1. By: Lisa Thomas and Jenny Johnson

2. Biographical Information Born in 1925 in Alberta, Canada Grew up in a small town Attended the U. of British Colombia Enrolled in an Gen. Psych. Course by chance Majored in Psychology and graduated in 1949 Went to graduate school at U. of Iowa and graduated in 1952 In 1953 he taught at Stanford and wrote his first book Adolescent Aggression with Richard Walters In 1974 he was elected President of the American Psychological Association Retired from teaching March 15th 2010.

3. Social Cognitive Theory provides a large body of verified knowledge about the determinants and psychological mechanisms governing observational learning of behavioral and social competencies, cognitive skills, and emotional propensities. (Bandura, Self-Efficacy) “Observational Learning” Bandura believes that we learn a great deal through imitation by observing models and mentally coding what we see.

4. Bandura vs. Skinner Bandura Skinner In Skinner’s theory, learning appears to be a gradual process in which organisms must act to learn—behavior shaped overtime by consequences Bandura argues that in social situations we often learn much more rapidly simply through observing behavior of others—more immediate

5. “Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own action to inform them what to do.”—Bandura, 1977

6. Behaviors Cognitions Environment

7. Attentional Processes: what is selectively observed in the profusion of modeling influences and what information is extracted from ongoing modeled events Retention Processes: an active process of transforming and restructuring information about events for memory representation in the form of rules and conceptions Production Processes: conceptions are translated to appropriate courses of action—when deficits exist, the sub-skills required for complex performances must 1 st be developed by modeling and guided enactment Motivation Processes: social cognitive theory distinguishes between acquisition and performance because people do not perform everything they learn—people are more likely to exhibit modeled behavior if it results in valued outcomes than if it has unrewarding or punishing effects (Bandura, Self-Efficacy)

8. Bobo Doll Experiment Bandura wanted to prove that behavior such as aggression is learned through observing and imitating others People who view aggression in society (consciously or unconsciously) think that the behavior is acceptable for them to imitate Group A: Watched an adult hitting doll with a mallet Group B: Watched an adult play nicely with the doll Group A: In playroom, children battered the doll with mallet Group B: In playroom, children played nicely with doll Observation Results

9. “Beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” —Bandura, Self-Efficacy Plays a major role in how one approaches goals, tasks, and challenges Center of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory

10. The Difference Between Self-Efficacy & Self-Esteem Often used interchangeably as though they represent the same phenomenon, when in fact they refer to entirely different things. Self-Efficacy: concerned with judgments of personal capabilities Example: “I’m going to make this free-throw shot.” Self-Esteem: concerned with judgment of self-worth Example: “I’m a terrible person.” “There is no fixed relationship between beliefs about one’s capabilities and whether one likes or dislikes oneself.” (Bandura, Self-Efficacy) __________________________________________________

11. Sources of Self-Efficacy Appraisals 1. Actual Performance: efficacy perceived through performance experiences. Success builds a strong belief in one’s personal efficacy, and failure undermines it. Bandura believes this to be the most influential source of knowledge 2. Vicarious Experiences: appraising one’s capabilities in relation to the attainment of others 3. Verbal Persuasion: easier to sustain a sense of efficacy, especially when struggling with difficulties, if significant others express faith in one’s capabilities than if they convey doubts 4. Psychological Cues: In judging their capabilities, people rely partly on somatic information conveyed by physiological and emotional states. (Bandura, Self-Efficacy)

12. Is verbal persuasion or a child’s actual performance the most influential source of a child’s self-efficacy appraisal? If verbal persuasion is most effective, does it matter whether it is positive or negative in regard to the effect it has on the child’s recorded running time? To what degree do vicarious experiences affect the child’s self-efficacy appraisal.

13. Hypothesis Since society today focuses primarily on encouraging students through verbal persuasion, this study will attempt to disprove Bandura’s conclusion about actual performance as the most effective source by proving verbal persuasion, negative or positive, to be the most influential source.

14. 17 kids (9 boys and 8 girls) Age range: 6-17 years old 1. We divided the kids into 4 groups: actual performance, vicarious experience, negative verbal persuasion, and positive verbal persuasion—leaving out psychological cues. 2. Each child observed the measured distance of about 100 feet and predicted how long it would take he or she to run it. 3. After implementing the different sources of self-efficacy appraisal in each group and we then asked for a second prediction from the child. 4. Then depending on the group, after the child ran, he or she gave a third prediction

15. Actual Performance Group NameAge1 st Prediction 1 st Run2 nd Prediction 2 nd Run Joseph11 years15 seconds9 seconds Grace9 years45 seconds14 seconds20 seconds15 seconds Ryan9 years10 seconds James16 years13 seconds9 seconds7 seconds8 seconds

16. Actual Performance

17. Vicarious Experience Group NameAgeAge 1 st PredictionRevised prediction 1 st Run3 rd Prediction 2 nd Run Mariella620 sec.12 sec.11 sec.12 sec. Will615 sec.10 sec.12 sec. 11 sec. Michaela720 sec.12 sec. Kieran920 sec.12 sec.11 sec. Beth810 sec. 13 sec.12 sec.

18. Vicarious Experience

19. Verbal Persuasion (Positive) Group NameAgeAge 1 st PredictionRevised Prediction 1 st Run3 rd Prediction2 nd Run Lochlan760 sec.40 sec.11 sec.10 sec.12 sec. Martin613 sec.10 sec.13 sec.1o sec.13 sec. Erin1211 sec.9 sec. Claire1712 sec.10 sec.8 sec.9 sec.

20. Verbal Persuasion-Positive

21. Verbal Persuasion (Negative) Group NameAgeAge 1 st PredictionRevised Prediction 1 st Run3 rd Prediction 2 nd Run Rose Mary 710 sec.13 sec.10 sec. 11 sec. Rachel1010 sec. 11 sec. Brandon1110 sec. 9 sec. Jeff128 sec. 9 sec.

22. Verbal Persuasion-Negative

23. Which has the most Influence? 1 st Prediction 2 nd PredictionDifference Actual Performance 21 seconds12 seconds9 seconds Vicarious Experience 17 seconds11 seconds6 seconds Verbal Persuasion- Positive 24 seconds17 seconds7 seconds Verbal Persuasion- Negative 10 seconds 0 seconds

24. Comparing 1 st Runs Influences of Self- Efficacy 1 st Runs Actual Performance11 seconds Vicarious Experience12 seconds Verbal Persuasion- Positive10 seconds Verbal Persuasion- Negative10 seconds

25. Our Conclusion: Bandura was Right! Told ya so !

26. Our Conclusion Through our testing we found our hypothesis to be INCORRECT: Like Bandura, our test results proved actual performance to be the most influential source of self- efficacy appraisal Negative and positive verbal persuasion had the same effect on the child’s running time Vicarious experience was the 3 rd most influential source of self-efficacy appraisal.

27. Not have parents present Do it in a even more controlled setting Focus more on gender and age Make sure that the kids are not sharing scores between groups Include “Physiological Cues”

28. Further Questions How does age affect the child’s self- efficacy appraisals? Does gender matter when using different sources of self-efficacy appraisal?

29. Piaget Bandura Nurture Locke Nature Rousseau It’s appealing to imagine children making their own discoveries and creating their own ideas. In reality, however, children’s minds are structured by the environment, by the models and the social training practices the environment provides (Bandura, 1977)

30. Thank you for your time! Hope you have a Happy Easter!