Applying the Social Cognitive Theory of Albert Bandura

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Annie, a fifth-grade student in Mr. Keller's class, is being quiet and sullen for the fifth day in a row. "I just can't do this writing stuff," she finally says in an appeal to Mr. Keller. "I'm not a good student. Give me P.E. or art over this stuff any day!" If we apply Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory in her comment "I just can't do this writing stuff" how does Bandura's theory help us to understand Annie? According, the Social Cognitive Theory of Albert Bandura which combines both behavioral and cognitive philosophies to form his theory of modeling, or observational learning states that human personality is an interaction between the environment and a person's psychological processes. With this interaction humans are able to control their behavior through a process known as self-regulation (Woolfolk, 2013, p. 400). He also assures that some factors like environment and personal experiences can encourage behaviors such as Annie, why? Because, in her case, it seems that Annie’s school achievement and personal interest in writing are not interacting; in addition, Annie may lack of motivation and reinforcement in her life that can be the cause of her frustration in writing. Consequently, she prefers school subjects like PE or art that she thinks, she will be successful. Woolfolk (2013) says that humans “may acquire a new skill or behavior through observation, but we may not perform that behavior until there is some motivation or incentive to do so” (p. 402). Therefore, the lack of motivation, feedback, modeling, and effort can be a few reasons why Annie seems to discourage about her writing skills.

However, what might be the sources of Annie's low self-efficacy beliefs related to her writing beliefs? Bandura “suggests t...

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...eate in Annie the self-discipline that she needs, how? I will work with her closely in the academic part, but I need that her parents and family work with her too in their family environment. I will include a realistic feedback about her work done in general and talk about her writing or any other issues. Because feedback is an externally imposed control that works with a person’s self-regulatory capability in order to adjust behavior (p. 412). In addition, in Annie’s case, I will investigate her family relationship, friends, values, and emotional issues. Because, she may be lacking of role models in her family and her social environment and interaction with others can be the factors of Annie deficiency of concentration, motivation, and self-regulation.

Works Cited

Woolfolk, A. (2013). Educational Psychology (12th Ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

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