Self-Efficacy,+Self-Regulation+&+Reciprocal+Causation

This lesson is based off of the following information. The major topics listed below are Albert Bandura (influential contributor), Self-efficacy, Self-regulation, and Reciprocal Causation.

__ALBERT BANDURA __

__Personal History __ Albert Bandura was born on December 4th 1925 in Canada. He is Professor of Social Science in Psychology and Stanford University. His major contributions have been to social cognitive theory, therapy and personality psychology, as well as social learning theory and self-efficacy. He was the first to prove that self-efficacy, a belief in one's capabilities, affects the tasks one chooses, how much effort is put into them and how one feels while doing them. Bandura also found that people learn not only as a result of their own beliefs and expectations but also by "modeling" or observing others, an idea that led to the development of modern social cognition theory (Stanford University, 2007) He also was involved in the transition between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. He is the pioneer of the self-regulated learning field and has published many papers on the subject. His major research has been completed on social learning theory, aggression, social cognitive theory, moral agency, and self-efficacy.

__Bandura and his awards: __

Bandura is the fourth most-frequently cited psychologist and has won 16 honorary degrees, as well as the Grawemeyer award, Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions from the APA, the Thorndike Award for Distinguished Contribution of Psychology to Education from the APA and the Lifetime Achievement Award. He has won the Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award, and lastly the Cattell Award.

__**SELF EFFICACY **__
 * Definition:** Belief that one is capable of executing certain behaviors or achieving certain goal

__What it affects: __

Self-efficacy affects behavioral choices, motivation, thought patterns, responses, heath choices/behaviors, and academic productivity

People tend to choose to complete tasks that they are confident in doing and choice not to partake in tasks that are new to them or they are not confident in. We also tend to overestimate and underestimate our abilities; which can lead to increasing or decreasing our self-efficacy. When an individual is confident in a task that they do not have the ability to complete it becomes a bad experience; when an individual is not confident in a task and therefore does not attempt it, growth and development are thereby discouraged. The best level of self-efficacy, supported by research, is when an individual’s self-efficacy is slightly above their ability to complete the task. This means that people would be encouraged to complete a new task that is challenging and they gain experience throughout the process.

High self-efficacy = high motivation Low self-efficacy = low motivation  However, when a person has low self-efficacy they are more likely to research unfamiliar material and prepare themselves, when a high self-efficacy individual does not prepare well.


 * Low self-efficacy can lead people to believe tasks to be harder than they actually are. This often results in poor task planning, as well as increased stress.
 * People become erratic and unpredictable when engaging in a task in which they have low self-efficacy.
 * People with high self-efficacy tend to take a wider view of a task in order to determine the best plan.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Obstacles often stimulate people with high self-efficacy to greater efforts, where someone with low self-efficacy will tend toward discouragement and giving up.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A person with high self-efficacy will attribute failure to external factors, where a person with low self-efficacy will blame low ability. For example, someone with high self-efficacy in regards to mathematics may attribute a poor test grade to a harder-than-usual test, illness, lack of effort, or insufficient preparation. A person with a low self-efficacy will attribute the result to poor mathematical ability.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Self-efficacy is related to goal setting. The higher the self-efficacy the higher the goal will most likely be because the individual has more motivation and confidence that they can reach that goal. This related to health behaviors and making lifestyle choices regarding health such as quitting smoking, or starting a diet.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Most importantly and relevant to us as teachers, self-efficacy affects academic productivity. High self-efficacy individuals take control of their learning and display higher motivation then those with low self-efficacy. Individuals with low self-efficacy shy away from interaction and new academic material.

__<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What it is affected by: __

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Experience, modeling, social persuasion, and physiological factors are the four factors that Bandura has identified (Betz, 2004)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The **experience** of mastery is the most important factor determining a person's self-efficacy. Success raises self-efficacy, while failure lowers it.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Modeling** is experienced as, "If they can do it, I can do it as well." When we see someone succeeding, our own self-efficacy increases; where we see people failing, our self-efficacy decreases. This is what should be applied in the classroom to raise student self-efficacy and motivation. When they see their peers succeeding then they feel better about their own efforts.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Social persuasion** generally manifests as direct encouragement or discouragement from another person. Discouragement is generally more effective at decreasing a person's self-efficacy than encouragement is at increasing it. This is particularly relevant to student’s peer to peer interactions. They should be positive and encouraging.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In stressful situations, people commonly exhibit signs of distress: shakes, aches and pains, fatigue, fear, nausea, etc. These responses can alter self-efficacy. Some of these signs will be interpreted by someone with low self-efficacy as a sign of inability, thereby decreasing self-efficacy further. High self-efficacy would lead to interpreting such **physiological signs** as normal and unrelated to ability. What an individual believes these signs mean affect self-efficacy, not the actual physiological factor.

