough. This perception affects the individuals ability to present well at interviews and function well on a job, leading to negative reviews in supervisions with a boss and eventually being fired.
Nov 20, 2015 @ 23:18:40
I appreciate that you discussed the high/low self-efficacy “in particular area(s).” That is something that Bandura talked about that other posts (mine included) glossed over. I think it’s safe to say that very few people perceive themselves to be highly efficacious in every situation. Someone who has great self-confidence in one area may believe themselves to have low efficacy in another situation. Thank you for pointing out that differentiation between general self-efficacy and efficacy in specific situations.
Nov 17, 2015 @ 17:30:35
1. What does Bandura have to say about self-efficacy (include motivation in your discussion)?
Self-efficacy, according to Bandura (1977) is an individual’s belief that they have the capability to perform behaviors required for a certain situation. The perceived self-efficacy an individual has will influence their goals and the risks they are willing to take. In sum, these beliefs act as guides for a person’s behavior. Self-efficacy is subjective meaning that it is according to the person (Bandura, 1977). The greater perceived self-efficacy a person has, the more complex their goals will become and the person will have stronger commitment and perseverance to reach their goals. It is important to mention motivation when talking about self-efficacy. If a person has low self-efficacy, the lower motivation they will have to set goals and will have low perseverance when faced with challenges in their life (Bandura, 1977). Motivation is the activation and persistence of behavior and has the dimensions to represent future and consequences in thought, as described above (Bandura. 1977). Bandura proposed that behavioral therapies and other interventions focus on enhancing a person’s sense of self-efficacy where the result would be that the person believes they can cope with difficult situations that once threatened them previously (Bandura, 1977).
2. Explain the key components of what Bandura refers to as reciprocal determinism.
According to Bandura (1976), reciprocal determinism is a model made up of three factors which influence behavior. These three factors are the environment, the individual, and the behavior itself. Bandura believed that an individual’s behavior both influences and is influenced by the social and personal characteristics. It is important to note that reciprocal determinism goes beyond the concept of counter control where people activate and create the environment as well as rebut them (Bandura, 1976). With reciprocal determinism being a social learning view of interaction, behavior, personal factors, and environment all function as intertwining determents of one another (Bandura, 1976). The environmental factors are the physical surroundings around the individual that contain reinforcing stimuli. The person’s environment thus influences the intensity and frequency of the behavior similar to how the behavior itself can impact the environment. With reciprocal determinism, the individual factors include the characteristics that have been rewarded in the past (Bandura, 1976).
Nov 20, 2015 @ 13:23:24
Brittany, your explanation of reciprocal determinism was very helpful for my own understanding. It was thorough and clearly illustrated the interactions that occur between the person, the environment, and the behavior. I also liked that you included what Bandura said about behavioral therapies in the first part of your post.
Nov 20, 2015 @ 17:31:04
Thank you for including the definition of motivation in your discussion to number 1. There are many factors which play into motivation, self-efficacy is only one of those factors. I also like how your discussion on reciprocal determinism highlights that it is not just a “concept of counter control.” I think it is easy for us to over simplify things and forget some of the complexities that still exist.
Nov 17, 2015 @ 19:49:53
Bandura describes self efficacy as a person’s belief that they are capable of completing certain behaviors and tasks in a specific circumstance to reach a desirable result (Bandura, 1977). The amount of self efficacy a person has influences their goals and sets limits on how much they will risk to make those goals happen. This supports the concept of self effficacy being subjective because results depend on how each person views their own capabilities. A person with high levels of self efficacy will present as committed, persevering, and motivated (Bandura, 1977). Motivation is a key aspect with self efficacy because those with a greater sense of self efficacy will be more motivated to reach their goals. If a person has low self efficacy they will have less motivation to set and achieve goals they make for themselves. They tend to give up, try less, and persevere less even when faced with what may be insignificant or small obstacle. In essence, less effort will lead to less results. I believe that self efficacy is important to include in therapy because of its potential to have positive effect for a client. If a client learns how to have greater self efficacy they will become more motivated, persevering, and committed to goals they have for themselves. This could encourage growth along with other strategies implemented simultaneously.
