Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Abby Cuellar & Madeline Reilly

Albert Bandura Behavioral psychologist who developed the social cognitive theory

BIOGRAPHY Became a professor of psychology at Stanford University in 1953 Graduated from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 1949 Graduated from U of Iowa with a Ph. D. in 1952 Born 12/4/1925 in Mundare, Canada Attended primary & secondary school at the only school in town. Graduated with a Masters in psychology from the University of Iowa in 1951 Married in 1952 to Virginia Varns and had 2 daughters, Mary & Carol.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS Earned the Bolocon award in psychology after graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology. Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award of the American Psychological Association The Distinguished Scientist Award from Division 12 of the APA the William James Award of the American Psychological Society for outstanding achievements in psychological science the Distinguished Contribution Award from the International Society for Research in Aggression Distinguished Scientist Award of the Society of Behavioral Medicine He is the recipient of 12 honorary degrees from 10 universities In May 2004 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Western Psychological Association as well as the coveted James McKeen Cattell Award from the American Psychological Society Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award from the American Psychological Association Bandura being presented with the National Medal of Science in March 2016 by Barack Obama.

THEORY OF SELF-EFFICACY Self-efficacy refers to when someone regulates his own behavior and makes general judgments of his abilities. For example, I’m not good at soccer, but I can cook. Bandura believed that self efficacy appraisals not only affect a person’s ability but also his motivation to perform a task (Crain, Theories of Development, ch9, 204). A person with a low sense of self-efficacy approach a difficult task with anxiety since the difficult task poses a threat to the person while a person with a high sense of self-efficacy sees a difficult task as a challenge he can master (Bandura, Encyclopedia of Psychology, Vol. 7).

4 SOURCES OF SELF EFFICACY *Verbal persuasion: Bandura claims that people who are persuaded verbally that they possess the capabilities to master given activities are more likely to mobilize a greater effort. *Mastery experience: refers to the notion that a resilient sense of efficacy requires experiences in overcoming obstacles through perseverant effort. Physiological cues: Somatic and emotional states refer to how one interprets their emotional and physical reactions. For the person with a strong sense of efficacy, anxiety may be interpreted as adrenaline to push them to complete the task. Vicarious experience: is provided by social models. Seeing people similar to oneself succeed raises one’s belief that they too can accomplish a similar task and feel they possess the capabilities to master comparable activities. * = to be focused on in our study.

HYPOTHESIS Students with low efficacy in math will score lower on a math exam than those students with high levels of efficacy in math. When a second exam is administered followed by a pep talk, students, regardless of levels of efficacy, will score higher. Present the study vaguely before giving the hypothesis. “To test our focus on verbal persuasion and mastery experience, we did a study on upper-elementary students which involves a questionnaire which allows students to judge their levels of efficacy in math and a mathematical exam.” Pep talk aspect relates back to verbal persuasion. “Students, regardless of levels of efficacy and mathematical ability, will do better on the second exam than on the first one.” relates to mastery experience.

J.L COLLINS STUDY J.L Collins performed a study on students who judged themselves to be of low or high efficacy levels at each of three levels of mathematical ability. This study was set to determine a relationship in self-efficacy and the ability in achievement behavior. Students were administered a mathematical exam with difficult, near impossible questions.

COLLINS STUDY RESULTS Those students who judged themselves of having low efficacy in math scored significantly lower than students who judged themselves of having high efficacy, regardless of mathematical ability. Students with average levels of mathematical ability and low efficacy got 25% of the questions correct. Students with average levels of mathematical ability and high efficacy got 45% of the questions correct. Students with high levels of mathematical ability and low efficacy got 65% of the questions correct. Students with high levels of mathematical ability and high levels of efficacy got 75% of the questions correct.

PROCEDURES Students were given a questionnaire that asked them if they liked math, if they were good at math, and what questions they believed they would answer correctly and incorrectly. Students then answered a ten question exam with questions that progressively got more difficult. After taking the first exam, students were given the same exam a second time but listened to a pep talk prior to taking the exam.

1. What are your three favorite subjects in school? 2. Do you like math? (Circle one) Yes No Why? 3. Do you think you are good at math? (Circle one) 4. Do you think you will do well on this quiz? (Circle one) Yes No 5. Which questions do you think you will answer correctly? (Circle all that apply.) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6. Which questions do you think you will not answer correctly? (Circle all that apply.)

