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Social Cognitive Theory

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Social Cognitive Theory
Brynn Hill
Liberty University
EDUC 205-B02

Abstract
This paper discusses the development of the Social Cognitive Theory and how it can be applied to education. When applied, this theory can help students stay motivated and focused in class. It can also help gifted learners reach their full potential in a diverse classroom.

The Social Cognitive Theory was developed by Albert Bandura in the 1960s. This theory “stresses the idea that much human learning occurs in a social environment.” (Schunk 2012). For instance, if a basketball player wants to be able to improve his free-throw shot, he could do this by observing a coach, or other basketball expert, and imitate his or her free-throw shot. Initially, these principles were applied to social skills, but now can be “applied to the learning of cognitive, motor, social, and self-regulations skills.” (Schunk 2012). Through time, this theory was able to help give teachers the strategies to motivate and help their students reach their full potential.
There are three basic conjectures when it comes to learning and behavior in this theory. The first is the idea of triadic reciprocality. This is the idea “that personal, behavioral, and environmental factors influence one another in a bidirectional, reciprocal fashion.” (Benzon, Denler & Wolters 2014). This means that a personals cognitive perspective is influenced by three different factors: behavioral, contextual and cognitive. The second conjecture is that “people have an agency or ability to influence their own behavior and the environments in a purposeful, goal-directed fashion.” (Benzon, Denler & Wolters 2014).This conflicts with behaviorism in that people have the ability to change the outcome of their environment, rather than the environment being the only influence on behavior. The third conjecture is that learning and

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