Social cognitive theory: foundations and applications

Social Cognitive Theory

It is always fascinating to read about the development of a psychological theory; the more complex, the more interesting.

And this is precisely what appeals to me about Albert Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory as discussed by Danice Stone. The circumstances leading to the development of this theory makes it obvious that a more complex model was needed to describe human behavior. It appears that all theories up until the development of Bandura's paradigm was somewhat simple in describing human behavior. It appears that there were two main schools of thought: those who believed that behavior was regulated consequently or antecedently.

Bandura's complex views appear to incorporate both. What I also like about his theory is the fact that it does not attempt to categorize human behavior into a limited number of specific classes. Instead he promotes the idea of a variety of human traits and circumstances that interact. His theory is therefore not one of extremes or the application of either one or another model. Indeed, his model includes the entire range of human experience and its effect upon behavior, while at the same time explicating it without being excessively confusing.