Reciprocal determinism as Bandura describes, is a concept involving the environment, the person, and the behavior presented. Together these factors influence behavior (Bandura, 1976). Bandura felt that the way a person behaves can change as well as be changed by the environment and the person’s personality. Together these aspects result in a give and take type exchange where both are affected and changed by the other (Bandura, 1976). This concept at first seemed slightly difficult to understand for me but I eventually came to understand that what Bandura was describing was the potential for a person’s behavior to be conditioned by using consequences and for the person to have effect on what was changing them, the environment, in return.
Nov 20, 2015 @ 17:23:04
I agree that motivation and self-efficacy is related, however I would say that self-efficacy is part of motivation rather than motivation is part of self-efficacy. Someone can have self-efficacy without being motivated to perform a particular act, such as a student to begin an optional assignment. The student may be fully capable of completing the assignment and knows that he is able to, but is unmotivated because the assignment is optional. On the other had a student who does not believe he is able to do well on the assignment may be more motivated to complete it, in order to become more proficient at that type of assignment. The motivation itself does not determine the likelihood of higher or lower self-efficacy, but self-efficacy can predict the likelihood of an individual being motivated or persistent in an action.
From your response for number 2 it sounds like you have grasped the basics of reciprocal determinism. Those Bandura readings were a little hard to understand for me too, because they sounded highly philosophical.
Nov 17, 2015 @ 23:08:41
According to Bandura the self is composed of an individual’s attitudes, cognitive abilities, and the processing of information. It is a key component of how we perceive the world and how we respond to it. The self can serve as a motivational factor by goal setting and self-evaluation. Bandura saw self-efficacy as an important part in the production of behavior because he believed that personal expectations of one’s ability to perform affected initiation and persistence of performance. He believed that the strength of an individual’s belief in their own abilities influenced their response to a situation; this influence could be whether they engaged in the behavior, how much effort they put into it, or their persistence. Self efficacy motivates an individual’s response to a given situation.
Reciprocal Determinism is composed of three aspects that influence personality, the environment, the behavior, and the individual. These three factors interact and influence each other. The environment and the individual influence behavior but also behavior in turn influences the environment and the individual. These are all interconnected and affect the other. The environment includes the physical surroundings and any reinforcing stimuli. The individual’s characteristics, personality, cognitive abilities, expectations, and beliefs all influence behavior.
We can choose our environment and that in turn can influence or determine our behavior in that particular environment or situation. The personality traits we have may determine what type of situation or environment we choose and how we respond to them. Our behavior can also then change or influence our situation and this can also influence the way we perceive or view our world. These are all interrelated components.
Nov 18, 2015 @ 01:02:29
(1) What does Bandura have to say about self-efficacy (include motivation in your discussion)?
Bandura saw self-efficacy as a person’s belief that they can be successful by implementing certain behaviors necessary in specific situations. People need to design a course of action in order to achieve a personal goal that they have in order to attain that goal. For example, a person may design a course of action to studying for exams to pass classes in order to graduate. A person with low self-efficacy will have less motivation, be more likely to give up, and not follow through in attaining their goals. While those with high self-efficacy will have more motivation to be able to push through the difficult times and deal with the stress. The greater the self-efficacy and one’s perceived self-efficacy the higher the goals one will set for themselves. Motivation will push them further to reach what they want to obtain and what they ultimately want. Generally, those with low self-efficacy will tend to be more at risk for anxiety and depression due to low motivation.
(2) Explain the key components of what Bandura refers to as reciprocal determinism.
According to Bandura, reciprocal determinism is a model derived of the aspects that influence behavior. These factors that influence behavior are environmental, personal, and behavioral factors. These factors are intertwined by the behavior of the person with the environment around them. Basically, a person determines their environment, their environment determines their behavior, and the behavior is a reflection of the person. This can also be worked in the opposite direction. By a person arranging their own environment it generates the person’s own cognitive supports, and therefore, predicting consequences for their own actions. This way a person is able to control their behavior in their environment.
