Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory

Bandura’s social cognitive theory puts more emphasis on social origins of behavior. His social cognitive approach focuses on cognitive factors that are central to human functioning. He defines human behavior as vibrant and reciprocal interaction of personal factors behavior and the environment.The theory contends that behavior is largely regulated through cognitive processes. He adds that through the observations of models, an individual’s perceptions and action influence cognitive development. Bandura gives three types of models; live, symbolic and verbal instructions (Boeree, 2006).The theory states that learning can occur in the absence of direct reinforcement; rather people can learn new information and behaviors by watching other people and models. In learning, the learner must have a sense of self-efficacy which is termed as the learner’s belief that they can execute complex skills successfully.This perception provides the learner with an ability of self- d irection. The use of models influence learner’s self systems and as a result cognitive development becomes an independent process of observational learning.Additionally, observational learning involved four main steps which include attention, retention, reproduction and motivation. The implication in psychotherapy is that if you get an individual with a psychological disorder to observe someone dealing with the same issues in a wide productive fashion, the first individual will learn by modeling the second person.Bandura acknowledges that individual’s behavior is conditioned through the use of consequences. In psychotherapy, research is very vital and behaviorism is the most preferred approach (Bandura, 2001).Another concept which is applied in psychotherapy is locus of control. For instance, when persons believe they can alter their situation, they are said to have an internal locus of control and when they believe they cannot alter their situations they are said to h ave an external locus of control.ReferencesBandura, A. (2001). Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 2, p. 4-7.Boeree, G. (2006). Albert Bandura 1925- Present. Retrieved August 10, 2010 from http://webspace. ship. edu/cgboer/bandura. html.