Deck 17: Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory

Question 1

Rotter's empirical law of effect states that motivation is any condition or event that

A)allows one to escape from a conflict.
B)moves one in the direction of a goal.
C)reduces tension or returns one to a state of homeostasis.
D)enacts laws in a nation ruled by an emperor.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Rotter insisted that an adequate theory of personality must take into consideration the assumption that people

A)are capable of anticipating events.
B)are motivated primarily by drive reduction.
C)are controlled in the same manner as animals.
D)are only motivated by unconscious mental processes.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

List and briefly explain Mischel and Shoda's five cognitive-affective units.

Answer 3

Cognitive-affective units include a variety of psychological, social, and physiological aspects of personality and influence people to interact with their environment with a relatively stable pattern of variation.These units include people's (1) encoding strategies, (2) competencies and self-regulatory strategies, (3) expectancies and beliefs, (4) goals and values, and (5) affective responses.
Encoding strategies refer to people's ways of categorizing information from external stimuli.People process such external stimuli into personal constructs, including their self-concept, their view of other people, and their way of looking at the world.
Competencies refer to people's belief in what they can do in a given situation.Self-regulatory strategies permit people to control their own behavior through self-imposed goals and self-produced consequences.
People's expectancies and beliefs in any situation greatly influence how they will behave.
Self-formulated goals and subjective values help predict behavior in a specific situation.Two people with equal abilities and similar expectancies will behave differently depending on the value they place on success in a particular situation.
Affective responses include emotions, feelings, and physiological reactions.They combine with cognitions to form an interlocking cognitive-affective unit.In addition, they interact with each other to form the core of personality.

Question 4

Discuss Mischel's person-situation interaction, or conditional view of personal dispositions.

Question 5

Rotter stated that when expectancies and situational variables are held constant, behavior is shaped by

A)reinforcement value.
B)freedom of movement.
C)the specific expectancies.
D)all of these.

Question 6

List Rotter's four variables of prediction and briefly define each of them.

Question 7

By his own admission, Rotter was MOST influenced by

A)Freud.
B)Thorndike.
C)Jung.
D)Adler.

Question 8

Which term describes Rotter's approach to personality?

A)interactionist
B)social-learning theory
C)cognitive theory
D)All of these are correct.

Question 9

At the core of Rotter's personality theory is his emphasis on

A)anticipated goals.
B)consistency of behavior.
C)the study of rats rather than pigeons.
D)the role of evolution in shaping personality.

Question 10

In Rotter's theory, the likelihood that a person will behave in a given manner depends basically on his or her

A)expectation of receiving reinforcement.
B)perceived value of the expected reinforcement.
C)neither of these.
D)both of these.

Question 11

According to Rotter, the behavior potential in any situation is a function of

A)expectancy.
B)reinforcement value.
C)both of these.
D)neither of these.

Question 12

Rotter assumed that

A)motivation is directed toward a goal.
B)people are primarily motivated to reduce tension.
C)motivation is from the environment.
D)people are motivated only by internal needs.

Question 13

"The probability held by the individual that a particular reinforcement will occur as a function of a specific behavior on his [or her] part in a specific situation or situations" is Rotter's definition of

A)empirical law of effect.
B)need.
C)reinforcement value.
D)expectancy.
E)behavior potential.

Question 14

When reinforcement value is held constant and expectancy varies, what factor in Rotter's theory can be predicted?

A)reinforcement value
B)expectancy
C)empirical law of effect
D)behavior potential
E)drive strength

Question 15

"The potential for any given behavior to occur in a particular situation or set of situations as calculated in relation to any single reinforcement or set of reinforcements," is Rotter's definition of

A)empirical law of effect.
B)the psychological situation.
C)behavior potential.
D)expectancy.
E)reinforcement value.

Question 16

According to Rotter, overall expectancy of success in any given situation depends on a person's

A)generalized expectancy.
B)needs.
C)both of these.
D)neither of these.

Question 17

According to Rotter, if expectancy is held constant and reinforcement value varies, then it becomes possible to predict

A)the psychological situation.
B)interpersonal trust.
C)behavior potential.
D)need value.
E)all of these.

Question 18

Unlike Skinner, Julian Rotter contended that an adequate theory of human behavior

A)is not possible at this stage in the development of psychology as a science.
B)should reject hypothetical constructs as explanations of behavior.
C)can be extrapolated from the study of animal behavior.
D)must be built on people's expectations of the future.

Question 19

According to Rotter, four variables and their interactions must be analyzed to ensure accurate predictions.They include all the following EXCEPT

A)behavioral potential.
B)expectancy.
C)psychological situation.
D)reinforcement value.
E)law of effect.