Nov 18, 2015 @ 13:48:51
(1) What does Bandura have to say about self-efficacy (include motivation in your discussion)?
Self-efficacy is a person’s belief that they are able to accomplish a certain task. The perception of self-efficacy plays an important part in how any person approaches a situation in which they will have to accomplish a task. If the perception of self-efficacy is low, then the person may avoid the situation or constantly think that they can’t do it. If the self-efficacy is high, the person will be confident when it comes to the task. Self-efficacy works hand-in-hand with a person’s motivation. If the perceived self-efficacy is low then there will be little motivation to set or work hard to attain goals. High self-efficacy can lead to the setting of advanced goals or the persistence to accomplish a goal despite setbacks. Accomplishing a goal that has been set or completing a task that seemed difficult can raise a person’s self-efficacy for a given task.
(2) Explain the key components of what Bandura refers to as reciprocal determinism.
Reciprocal Determinism is a complex system of interactions that determine behavior. This interaction occurs between the individual, the environment, and the behavioral itself. The elements in the environment will impact not only the behavior of a person through the presence of stimuli, but their own cognitions and perceptions. These perceptions and cognitions will in turn impact the behaviors that are elicited. This is much more than classical or operant conditioning, if only just because of the importance of the individual. Once the behavior is put out into the environment, the environment will be shaped and respond to the behavior. By altering any of the three components to reciprocal determinism, the others will be altered in turn. For example, changing the environment will change how a person perceives it and what stimuli are present in the environment, which will change how or if a behavior is elicited.
Nov 19, 2015 @ 18:59:08
Jason,
Great job with your post this week. I really liked how you wrote motivation and self-effiacy go hand-and-hand. It is important for us to really understand how if a person’s percieved self-efficacy is either low or high, the person will have little motivation or a lot of motivation. In regards to your response with reciprocal determinism, the example you gave was extremely helpful. Learning about how the idea is that personal factors, behavior and environment can all influence each other, your example makes sense. Our classmate gave a great example about a female student pursing a job in the STEm field and how the enviornment could deter her from choosing or people’s opinion. It is great to be able to make a connection between examples and the material!
Nov 18, 2015 @ 14:42:37
Bandura (1977) believes that our efficacy expectations, or the belief that one can successfully perform the behavior required to produce a desired outcome, have a huge impact on the situations that we place ourselves in and how well we are able to perform in those environments. Bandura’s theory is that the degree to which a person believes in their own ability to effectively produce a desired outcome determines their use of coping mechanisms, the effort they expend, and their perseverance in the face of adversity. Those with high self-efficacy have a greater psychological buffer in the face of adversity as they see those obstacles as hurdles to be overcome with persistence. Conversely, low-efficacy individuals take fewer risks and see setbacks as testaments to their perceived ineptitude. Bandura (1977) felt that low-efficacy individuals can learn to have self-efficacy by practicing and overcoming progressively more difficult tasks.
Reciprocal determinism refers to the interplay between personal and environmental determinant. Bandura (1976) asserts that trying to determine the percentage of the effects of personality and environment on behavior is ineffectual. This is because a person’s personality effects the environment that they encounter while the environmental stimuli are simultaneously effecting the person and their behaviors. These forces are inextricably linked.
Nov 19, 2015 @ 21:40:39
Taylor, you did a great job of capturing and explaining self-efficacy. Looking beyond the rewards for behavior as a means of completing an action, it makes sense that individuals will engage in behaviors they perceive they are capable of. It’s easy, in hindsight, to now see how large of an impact these perceptions of mastery have. When considering depressed individuals with low self-efficacy it seems intuitive that they will not only doubt their capabilities but also lack the motivation to complete the behavior. While there is no cure for low self-efficacy, if we as therapists are able to shape the cognitions related to these deficiencies progress should follow.
Nov 20, 2015 @ 17:44:33
Taylor,
I liked that you pointed out that even people with low self-efficacy can still learn to develop a higher level of self-efficacy by practice. It’s true that most people often experience many obstacles in their life and everyone handles them differently. It’s what one does with that situation and how they learn from it that will determine how they overcome it. High self-efficacy will motivate people to keep going, but if people can learn to overcome what they may have lacked it a particular situation, they can build up their low self-efficacy. Slowly they can grow and move forward, developing new goals, which they may have never tried before.
