Social Cognitive Theory

Modeling Modeling is not merely a process of behavioral mimicry. Highly functional patterns of behavior, which constitute the proven skills and established customs of a culture, may be adopted in essentially the same form as they are exemplified. There is little leeway for 25 improvisation on how to drive automobiles or to perform arithmetic operations. However, in many activities, subskills must be improvised to suit varying circumstances. Modeling influences can convey rules for generative and innovative behavior as well. This higher-level learning is achieved through abstract modeling. Rule-governed behavior differs in specific content and other details but it contains the same underlying rule. For example, the modeled statements, "The dog is being petted," and "the window was opened" refer to different things but the linguistic rule-the passive form--is the same. In abstract modeling, observers extract the rule embodied in the specific behavior exhibited by others. Once they learn the rule, they can use it to generate new instances of behavior that go beyond what they have seen or heard. Much human learning is aimed at developing cognitive skills on how to gain and use knowledge for future use. Observational learning of thinking skills is greatly facilitated by modeling thought processes in conjunction with action strategies (Meichenbaum, 1984). Models verbalize their thought strategies as they engage in problem-solving activities. The ordinarily covert thoughts guiding the actions of the models are thus made observable and learnable by others. Modeling has been shown to be a highly effective means of establishing abstract or rulegoverned behavior. On the basis of modeled information, people acquire, among other things, judgmental standards, linguistic rules, styles of inquiry, information-processing skills, and standards of self-evaluation (Bandura, 1986; Rosenthal & Zimmerman, 1978). Evidence that generative rules of thought and conduct can be created through abstract modeling attests to the broad scope of observational learning. Development of Modeling Capabilities Because observational learning involves several subfunctions that evolve with maturation and experiences, it depends upon prior development. When analyzed in terms of its constituent 26 subfunctions, facility in observational learning is not primarily a matter of learning to imitate. Nor is it a discrete skill. Rather, developing adeptness in observational learning involves acquiring multiple subskills in selective attention, cognitive representation, symbolic transformation, and anticipatory motivation. Neonates possess greater modeling capabilities than is commonly believed. By several months of age, infants can and do model behavior with some consistency (Kaye, 1982; Meltzoff & Moore, 1983; Valentine, 1930). The development of proficiency in observational learning is grounded in social reciprocation. Infants possess sufficient rudimentary representational capacities and sensorimotor coordination to enable them to imitate elementary sounds and acts within their physical capabilities. Parents readily imitate a newborn's gestures and vocalizations from the very beginning, often in expressive ways that have been shown to facilitate modeling (Papousek & Papousek, 1977; Pawlby, 1977). The newborn, whose means of communication and social influence are severely limited, learns that reciprocal imitation is an effective way of eliciting and sustaining parental responsiveness. Uzgiris (1984) has given considerable attention to the social function of imitation in infancy. Mutual imitation serves as a means of conveying interest and sharing experiences. Initially, parents tend to model acts that infants spontaneously perform. After the reciprocal imitation is established, parents are quick to initiate new response patterns for imitative sequences that help to expand their infant's competencies (Pawlby, 1977). Successful modeling of these more complicated patterns of behavior require development of the major subfunctions that govern observational learning. It is to the developmental course of these subfunctions that we turn next. 27 Attentional Processes Young children present certain attentional deficiencies that limit their proficiency in observational learning. They have difficulty attending to different sorts of information at the same time, distinguishing pertinent aspects from irrelevancies, and maintaining attention to ongoing events long enough to acquire sufficient information about them (Cohen & Salapatek, 1975; Hagen & Hale, 1973). They are easily distracted. With increasing experience, children's attentional skills improve in all these respects. In promoting observational learning, adults alter the behavior they model to compensate for the attentional limitations of children. With infants, parents gain their attention and give salience to the behavior they want to encourage by selectively imitating them. Parents tend to perform the reciprocated imitations in an exaggerated animated fashion that is well designed to sustain the child's attentiveness at a high level during the mutual modeling sequences (Papousek & Papousek, 1977). The animated social interplay provides a vehicle for channeling and expanding infants' attention in activities that go beyond those they have already mastered. The attention-arousing value of the modeled acts, themselves, also influences what infants are likely to adopt. Infants are more attentive to, and imitate more often, modeled acts when they involve objects and sound accompaniments than when they are modeled silently and without objects to draw attention (Abravanel et al., 1976; Uzgiris, 1979). The more attention infants pay to the modeled activities, the more likely they are to adopt them. As infants attentional capabilities increase, parents exhibit developmentally progressive activities for them to model. 28 Representational Processes In developing representational memory skills, children have to learn how to transform modeled information into symbolic forms and to organize it into easily remembered structures. They also have to learn how to use timely rehearsal to facilitate the retention of activities that are vulnerable to memory loss. It takes time for children to learn that they can improve their future performances by symbolizing and rehearsing their immediate experiences. In the earliest period of development, experiences are probably retained mainly in imaginal modes of representation. Infants will model single acts, but they have difficulty reproducing coordinated sequences that require them to remember how several actions are strung together (McCall, Parke, & Kavanaugh, 1977). They often start the sequence right and simply forget what comes next. With experience, they become more skilled at delayed modeling. Indeed, infants even as young as 18 months will enact behavior learned from televised models after some time has elapsed. Delayed performances of this type require symbolic memory. As children begin to acquire language they can symbolize the essential aspects of events in words for memory representation. It is not until children acquire some cognitive and linguistic skills that they can extract rules from modeled performances and make effective use of the more complex linguistic transformations (Rosenthal & Zimmerman, 1978). Children can improve their memory by instruction to anticipate, verbally code, and rehearse what they observe (Brown & Barclay, 1976). The vicarious memorial subskills can also be acquired through modeling. By observing the memory feats of others, children learn what information is worth coding, how events should be categorized, and more general strategies for processing information (Lamal, 1971; Rosenthal & Zimmerman, 1978). 29 Production Processes Converting conceptions to appropriate actions requires development of transformational skills in intermodal guidance of behavior. Information in the symbolic mode must be translated into corresponding action modes. This involves learning how to organize action sequences, to monitor and compare behavioral enactments against the symbolic model, and to correct evident mismatches (Carroll & Bandura, 1985; 1987). When children must depend on what others tell them, because they cannot observe fully all of their own actions, detecting and correcting mismatches requires linguistic competencies. Deficiencies in any of these production subskills can create a developmental lag between comprehending and performing. Motivational Processes Motivational factors that influence the use to which modeled knowledge is put undergo significant developmental changes. During infancy, imitation functions mainly to secure interpersonal responsiveness. Through mutual modeling with adults, infants enjoy playful intimacy and gain experience in social reciprocation. Before long parents cease mimicking their infant's actions, but they remain responsive to instances of infants adopting modeled patterns that expand their competencies. What continues to serve a social function for young infants changes into an instructional vehicle for parents. This transition requires infants to cognize, on the basis of observed regularities, the social effects their different imitations are likely to produce. To help infants to learn the functional value of modeling the parents make the outcomes salient, recurrent, consistent, and closely tied to the infant's actions (Papousek & Papousek, 1977). With increasing cognitive development, children become more skilled at judging probable outcomes of their actions. Such outcome expectations serve as incentives for observational learning. 30 What has incentive value for children also changes with experience. At the earliest level, infants and young children are motivated primarily by the immediate sensory and social effects of their actions. In the course of development, symbolic incentives signifying achievements, the exercise of mas