Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory

by Albert Bandura

Presents a comprehensive theory of human motivation and action from a social-cognitive perspective. This insightful text addresses the prominent roles played by cognitive, vicarious, self-regulatory, and self-reflective processes in psychosocial functioning; emphasizes reciprocal causation through the interplay of cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors; and systematically applies the basic principles of this theory to personal and social change.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Sociology, Philosophy, Social Science

640 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1985

About the author

Albert Bandura OC is a psychologist who is the David Starr Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University. For almost six decades, he has been responsible for contributions to the field of education and to many fields of psychology, including social cognitive theory, therapy, and personality psychology, and was also influential in the transition between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. He is known as the originator of social learning theory (renamed the social cognitive theory) and the theoretical construct of self-efficacy, and is also responsible for the influential 1961 Bobo doll experiment.

Social cognitive theory is how people learn through observing others. An example of social cognitive theory would be the students imitating the teacher. Self-efficacy is "the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations." To paraphrase, self-efficacy is believing in yourself to take action. The Bobo Doll Experiment was how Albert Bandura studied aggression and non-aggression in children.

A 2002 survey ranked Bandura as the fourth most-frequently cited psychologist of all time, behind B. F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, and Jean Piaget, and as the most cited living one. Bandura is widely described as the greatest living psychologist, and as one of the most influential psychologists of all time.

In 1974 Bandura was elected to be the Eighty-Second President of the American Psychological Association (APA). He was one of the youngest president-elects in the history of the APA at the age of 48. Bandura served as a member of the APA Board of Scientific Affairs from 1968 to 1970 and is well known as a member of the editorial board of nine psychology journals including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology from 1963 to 1972. At the age of 82, Bandura was awarded the Grawemeyer Award for psychology.

Reviews

[Laurel Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Albert Bandura brings a broad, inclusive examination of the psychological and social foundations that analysis human motivation, thought and action from a social cognitive perspective. Social cognitive theory embraces and interactional model of causation in which psychological, environmental, and behavior interact as determinants of each other. Reciprocal causation provides provides opportunities for some control over our destiny as well as set limits of self direction. Bandura broadens the scope of inquiry by which mechanisms transform knowledge into action.

people gain knowledge on the mechanisms that provide capacity for self direction. Self regulations of motivation and action partly through internal standards and evaluative reactions to ones own performance. The capacity of forethought adds another dimension to self regulation. Behavior is goal directed projected into the future.

Human functioning is explained using a model of triadic reciprocity in which behavior, cognitive and other personal factors , and environmental events all operate as interacting determinants of each other. Bandura identifies the basic capabilities and describe them in detail.
Symbolizing capability, forethought capability, vicarious capability (observation) self regulatory capability. Most patterns of human behavior are organized by individual experience and in neural codes rather than ready made inborn programing or traits.