Nov 18, 2015 @ 14:59:16
Bandura’s (1977) concept of self-efficacy refers to an individual’s feelings or beliefs of whether they are capable of performing behaviors. This conceptualization of one’s ability or inability can significantly determine how someone initiates and maintains a behavior. Higher levels of self-efficacy will manifest itself in the form of motivation. Individuals will be motivated to continue their behavior when they perceive that they possess the tools to master the behavior. Conversely, those suffering from low levels of perceived self-efficacy will not appear motivated. This is due to their perceptions that they do not have the skills necessary to complete certain behaviors. One of the most interesting facets of self-efficacy is in regard to failures. The positive effect of successes has been well documented, but what occurs when individuals experience failure? Failures have an interesting effect on individuals, where in certain cases failures can provide opportunities to overcome adversity. If an individual is able to overcome a failure through persistence their sense of self-efficacy could improve. This is a concept I believe many of us have experienced. After a perceived or actual “failure” on a school assignment we are faced with engaging motivational drives to either overcome this difficulty or let the adversity drive down your self-efficacy. From my own experience, this chip on the shoulder or failure can be very motivating in attaining success in the next opportunity which only increases the perception of self-efficacy.
Bandura’s concept of reciprocal determinism suggests that behavior is controlled by three factors. In this model the individual, the behavior, and the environment all interact to control the presenting behavior. At times this theory is tough to grasp, but it appears as though individuals experience a dual pathway of controlling the environment and being controlled by the environment. The example concerning the aggressive child in Bandura’s (1976) text deepened my understanding of reciprocal determinism. At times a child will be aggressive to obtain desired stimuli, controlling the environment, but there are times in which the environment, presence of adults, determines the behavior. This is all mediated by the individual’s personality but it is clear to see the reciprocal interactions between behavior and environment
Nov 20, 2015 @ 13:06:40
Mark, I really like how you emphasized the importance of failure in motivation. I too find it interesting that failures can lead to a person trying harder at a task. I also like how you related it to all of us and back to yourself, concerning difficult school work. Learning from failures is an important part of development that I think has helped us all get this far.
Nov 20, 2015 @ 13:16:59
Your explanation of self efficacy was very well written. Your example of how this applies to our school life situation is great to describe self efficacy. I agree that our perceptions of our own abilities to succeed or accomplish a task greatly influences our motivation to engage or complete the task. As was stated in class, the stronger our self efficacy is, the greater the goals we choose to pursue and the stronger our motivation to follow through and achieve them. If you consider how self esteem plays a role in influencing self efficacy, it is evident that cognitions play a role in learning and behavior and it is not just pure behaviorism that is at play. Our evaluations of our self worth can affect our evaluation of our personal skills and abilities to succeed at a task.
Nov 20, 2015 @ 17:51:26
Mark,
Mark I enjoyed your incorporating the example of reciprocal determinism by using the aggressive child. It that many children will turn to aggressive behavior in order to get attention both from other children and adults. Often seen in a form of a temper tantrum and how the parents or other adult figures around respond the behavior the child is exhibiting. I enjoyed that your brought this into your answer instead of just explaining the factors.
Nov 20, 2015 @ 23:24:49
Mark,
What you said about a person appearing to be motivated when they have a high sense of self-efficacy struck me as it resonated with my own personal experiences. There have been situations in my own life where I have been rendered completely unmotivated by my belief that I was going to fail. These are in drastic contrast to the times where I have had no doubt of my ability to succeed where I was motivated and enthusiastic. With my own experiences in mind I see very clearly how debilitating pervasive low self-efficacy has the potential to be.