Question 20

Explain Rotter's concepts of internal and external control of reinforcement.

Question 21

According to Rotter, need potential is highest under conditions of

A)low freedom of movement and high need value.
B)high freedom of movement and low need value.
C)high freedom of movement and high need value.
D)low freedom of movement and low need value.

Question 22

In Rotter's general prediction formula, need potential is a function of

A)freedom of movement and need value.
B)behavior potential and the psychological situation.
C)interpersonal trust and internal locus of control.
D)heredity and environment.

Question 23

In Rotter's theory of personality, what is the relationship between need potential and behavior potential?

A)Need potential is a hypothetical concept, whereas behavior potential refers to an individual's actual behavior.
B)Need potential refers to a group of functionally related behaviors; behavior potential refers to a particular behavior.
C)Need potential can be measured solely through the observation of behavior, whereas behavior potential is inferred from test scores.
D)There is no relationship between these two concepts.

Question 24

Rotter's concept of ______ allows for more generalized predictions than those permitted by the basic prediction formula.

A)needs (i.e., goal-directed behavior[s])
B)reinforcement value
C)expectancy
D)external reinforcement
E)reinforcement-reinforcement sequence

Question 25

Rotter found that people who score high on the Interpersonal Trust Scale are generally more likely to _____ than are people who score low on this scale.

A)be psychologically disturbed
B)lie to others
C)lie to themselves
D)respect the rights of others

Question 26

Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale is an attempt to

A)measure generalized expectancies.
B)place people into internal and external control categories.
C)determine the causes of human behavior.
D)predict behavior in a specific situation.
E)measure psychological health.

Question 27

Rotter distinguished between internal reinforcement and external reinforcement.Internal reinforcement is determined by

A)biological needs.
B)the values of society.
C)subjective perceptions of an event's value.
D)the person's history of rewards and punishments.

Question 28

For Rotter, the degree to which a person prefers one set of reinforcements to another is called

A)need value.
B)need preference.
C)need potential.
D)freedom of movement.

Question 29

"A generalized expectancy held by an individual that the word, promise, oral or written statement of another individual or group can be relied on" is Rotter's definition of

A)social interest.
B)interpersonal trust.
C)external control of reinforcement.
D)gullibility.

Question 30

Rotter's basic prediction formula states that behavior potential is a function of

A)the interaction of heredity, or nature, and environment, or nurture.
B)the interaction of the individual's cognition and goals.
C)expectancies and reinforcement value in a certain situation.
D)a combination of interpersonal trust and locus of control.

Question 31

Rotter sees interpersonal trust as a

A)specific expectancy.
B)generalized expectancy.
C)belief that people are basically good.
D)tendency to believe anything anyone says.

Question 32

Rotter's basic prediction formula is most useful when

A)predicting novel behaviors.
B)pertinent variables are rigorously controlled.
C)making generalized predictions.
D)need value is unknown.
E)making specific predictions.

Question 33

Rotter's most basic category of needs, in the sense that other needs are learned in relationship to it, is

A)recognition-status.
B)dominance.
C)physical comfort.
D)independence.
E)love and affection.

Question 34

According to Rotter, reinforcement that satisfies a strong need generally

A)is more highly valued than one that satisfies a weak need.
B)tends to be negatively valued by the individual.
C)is less likely to be valued than one that satisfies a weak need.
D)tends to be negatively valued by society.

Question 35

According to Rotter, people with high internal locus of control believe that

A)they can do well in nearly everything.
B)luck is the principal determiner of success.
C)there will always be wars, no matter how hard people try to prevent them.
D)the source of control is mostly inside them.

Question 36

Rotter's general prediction formula does NOT include the concept of

A)need potential.
B)freedom of movement.
C)need value.
D)reinforcement value.

Question 37

Scores on Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale

A)determine behavior.
B)do not predict behavior in a specific situation.
C)separate individuals into two different groups.
D)can be used to predict psychopathology.

Question 38

For Rotter, the component "freedom of movement" is analogous to the more specific concept of

A)behavioral potential.
B)needs.
C)reinforcement value.
D)need potential.
E)expectancy.

Question 39

Rotter saw needs as

A)reflecting a state of deprivation.
B)indicators of the direction of behavior.
C)reflecting certain conditions of arousal.
D)having two categories: social and physiological.

Question 40

According to Rotter, freedom of movement can be determined by

A)holding need potential constant and observing one's need value.
B)holding need value constant and observing one's need potential.
C)varying need potential and need value concurrently.
D)minimizing need values and maximizing need potential.

Question 41

To Mischel, behavior is mostly likely to be caused by

A)stable, global, basic personal dispositions.
B)genetic factors.
C)personality traits.
D)perception of self in a particular situation.