__** Video about Self-Efficacy **__ media type="custom" key="24153228" align="left"

__** SELF REGULATION **__
 * Definition**** : ** Process of setting goals for oneself and engaging in behaviors and cognitive processes that lead to goal attainment

Consistently using self-control skills in new situations. It is the product of interactions among the three components of the triadic model. Self-regulating individuals set their own performance standards, evaluate the quality of their performance, and reinforce themselves. Self-regulation is not to be confused with obedience or compliance; when children are truly self-regulated they behave the same way whether or not an adult is watching. According to Bandura (1991) self-regulation involves various other processes such as:


 * 1) Self-monitoring
 * 2) Standard setting
 * 3) Evaluative judgment
 * 4) Self-appraisal
 * 5) Self-reaction

Example – a teacher who modifies a particular day’s lesson plan to capitalize on students’ interest in a major new story or compares her students and her own performance against an internal standard. ** Self-regulation occurs in three phases: ** These phases can be broken down into the descriptions as follows:
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 20pt; text-align: center;">Forethought Phase || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 20pt; text-align: center;">Performance Phase || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 20pt; text-align: center;">Self-reflection Phase ||
 * **Task analysis** – includes the self-regulatory process of goal setting and strategic planning. || **Self – control** – includes attention focusing, self-instruction, and tactics.


 * Example of attention focusing: involves ignoring distractions, executing a task at a slower than normal pace, and not thinking about prior mistakes or failed efforts. || **Self-judgment** – includes evaluating one’s behavior, attributing outcomes to effort, ability, task difficulty, and luck.


 * Example of engaging in self-evaluation whenever we label our performance as good or bad, acceptable or unacceptable, satisfactory or unsatisfactory – students can compare their performance against their own, can use a normative standard, and can use a collaborative standard. ||
 * **Self-motivational beliefs** – includes self-efficacy for self-regulated learning, consequences of goal achievement, intrinsic interest in task, learning-oriented vs. performance-oriented goals, and epistemological beliefs.


 * Example – to accomplish the long-term goal of achieving a grade of A in physics, a self-regulating student will set sub-goals that pertain to number of hours spent per week studying, working sample problems, doing homework, and seeking help when problems arise. || **Self-observation** – includes recording one’s behavior, trying out different forms of behavior.

__** RECIPROCAL CAUSATION **__
 * Example of self-recording: putting off homework or studying for an exam in favor of socializing with friends || **Self – reaction** – includes self-reinforcement, drawing inferences about need to improve self-regulation skills. ||
 * Definition:** Interdependent of environmental, behavioral, and personal variables in influencing learning and developing

Albert Bandura created the Triadic reciprocal Causation Model and is the driving force behind social cognitive theory. He explains how learning results from interactions among three factors: (1) personal characteristics, (2) Behavioral patterns, (3) Social environment.




 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">__P__ersonal Characteristics **  ||   **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">__B__ehavior Patterns **   ||   **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Social __E__nvironment **   ||
 * Mental and Emotional ||  Self – Observation  ||  Refer to a person’s social and physical environment.  ||
 * Goals and Anxiety ||  Using personal journal to note how various factors influence learning, motivation, and self-efficacy  ||  The nature of a task  ||
 * Metacognitive Knowledge ||  Self – Evaluation  ||  Reinforcing and punishing consequences  ||
 * Understanding how one’s own cognitive processes affect learning ||  Making changes in behavior to overcome or reduce perceptions of low self-efficacy, anxiety, and ineffective learning strategies  ||  Explanations and modeling of various skills by others  ||
 * Self-Efficacy ||  Creating productive study environments  ||  Verbal persuasion from others to exhibit particular behaviors  ||
 * Beliefs about one’s ability to successfully carry out particular tasks ||   ||   ||

Sources: <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">[]

Betz, Nancy. (2004). Contributions of self-efficacy theory to career counseling: A personal perspective. //The Career Development Quarterly, 52,// 340- 353

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. //Psychological Review, 84,// 191-215.

Bandura, A. (1997). //Self-efficacy: The exercise of control.// New York: Freeman.

Snowman, Jack, R. R. McCown, and Robert F. Biehler. //Psychology Applied to Teaching//. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2009. Print.

Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. //Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 50,// 248-287.

__ http://www.toolsofthemind.org/philosophy/self-regulation/ __ Ormrod, J. E. (2008). Educational Psychology: Developing Learners (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Page Created By: Keli Veillette 2013