Social Cognitive Post 1

     Social Cognitive theory claims that learning can happen by observing others. The three main components of this observational learning are the model, the imitator, and the environment. The model has to display high levels of competence in what they are modeling, high relevance to the individual observing the behavior, have a high status, and it helps if the model is the same gender as the imitator. Ideal imitators must have interest in what they are observing, high self-efficacy or belief that they can do well at something, and motivation to learn what they are observing. For an effective learning environment it has to be easily accessible and conducive to learning (not many distractions).
     One of the most confusing aspects about this theory is the environment component. I understand that environment factors can affect how well a person learns, but the book does not mention anything about how an environment can be distracting.
     According to the Social Cognitive theory learning happens when an imitator observes a model doing a behavior and then produces the behavior him or herself although producing the behavior is not required for learning to occur. This means that learning can occur through vicarious punishment or reinforcement. If a student sees a peer being punished for speaking out of turn then he or she will understand that it is not an acceptable behavior and not perform it themselves. However if a student sees a peer getting away with something they know is unacceptable they may think they can get away with it as well.
    People can learn through the various actions of the people. Children especially can learn from how their teachers and parents model proper behavior. Society can learn from groups with a cause because they are trying to educate people on why they believe in that cause to begin with. When protests go poorly other groups can learn about what they did wrong and try to adapt their own strategies accordingly.