Another key point the chapter made was self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the belief an individual holds about his or her ability to succeed in whatever they are doing. High self-efficacy can come from modeling, after they've received positive results from what they're doing. Also, a physiological state can affect self-efficacy. Low self-efficacy correlates to low physical activity and similarly for high self-efficacy and high physical activity. Self-efficacy is an important process because students can use their successes to further positive behavior.
Self regulation is also important because this is essentially how we control our behavior. Self regulation includes the control of our actions, words, thoughts, etc. If we have successful self regulation, we will be able to look at our own behaviors and eventually judge others' behaviors. We learn to self regulate through the social experiences we have in our lives.
Do social cognitive theorists believe in the nurture theory more than the nature theory? How can they justify successful learning and behavior if a child had negative influences?
Social cognitivists believe that learning can occur by simply observing others. The more we watch the actions of others, the more or less we want to imitate them. Our imitations depend on the model's outcome after they participate in the behavior. An implication of this states that learning may constitute a change in behavior if the model was influential.
Other people influence how we learn because they're constantly modeling behaviors for us. If a person is interested in learning a behavior someone else may exhibit, they will model this person until they've successfully participated in the behavior. Also, the people we're modeling are most likely of high status in society, have competence in whatever behavior they're doing, and is relevant to whatever we're looking for. If we don't have any relevance or if it's just an average person, their behaviors may not be modeled as much as an famous actor's. Because of their high status, they can influence what counts as learning.
This is a very good question. I had the same one while I was reading. I believe that nature effects children more than nurture, but I think they are both very influential factors. A child needs the nurture of their parents to help them in life and feel loved. Children who feel like no one loves them don't do as well in school because they feel like no one cares. Nature is the entire environment though. Children need proper learning environments that properly suite their individual needs. Children need to be able to learn in the environment which they are in. Providing students with a proper learning environment in the classroom will better their learning.
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