By Reneé Yackley and Mary Defilippis

Albert Bandura Born in 1925 in Canada Graduated from the University of British Columbia with the Bolocan Award in Psychology in 1949 Received M.A. in 1951 from University of Iowa, Ph.D, in 1952 In 1953, he began his career at Stanford University His initial research focused on social modeling In the 1960’s, he began his studies on children’s development of self-regulatory capabilities President of the American Psychology Association

Self-Efficacy Through the regulation of behavior, one observes one’s actions and evaluate one’s performances. The affects of self-efficacy appraisals as a means of motivation Bandura believed that it would be better to have too high of an estimation of one’s own abilities rather than too low, and a higher estimation would be beneficial. Low self-efficacy can lead to depression and unnecessary doubt. His experiments were not so much focused on the child’s success, but more on their estimation of their own capabilities.

Important Terms Self-Efficacy : the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations Self-Concept : a cognitive appraisal, integrated across various dimensions, that individuals attribute to themselves, typically accompanied by self-evaluative judgment of self-worth Social Cognitive Theory: human achievement depends on interactions between one’s behaviors, personal factors, and environmental conditions Model Similarity: observing others succeed can realize observers’ self-efficacy and motivate them to perform the task if they think they will be successful and vice-versa Self-Reflection: how you think about and evaluate your own experiences and thought processes (Bandura calls this the most unique human characteristic) Self-Esteem: success over pretensions

The Sources of Self- Efficacy Appraisals Actual Performance: past success to build belief in one’s capabilities Verbal Persuasion: efficacy created and developed as a result of the social messages they receive from others Vicarious Experience: secondary source of efficacy through the experience of the effects produced by the actions of others

Our Experiment 3 rd graders at Holy Family We tested their self-efficacy in relation to their self- concept as a reader Which of the sources of self-efficacy appraisals will have the most influence on the child? Does the child’s self-concept correlate to his self- efficacy?

Our Hypothesis Like Bandura, we also believe that actual performance will have the most influence on the child, because once the child has accomplished the task, his next decision will be based on that experience.

Procedure We had three books, which were of three different levels: easy, medium-hard and hard There were 2 groups of 4 children individually observed and 1 group of 5, observed together Group 1: Actual Performance Group 2: Verbal Persuasion Group 3: Vicarious Experience

Group 1: Experience Rubric Name and Age Do you like reading? Do your parents read to you a lot? How often? Do you read by yourself a lot? How often? What is your favorite book? Would you consider yourself a good student? Savannah (Age 8) yesno Yes, every night Judy MoodyYes Emily (Age 8)yes No, they let me read alone Yes, some every day Magic Treehouse Yes Thessaly (Age 8) Only when I am in a good mood Not really, b/c we don’t have enough time Well…yeah, like three times a week How the Grinch Stole Christmas Mmhmm William (Age 9) yeahNoI read by myself a lot Magic Treehouse yes

Group 1: Actual Performance Rubric Name and Age Do you think you are very good reader, an “okay” reader, or not a very good reader at all? Child’s 1 st Prediction Treatment: Actual Performance Child’s 2 nd Prediction Savannah (Age 8)Very good Hard, I read chapter books and I read very often good performance Hard, because I like reading about science Emily (Age 8) Very good, I can get through some fast. I read the words smoothly. Medium Slow, but good performance Medium Thessaly (Age 8) An “okay” reader, b/c I don’t know how to pronounce some words Medium, b/c I’m an “okay” reader Good, messes up a little Maybe a different one if I were better William (Age 9)A very good reader, I read smoothly Hard, the other two are too easy for me Slow, but goodHard

Group 2: Experience Rubric Name and Age Do you like reading? Do your parents read to you a lot? How often? Do you read by yourself a lot? How often? What is your favorite book? Would you consider yourself a good student? Katrina Maria(Age 8 ½) I love readingNo I read by myself a lot, like 10 a day Paint the Wind Yeah, I get A’s and B’s Jenna (Age 8)yes Yes, once a week Yes. My parents make me, so once a week also Jenny B. Jones Yes Bryce (Age 8)Yes Yes, every night Sometimes, twice a week Jenny B. Jones Yes William (Age 9) YesNoYes, 3 times a day BunniculaYes

Group 3: Verbal Persuasion Rubric Name and Age Do you think you are very good reader, an “okay” reader, or not a very good reader at all? Child’s 1 st Prediction Treatment: Verbal Persuasion Child’s 2 nd Prediction Actual Performance Child’s 3 rd Prediction Katrina Maria (Age 8 ½) An okay reader, b/c I don’t really know Hard, so I can see if I am a really good reader Needed no convincing to choose hard Good performance Hard, b/c just by reading the introduction it got me interested Jenna (Age 8) A very good reader, b/c I read a lot Medium, b/c it looks fun Responded positively Hard Slow, stumbled but pretty good Medium, b/c it looks fun Bryce (Age 8) A very good reader, I won 2 nd place in a reading contest Medium, b/c I don’t know very hard words Responded positively Try HarderPretty good Hard, at first I thought it’d be too hard but I could read it good enough William (Age 9)Okay, sometimes I read by myself more than three times EasyResponded Positively MediumGood performance Medium, it’s really good and they talk about bears

Group 3: Experience Rubric Name and Age Do you like reading? Do your parents read to you a lot? How often? Do you read by yourself a lot? How often? What is your favorite book? Would you consider yourself a good student? Joshua (Age 9) GUINEA PIG Yes Yes, 2 hours a day Yes, I hourSpiderwickYes Benjamin (Age 8) Yes Yes, 2 hours or 1 hour Yes, 2 hours a day Believe it or not “Sleeping Booty” yes Tiffany (Age 8)Yeah Yes, whenever Mrs. Pulido assigns us reading homework Yes, when I go to the library I pick two books Lucy’s Quiet Book A little Britton (Age 8)Yes Sometimes, my mother reads to my brother more than she reads to me Yes, 3 to 4 times a week God’s Little Princess: Devotional Bible Yes Jorge (Age 9)Yes Yes, 1 hour every day Pirates Don’t Wear Pink Sunglasses Yes

Group 3: Vicarious Experience Name and Age Treatment: Vicarious Experience Do you think you are very good reader, an “okay” reader, or not a very good reader at all? Child’s 1 st Prediction Actual Performance Child’s 2 nd Prediction Benjamin (Age 8) Saw Guinea Pig choose Medium and do very well A very good reader Medium, sometimes I can read harder than this one Good performance Different—the Harder Tiffany (Age 8) Saw Guinea Pig choose Medium and do very well An ‘okay’ reader, b/c I read a few books to my mom and she says I do well (grabs medium before we even started questioning her) Medium, b/c I am an okay reader Pretty goodMedium Britton (Age 8) Saw Guinea Pig choose Medium and do very well An okay reader Medium, good reader but not that good Good performance Medium Jorge (Age 9)Saw Guinea Pig choose Medium and do very well A very good reader Hard, b/c other boys chose medium [Joshua and Benjamin] OkayMedium

Our Conclusion… Unlike our hypothesis that actual performance would have the most influence, verbal persuasion and vicarious experience seemed to have a stronger impact on their self-efficacy.

Critical Questions Would there be a difference in results when testing boys and girls? Do different sources of self-efficacy appraisals have more of an influence on different ages? Would different authority figures have different results? Would results be different with more children tested? What would be the difference in results between a public school and a private school? What motivates self-efficacy for a disabled child?

Nature vs. Nurture Rousseau Bandura Locke

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