Social-Cognitive

TheoryPrepared by Gary P. Arsenia

Social-Cognitive Theory• Is a combination of behavioral and cognitive

perspectives into a personality that stresses the interaction of thinking human with the social environment that provides learning experiences.

• its perspective is focused on both internal and external factors that led to the idea of reciprocal determinism – the Person, the persons behavior and the environment.

• Albert Bandura – claims that humans are cognitive beings who possess active processing of information. And such activity plays a major role in learning, behavior, and development.

• Humans are capable of making connections between their behavior and its consequences, then anticipate the consequences that are likely to follow after the performance of an action.

• Bandura theory was about the motivating and self-regulating role of cognition in human behavior.

• Skinners theory it is posited that learning appears as a gradual process in which we must act in order to learn.

• Modeling – refers to the observation and learning of new behaviors from others. By simply observing how others perform the behavior, we are able to imitate what we have observed.

In order to make observation a useful cognitive function, we should benefit from it. In fact, observation produces some benifits:- First, it provides us with mental representations that serve as guide before we perform the behavior. An internal cognitive variable makes the actual performance possible.- Second, it provides us with what to do and what not to do.

We anticipate possible consequences based on what we have observed from our models. Practically, we do not imitate those who become unsucessful in performance of a behavior.- Third, with use of cognitive representations,

we carefully organize things and create mental pictures of ourselves. It is indeed an advantage to be creative.

- Fourth, we learn from our personal and vicarious experiences.

Personal experiences are those activities in which we have actually engaged ourselves over period of time. From this activities, we learn to acquire new skills and knowledge. We also learn from vicarious experiences – those that we do not actually experience, but other people have provided them for us.

Observational Learning –Watching the behavior of others

(Models).

Processes of Observational Behavior

- Attention,We pay close attention to what we would

like to imitate. Models catch our attention because of their distinctive characteristics which may include competence, intelligibility, prestige, charisma,or power.

Retention –For regular observation of models where

we pay close attention to, we create cognitive symbols to retain information. We also create associations of related actions through which we remember verbal symbols.

Motor Reproduction – This process involves the actual

performance of an observed behavior. We produce what we have organized in our mind. To do this, we need to develop motor skills in the production of responces.

Reinforcement and Motivation-We do not perform all the actions that we

have observed.

Attention and retention are cognitive in nature. Motor reproduction and reinforcement and Motivation called for metacognitive tasks.

It only shows that observational learning starts from the simpliest process and moves to the most complicated task that require thinking about what we do and how to do it.

Important Descriptions of Modeling

Attention

- Use expressive gesture and body movements.- Use a Juxtaposed form of modeling.- Divide the skills to be learned into workable

segments- Highlight those that are important.- Repeat the modeled behavior and provide time

for practice.

Retention- Connect the modeled behavior to the old or

familiar activity.- Use Verbal descriptions to that label essential

action.- Instruct students to utilize physical and cognitive

rehearsal.

Production

- Provide the necessary feedback while monitoring the progress of modeled behavior.

- Employ corrective or contructive feedback.

Reinforcement and Motivation

- At the outset tell the students the importance of adopting a modeled behavior.

- Use direct and vicarious reinforcement to strenghten the performance of modeled behavior.

Social Constructivism

• For Lev Semeonovich Vygotsky (Russian Jew and psychologist) Cognitive deveopment is a social process. Cognitive development is shaped by the sociocultural contexts in which it occurs. Cognitive development grows from our own interactions with the other members of our culture.

Vgotsky believe that complex forms of thinking have their origins in social interactions.

Scaffolding by Jerome Bruner describes the process of learning a new behavior by which a more competent person (a teacher, a parent, or skilled classmate) leads the child to a step by step procedure in learning a new task.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) – Of Vygotsky, is an area where a child cannot solve a problem alone, but may successfully solve it with appropriate assistance from an adult or skilled peer.

Bandura observational learning is most important mechanism through which human behavior changes.

Vgotsky people do not just learn by simply observing the models. Cognitive learning occurs in sociocultural contexts and evolves out of interactions.

Aptly put, people develop their minds through social interactions, as they become co-constructors of meaning and work together with the problem solving task.

Social constructivism has recognized the following

• Learners can make sense of new experiences by relating them to their own previous experiences. In this way, they can make meaning out of their old experiences and understand them better.

• Memorizing facts and reproducing information on tests are not the paths to develop a deep and flexible understanding of any subject. Mere memorization does not lead to better understanding of the material to be learned.

• Learning is something that the learner does, not something that is done to the learner.

• It is true that learning is what students experience and not what we do to them.

• Learning is what they do with the information and not what we require them to do.

• Effective teaching involves continual probing of the nature of student understanding.

• Knowing their strengths and weaknesses will give us a better insight into their ways of thinking and ways of doing things.

• Deeper understanding includes gaining insights into the connections between disciplines and knowledge they use in understanding them.

• Superficial and encapsulated learning is the result of teaching and curricula that emphasize the coverage of content. It means that the lessons provided in the classroom should be meaningful because learning is a continuous process.

• Should be made authentic in such a way that each lesson is connected to the next lesson and the next lesson to another,

• Discussion must connected to the real world.

• Reflective practice is vital part of effective teaching.

• It means that teachers provide activities that promote student learning.

There are 3 basic premises that undergird the constructivist

instructionalapproach.

• Knowledge and understanding are activately acquired.

• Knowledge and understanding are socially constructed in dialouge with others.

• Knowledge and understanding are created and recreated.

Components of Constructivism

Contructivism is a theory that describes how we learn to construct our experiences through interactions in the environment.

The important components in constructivism

• Discovery learning is an approach to learning that accounts for our active involvement.

• Inquiry learning is associated with john dewey s scientific principle learning.

• Cooperative learning encourage total cooperation and partcipation.

- There must be mixed ability grouping.- Clear guidelines and goals should be

properly communication.- Individual task should task should be

delegated to encourage the spirit of interdependent.

- The amount of time needed to finish the task should be should be made clear.- There must be assessment that evaluates the performance of each member in the group.

• Individualized learning is designed to meet the individual needs of students.

• Learning with technology is also known as computer –aided instruction.

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