PSYC 2020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 37: Lebron James, Social Cognitive Theory, Albert Bandura
PSYC 2020 Lecture 37 Notes
Introduction
Sheer mimicry
• Children do not mechanically copy what they see and hear
• They’re also ore likely to iitate he the ehaior they see is rearded tha he it
is punished.
• Findings like these imply that imitation is more complex than sheer mimicry.
• Instead, they look to others for information about appropriate behavior.
• When popular, smart peers are reinforced for behaving in a particular way, it makes
sense to imitate them.
• Albert Bandura (1925–) based his social cognitive theory on this more complex view of
reward, punishment, and imitation.
• Badura alls his theory ogitie eause he eliees that hildre are atiely tryig
to understand what goes on in their world
• The theory is soial eause, alog ith reiforeet ad puishet, hat other
people do is an important source of information about the world (Bandura, 2000, 2006).
• Bandura also argues that experience gives children a sense of self-efficacy, beliefs about
their own abilities and talents.
• Self-efficacy beliefs help determine when children will imitate others.
• A child who sees himself as athletically untalented, for example, will not try to imitate
LeBron James dunking a basketball, despite the fact that LeBron is obviously talented
and popular.
• But the yougster i the photo is likely to iitate LeBro, eause he eliees he’s
talented and thus it makes sense to try to imitate LeBron.
• Thus, whether children imitate others depends on who the other person is, whether
that perso’s ehaior is rearded, ad the hildre’s eliefs aout their o talets.
• Badura’s soial ogitie theory is a far ry fro “kier’s operat oditioig.
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