Nov 18, 2015 @ 17:48:23
• Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief that he or she can successfully execute their behaviors required by a particular situation (Volungis, 2015). The more that you perceive your ability to accomplish a goal, the higher the goals we will choose to conquest (Volungis, 2015). People who have low self-efficacy, are more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression (Volungis, 2015). This in turn gives to setting lower goals. Bandura believed that how we in ourselves perceive our self-efficacy, results in the intensity and duration of our coping strategies. Motivation in turn, is the activation and persistence of a behavior (Volungis, 2015). In turn, we can use this as a standard to which we gauge or own performance. Both the anticipated satisfactions of desired accomplishments and the negative appraisals of insufficient performance provides incentives for action (Volungis, 2015). Bandura believed that the most beneficial therapeutic techniques were doctored towards enhancing self-efficacy.
• Reciprocal Determinism is looking at human interaction through a social lens. Behavior, personal factors, and environmental factors all affect one another equally. Bandura believed that we were not driven by inner forces nor environmental pressures. Rather, he believed that our physiological functioning was the result of the continuous reciprocal interaction of personal and environmental determinants (Volungis, 2015). Well this sounds all set in stone, he believed that we could manipulate our environment and generating cognitive supports, we can establish some control over our behavior (Volungis, 2015). . The now actualized environment influences future behaviors by being either rewarding or punishing toward the individual (Bandura, 1976). The ways in which the environment and individual interact with each other is the best explanation of how reciprocal determinism is practiced.
Nov 18, 2015 @ 23:35:22
Bandura (1977) explained that, an individual’s self-efficacy is their perception of their competences in various life situations. Bandura further explained that people will try harder to succeed in difficult task if they are confident that they can complete those tasks. Individuals who have a low sense of efficacy for accomplishing a task may avoid it; those who believe they are capable will participate readily. Individuals who feel efficacious are hypothesized to work harder and persist longer when they encounter difficulties than those who doubt their capabilities. To develop self-efficacy, the individual must believe that he or she is in control and that the acts he or she performed were intentional done. Relating self-efficacy to motivation, if an individual believes that he or she has the power to influence the outcome of a situation, he or she will be motivated to try and make things happen. For example, if an addict does not believe that they can control their substance use, they will be less motivated to follow through on the activities needed to help them remain substance-free.
Reciprocal determinism in Bandura’s explanation, is a model consisting of three factors that affects behavior. The individual’s environment, the individual and the individual’s behavior. These three factors have potential to influence each other in any direction. The model of the environment denotes that the environment influences the degree to which a behavior will be expressed or occur and also the behavior can have an effect on the environment. The model of the individual denotes or constitutes belief system, expectations and characteristics of personality having an effect on behavior based on which aspect of a person is rewarded. The model of the behavior itself, is based on which behavior may or may not be reinforced at a given duration or event. Overall, an individual’s behavior influences and is influenced by their environment and characteristics of their personality. This denotes the fact that an individual is not just an observer of his or her environment but can also equally have an influence on his environment in determining behavior outcome. Situations are not completely beyond an individual’s control all the time; individuals do have a level of influence that can change the outcome of situations. For example, a student that got a bad grade on an exam can choose to perceive the lecturer as a tough grader or that the lecturer dislikes him. In the same facet, the student can choose to review feedback on the exam and utilize the review to improve grade on next exam.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191-215.
Nov 20, 2015 @ 13:28:58
You did a great job explaining what the “person” aspect of this model actually encompasses. I really liked what you said about the individual being more than just an observer of the environment. That we can actually influence and control some aspects of our situations including how we choose to react to our environmental stimuli and how we actually control some aspects of the environment by choosing to place ourselves there. Your example was really good in showing the “person” interactive relation to behavior. To elaborate on your example, the individual can influence the environmental aspect of the situation by choosing to be in that class or to transfer and place himself in a class that he perceives the professor to be a more lenient grader.
Nov 20, 2015 @ 15:58:18
Ana,
I completely Identify with the theory of reciprocal determinism especially the behaviorists perspective of operating on an environment to create change. It is motivating knowing that an individual is not an observer but can exert influence on an environment and change the outcome of situations. The individual’s ethics, beliefs, perception, and personality definitely plays a major role. For example, in deescalating agitated clients especially in-patient and in residential settings, I noticed that the staff’s approach; tone, choice of words, body language, validation, among others, to a larger extent reduces client escalation and eliminates the need for restraints.