Social Cognitive Theory - Coursework Example

Teacher Social Cognitive Theory The five capabilities posited by social-cognitive theory are reciprocal determinism, behavioral capability, observational learning, reinforcements and expectations. Reciprocal determinism refers to how a person interacts with the environment and how he or she responds to it. Behavioral capability is the person’s ability to act based on given knowledge and skills and how they learn from the consequences of their own behaviors. Observational learning meant learning by observing how others behave through “modeling” and imitate desirable acts to be their own.

Reinforcements on the other hand is the consequence of a behavior which can either be positive or negative. Finally, expectations refers to the anticipated result of a particular behavior whose value depends on the outcome. Understanding the five capabilities posited by social-cognitive theory will enable organizations to develop strategies to enhance the output of their employees by creating a positive learning environment that encourages growth and performance. The understanding of the social-cognitive theory can be strategically incorporated in the training modules of an organization where it can create a culture of learning and growth that promote, foster and reinforce ideal behavior.

As an example of the five concepts of reciprocal determinism, behavioral capability, observational learning, reinforcements and expectations we can take for example a fresh graduate who just entered a workforce. For reciprocal determinism, this is represented by his or her skillsets learned from college and experience. Another example is a new executive hired by an organization because of his or her extensive past experience in the industry. Their behavioral capability is how they used their given competencies as they relate to their peers to the organization.

For the fresh graduate, the basis would be the theoretical learnings taught in the university while for the executive, will be the experienced gained from previous organizations.Their observational learning however will be different. The fresh graduate would start mimicking behaviors he or she would find be advantageous to her career. He or she would look for role models to pattern his or her behavior. The executive however is different because his or her observational learning will be based on the environment on how to acclimatize and adjust properly to successfully integrate in the organization.

The reinforcements would serve as the indication if behavioral efforts is effective. The organization can be effective in this by providing positive feedback or reward to behaviors that enhances performance. For example, a new employee that prepares before a class during training should be commended. In a classroom setting, students who does well in class must be commended. In both cases, the learning behavior is reinforced to send the message that it is the desired behavior.Finally, learners have expectations on the outcome of their respective behaviors and this would serve as a guide if such behavior will be repeated or discarded.

Using the example of a fresh graduate, the new employee would gauge the efficacy of his act based on anticipated result. For the executive, he or she would adjust behavior depending on the outcome desired that would benefit the organization.