What concepts from social learning theory are at work behind the following scenarios?
1. Jun sees a guy about his age in a TV advertisement buying flowers for a girlfriend. The ad also shows the woman hug the man when he gives her the flowers. A day later, Jun buys a dozen roses for the girl he is courting.
Provide a complete explanation for Jun’s behavior, based on social cognitive theory.
Answer: In this example, Jun displayed vicarious learning. Jun based his behavior from the guy in the TV advertisement (Attention). The age and gender are factors that affected the probability on engaging with the behavior. A positive reinforcement (hugging) gave Jun an idea that this behavior (buying flowers) will highly likely to produce an intended result, which is a hug or approval from the girl he is courting.
2. You are driving 65 on Commonwealth Ave, which has been marked speed limit of 60. You see a car that has been pulled over for an apparent traffic violation. You immediately apply the brakes and slow your own vehicle.
Identify two concepts from social cognitive theory that are illustrated in this instance. Explain.
Answer: This example demonstrated learning by following the behavior modeled by someone with whom one can identify and learning by observing others and being motivated because of punishment or consequence of an action. In this situation, the driver is not sure if the other car is pulled due to a traffic violation but his attention was caught because the one being stopped was a driver as well. Here commonality is evident. The driver noticed as well that the car was stopped. This is a form of reinforcement. He is not sure if the driver will be punished but in order not to be caught also he slowed down.
3. Greg concludes, “I seem to have a feel for French,” as he begins his homework. His teacher often compliments him on the high quality of his written work, and his effort has continually increased.
Explain why.
Answer: Greg has an increased self-efficacy because of he receives positive feedback (reinforcement) from his teacher. As a result, he continuously exert effort in his homework in French and he feels positively motivated to do it.
4. Teachers who model persistence in problem-solving tasks have students who persist longer than teachers who don’t (Zimmerman & Blotner, 1979).
What form of modeling occurs in such situations? Which modeling function is best illustrated by the students’ increased persistence? Explain.
Answer: In this situation, a live model (teacher) is present. She acts as an authority and demonstrate a behavior (peristence in problem-solving) that increases likeness to model the skill. In this example, the teacher is regarded as a superior source of knowledge and skill. In turn, student will model the behavior because he/she views the teacher as someone in authority.
5. One group of students watched teachers successfully solve problems, a second group watched peers do the same, and a third saw no models.
Which group successfully solved the most problems, and which solved the fewest? Explain.
Answer: In this example, the group of students who observed the teacher will most likely solve more problems and the one who does not have any model to follow will solve the least. The teacher, as an authority and source of knowledge will be able to solve most problems and in turn, the student who observed the teachers will have greater chance of solving them. The one without models to follow will least likely solve problems as they do not have source of knowledge.
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