Instructions: Answer the following questions and show your work 15 x 8 = ________________ 312 + 483 = ________________ 639 - 201 = __________________ A rectangle has two sides that measure 2 inches. The other two sides measure 4 inches. What is the perimeter of the rectangle? Perimeter = __________________________ What is the area of the rectangle? Area = ______________________________ 5. 12 x 9 = _________________________ 6. 1.2 + 3.5 = ______________________ 7. 4,819 - 1592 = ______________________ 8. 48 ÷ 6 = ________________________ 9. 38.9 - 12.3 = __________________________ 10. 6 x a = 10 + a a = _________________________

You just finished the first exam You just finished the first exam. Now, we are going to give you the exam a second time. You’re going to be doing the same thing you did the first time: answer the questions on the front and then take the math exam. Now remember, this quiz is not going to be graded. With that being said, you still have to try your best. We want to see how well you will do on this quiz. We believe in you guys, and believe that you will do great this second time around. Even though some of these questions seem very difficult, don’t worry so much if you can’t figure out the answer, just try your best. You have learned this math from your teachers before so you already know what you’re doing. You may now begin your quiz, good luck.

1. Do you think you will do well on this quiz? (Circle one) Instructions: Answer the following questions as best as you can and show your work. 1. Do you think you will do well on this quiz? (Circle one) Yes No 2. Which questions do you think you will answer correctly? (Circle all that apply.) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 3. Which questions do you think you will not answer correctly? (Circle all that apply.) Exam 2 differences: Students were only asked how well they would do on the quiz and what answers they would get correct as opposed to the full questionnaire (avoid being redundant and getting us right to the point). The instructions in the exam were also different: exam 2 provides more encouragement and a personal touch (telling the students to do the best they can).

Results Exam 2 Student 1: 3rd Grade No 1 Exam 1 2-10 Spelling, computer, art No, because I like staying at home and playing video games. Yes, because I think I’m pretty good at multiplication No 2,3,5,7 1,4,6,8,9,10 On exam 1, student 1 got 6/10 correct and took 12 minutes to complete. On exam 2, he got 7/10 correct and took 7 minutes to complete.

Results Student 3: 4th grade Exam 1 Science, reading, math Yes, because it teaches me new things. It is fun. Yes, because I get a lot of math homework and I do most of it right. I practice a lot. Yes 10 1 Exam 2 Student 2: 4th grade Exam 1 PE, library, computers No, it sucks Yes, frakshons No N/A Exam 2 On exam 1, student 2 got 5/10 correct and took 9 minutes to complete. On exam 2, he got 6/10 correct and took 6 minutes to complete. On exam 1, student 3 got 6/10 correct and took 9 minutes to complete. On exam 2, she got 7/10 correct and took 5 minutes to complete.

Results Student 5: 5th grade Student 4: 5th grade Exam 1 Exam 1 Athleticks, since, math, & LA Yes, because I am always crying on the inside and math makes me feel secure. Yes, because I am a genius Yes All Exam 2 Student 4: 5th grade Exam 1 Reading, social studies, and science No, because its hard Okay, because for me its pretty hard and I have trouble solving them. Okay 10 Exam 2 On exam 1, student 4 got 7.5/10 correct and took 5 minutes to complete. On exam 2, he got 7.5/10 correct and took 9 minutes to complete. On exam 1, student 5 got 10/10 correct and took 5 minutes to complete. On exam 2, she got 9/10 correct and took 8 minutes to complete.

Conclusion Students generally did better on exam 2 than they did on exam 1. They got more correct answers and took less time to work on exam 2. Verbal persuasion helped the students gain more confidence before taking exam 2. Mastery experience allowed the students to take less time on exam 2 because it was an exam they have already seen and taken. After the pep talk, those students who were discouraged were feeling more confident. Mastery experience seemed to be the source that actually got proven right. Though we can’t tell that the pep talk actually helped the students, taking the same exam a second time was easier and students took less time.

Errors Errors in this study include: Small sample size Varying ages Students were administered the exam at different times Only had five students to work with One 3rd, two 4th, and two 5th. Varying ages= varying mathematical abilities, though there is some error in itself: the third grader did better than student 2 and equally as good as student 3. Affects results because students would then hear the pep talk at varying times. Student 1 also finished his exam 2 because he saw the other children were leaving so he wanted to leave too.

Nurture/Nature Distinction ç Locke on left (nurture) Rousseau on right (nature)