HPS307 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Panic Attack, Observational Learning, Descriptive Knowledge
Topic 8/9 ~ Social Cognitive Approach
Part 1 (8)
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View of Science and the person
- The social cognitive approach view of the person has 3 essential features
- 1. People reason about the world using language
- 2. People plan and think about the future
- 3. People can reflect and think about themselves
- People are active and both influence and are influenced by the environment
- People are problem-solvers: make plans, react to events
- The social cognitive approach draws upon findings from many areas
- The theory is built upon empirical evidence both correlational and experimental work
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Structure
- All cognitive schemas that work in an integrated way
1. Competencies & Skills
- Differences between individuals arise not just because of motivations or emotions, but also
from differences in competencies and skills
- A person’s competencies and skills can influence the type of behaviour they engage in
- Ex. Tasks they pursue and are interested in
- Ex. Introverted behaviour: could arise from personal perceived lack of social skills, or could
arise from a lack of desire to socialise
- Text distinguishes between 2 types of knowledge that underlie our competencies:
- Procedural knowledge: unconscious knowledge, the presence of which can be inferred,
however it’s content cannot be verbalised. Ex. Keyboard typing skills, understanding others
emotions, knowing that larger pupils mean increased interest
- Declarative knowledge: knowledge we have that can be verbalised. Ex. How do you do
your job at work?
Social-cognitive theory treats competencies as being context-specific:
- As a consequence, a person may be competent in one are but incompetent in another ex.
Parenting or sales/marketing
- General competence is not a useful construct in the context of social-cognitive theory:
different to trait approaches
- Suggests that competencies are changeable: can be taught skills/strategies to develop
change
2. Beliefs and Expectancies
- Beliefs are what you think they are
- Thoughts about what things are like: ex. I am a good parent, Shaun is a good egg
- Beliefs direct to the future are expectancies: ex. If I work hard I will get a good grade
- Other beliefs are about what things should be like and about things we want to achieve in
the future
- These are evaluative standards and goals (covered later)
Our beliefs affect the way we process things and the way we behave
- Ex. If we believe hard work will produce a desired outcome we may not engage in this
- If not we may engage in some other behaviour to achieve a desired outcome
Document Summary
View of science and the person: people reason about the world using language, people plan and think about the future, people can reflect and think about themselves. The social cognitive approach view of the person has 3 essential features. People are active and both influence and are influenced by the environment. People are problem-solvers: make plans, react to events. The social cognitive approach draws upon findings from many areas. The theory is built upon empirical evidence both correlational and experimental work. All cognitive schemas that work in an integrated way: competencies & skills. Differences between individuals arise not just because of motivations or emotions, but also from differences in competencies and skills. A person"s competencies and skills can influence the type of behaviour they engage in. Introverted behaviour: could arise from personal perceived lack of social skills, or could arise from a lack of desire to socialise. Text distinguishes between 2 types of knowledge that underlie our competencies:
