Chapter 5

Question 1

Social cognitive theory can best be characterized as being concerned with learning
A. communication skills
B. socially appropriate behaviors
C. through observations of others
D. subject matter in the social sciences (e.g., geography, psychology)

Answer 1

C. Through observations of others

Question 2

Three of the following ideas are integral parts of social cognitive theory. Which one is not?
A. Learning can occur without a change in behavior.
B. People have control over their actions
C. Reinforcement can have an effect not only on the person being reinforced but on other individuals as well.
D. People’s behaviors are always the direct results of the specific environments in which they live.

Answer 2

D. People’s behaviors are always the direct results of the specific environments in which they live

Question 3

An early theory of imitation, one proposed by Miller and Dollard in 1941, suggested that individuals:
A. Form mental images of the behaviors they observe
B. Are reinforced for imitative behavior
C. Encode imitated behaviors verbally (i.e., by describing to themselves what they have observed)
D. Find imitation to be an intrinsically reinforcing activity

Answer 3

B. Are reinforced for imitative behavior

Question 4

A problem with trying to explain modeling solely from a strictly behaviorist perspective is that:
A. Events that are reinforcing for some people are not reinforcing for others.
B. People sometimes don’t imitate a behavior until many days after observing it.
C. Vicariously punished behaviors usually increase, rather than decrease, in frequency.
D. Not all behaviors are imitated.

Answer 4

B. People sometimes don’t imitate a behavior until many days after obseving it.

Question 5

According to social cognitive theorists, reinforcement affects learning because it:
A. Encourages the learner to pay attention
B. Reduces the likelihood of punishment
C. Increases the strength of an S–R connection
D. Makes the learner feel good, thus reducing emotions that interferes with the learning process

Answer 5

A. Encourages the learner to pay attention

Question 6

Which one of the following statements best illustrates the concept of reciprocal causation?
A. Individuals are more likely to imitate a behavior for which they have seen others reinforced.
B. Modeling can occur only when an individual is capable of performing an observed behavior.
C. People are unlikely to exhibit a behavior that will probably be punished.
D. The environment alters behavior, but behavior alters the environment as well.

Answer 6

D. The environment alters behavior, but behavior alters the environment as well.

Question 7

Which one of the following alternatives best describes the disinhibition effect that social cognitive theorists describe?
A. People may engage in a previously prohibited behavior if they see someone else being reinforced for that behavior.
B. People are less likely to engage in behaviors they have seen other people punished for.
C. People are less likely to engage in behaviors they have previously been punished for.
D. When people are punished for one behavior, they will tend to refrain from exhibiting that behavior; however, they will be more likely to engage in similar behaviors that are not punished.

Answer 7

A. People may engage in a previously prohibited behavior if they see someone else being reinforced for that behavior.

Question 8

Bandura proposes that three of the following conditions are necessary for modeling to occur. Which one is not necessary?
A. Motivation to perform the behavior
B. Memory of the observed behavior
C. A relatively stress-free environment
D. Attention to the model

Answer 8

C. A relatively stress-free environment

Question 9

In what way does the concept self-efficacy differ from such terms as self-concept and self-esteem?
A. Self-efficacy refers only to those behaviors we learn through modeling.
B. Self-efficacy results primarily from vicarious reinforcement and punishment.
C. Self-efficacy varies depending on the specific task to be performed.
D. Self-efficacy appears only after we begin to regulate our own behavior.

Answer 9

C. Self-efficacy varies depending on the specific task to be performed.

Question 10

Three of the following are examples of self-regulation as social cognitive theorists describe it. Which one is not a good example of self-regulation?
A. A student reminds herself in a whisper that she should raise her hand before speaking in class.
B. A student thinks, “I paid better attention in class today. I’m going to reward myself by watching television when I get home from school.”
C. A student keeps track of the number of times he’s gone to the pencil sharpener in a single day.
D. A student tries hard to earn the reinforcer his teacher has told him he will get for good behavior.

Answer 10

D. A student tries hard to earn the reinforcer his teacher has told him he will get for good behavior.

Question 11

Learning Through observation and modeling is the focuse of_______________.

Answer 11

Social Cognitive Theory

Question 12

_________ is when a person begins to take charge of their own learning and behavior.

Answer 12

Self-regulation

Question 13

When a person has beliefs regarding their ability to complete the tasks successfully

Answer 13

Self-efficacy

Question 14

When, where and with whom did Social cognitive Theory begin?

Answer 14

Neal Miller and John Dollard, 1941

Later with Albert Bandura in the 1960s

Question 15

Principles of SCT are:

Answer 15

1. People can learn by observing others’ behaviors and the consequences that result.
2. Learning can occur without a change in behavior.
3. Cognition plays important roles in learning.
4. People can have considerable control over their actions and environments.

Question 16

According to Miller and Dollard, individual uses another person’s behavior as an antecedent stimulus, a discriminative stimulus that calls for an ________ response.

Answer 16

imitative

Question 17

Miller and Dollard also proposed that imitative behaviors are maintained by ____________ _____________ ________, individuals aren’t always reinforced.

Answer 17

intermittent reinforcement schedule

Eventually imitation itself becomes a habit- generalized imitation

Question 18

SCT shows how the environment might reinforce or punish modeling:

Answer 18

1. The observer is reinforced by the model.
2. The oberved is reinforced by a third person.
3. The imitated behavior itself leads to reinforcing consequences.
4. Consequences of the model’s behavior affect the observer’s behavior vicariously.

Question 19

If a model is reinforced for a response, the observer may show an increase in that response, this is known as _______.

Answer 19

vicarious reinforcement

Question 20

________________

Answer 20

vicarious punishment

Question 21

What happened in the Bobo Doll experiment?
SCT example, behaviorism example

Vicarious reinforcement and punishment

Answer 21

Albert Bandura; Children watched a film of a model hitting and kicking an inflated punching doll. One group saw the model reinforced for aggression, a 2nd saw the model punished, and a 3rd group saw no consequences for aggression. When the children were in the room with the doll, the most aggressive saw the model being reinforced. The least aggressive saw punishment.

Question 22

What are difficulties in describing imitative behavior from a behaviorist perspective?

Answer 22

1. New behaviors can be acquired simply by watching others perform them. In operant, new behaviors typically start only from existing behaviors that are gradually shaped and modified over time.
2. Delayed imitation can happen.
3. powerful effect of vicarious reinforcement

Question 23

SCT cognitive factors:

Answer 23

1. Learning involves a mental rather than beh. change.
2. certain cogn. proceses are essential for learning to occur.
3. Learners must be aware of existing resposne-conswequence contingencies
4. Learners form expectations for future response-consequence contingencies
5. Learners form beliefs about their ability to perform various behaviors.
6. Outcome & efficacy expectations influence cognitive processes that underlie learning.
7. The nonoccurrence of expected consequences is an influential consequence in and of itself.