Question 42

According to Rotter, individuals who set their goals too high

A)develop correspondingly high expectancies of success.
B)score high on internal control of reinforcement.
C)quickly change to lower-level goals when they fail.
D)engage in avoidant behavior because of frustration.

Question 43

The more long-range goal of Rotter's approach to psychotherapy was the

A)extinction of maladaptive behaviors.
B)acquisition of a unifying philosophy of life.
C)change in the patient's orientation to life.
D)elimination of all personal problems.
E)uncovering of unconscious material.

Question 44

A study by Wright and Mischel asked children and adults to report everything they knew about certain groups of children.Findings from this research suggested that

A)children were more likely than adults to give specific predictions of behavior of the target group of children.
B)adults were more likely than children to hedge their descriptions of behavior of the target group of children.
C)neither children nor adults were able to predict the behavior of the target group of children.
D)both children and adults recognized the interrelationship between situations and behavior.

Question 45

Mischel is most likely to say that

A)an individual's behaviors can be inconsistent from one situation to another.
B)an individual's personality traits are not likely to endure over a period of time.
C)human behavior is completely shaped by the laws of reinforcement.
D)human personality is shaped by chance encounters and fortuitous events.

Question 46

According to Rotter, people who are likely to give others a second chance tend to score

A)high on internal control of reinforcement.
B)low on interpersonal trust.
C)high on external control of reinforcement.
D)high on interpersonal trust.

Question 47

Mischel's personality model suggests that behavior is caused by

A)people's view of themselves in a particular situation.
B)people's view of environmental reinforcers.
C)global personal traits acquired during infancy.
D)a unifying master motive acquired during early adolescence.

Question 48

Mischel and Shoda's cognitive-affective personality system is an attempt to account for

A)trait variability across situations.
B)people's inconsistent behaviors.
C)people's stability of behaviors.
D)both stable traits and situations.
E)all of these.

Question 49

Mischel's chief argument with trait theory is that it

A)assumes that behavior is quite consistent.
B)is based on factor analysis.
C)overlooks the subjective judgments of individuals.
D)has an unscientific genetic component.
E)rejects individual freedom and responsibility.

Question 50

According to Rotter, conflict is most likely to arise when freedom of movement is

A)low and need value is high.
B)high and need value is low.
C)high and need value is high.
D)low and need value is low.

Question 51

Rotter defined maladaptive behavior as behavior that

A)satisfies a neurotic need.
B)has low need value and high freedom of movement.
C)moves a person closer to a desired goal.
D)stems from repression of sexual drives.
E)fails to move a person closer to a desired goal.

Question 52

Walter Mischel was born in the same city where _____ lived most of his life.

A)Albert Bandura
B)Carl Jung
C)Al Capone
D)Sigmund Freud

Question 53

Mischel's early research led him to believe that behavior is mostly a function of

A)fortuitous events.
B)the situation.
C)stable personal traits.
D)motivation.
E)none of these.

Question 54

In Mischel and Shoda's personality system, behavior is shaped by people's specific cognitive and affective processes plus

A)their previous experiences with reinforcement.
B)the unique situation.
C)their personal dispositions.
D)their motivation.

Question 55

Although Mischel has much in common with Bandura and Rotter, his unique contribution to social learning theory is his research on

A)sexual dysfunction.
B)specific situations.
C)interpersonal trust.
D)self-efficacy.
E)the frustration-aggression hypothesis.

Question 56

According to Mischel, behavior is determined by

A)the interaction of person variables with situational variables.
B)environmental contingencies.
C)relatively permanent personal dispositions.
D)the interaction between need potential and freedom of movement.

Question 57

Mischel and Shoda's cognitive-affective personality system holds that

A)thoughts and emotions act independently to produce behavior.
B)apparent inconsistencies in people's behavior reflect stable patterns of variation and can be used to predict behavior.
C)apparent inconsistencies in people's behavior are due to random error that invalidates any attempts to predict behavior.
D)behaviors are an outgrowth of stable, global personality traits-both cognitive and affective.

Question 58

Mischel and Shoda's cognitive-affective personality system predicts that a person's behavior will

A)stay stable from one situation to another.
B)change from one situation to another, but in a meaningful manner.
C)change from one situation to another, depending solely on differences in the situation.
D)change as personal dispositions change.

Question 59

Mischel's consistency paradox is based on his notion that

A)laypeople believe that behavior is consistent, but professional psychologists see it as inconsistent.
B)laypeople believe that behavior is inconsistent, but professional psychologists see it as consistent.
C)both laypeople and professional psychologists see behavior as consistent, whereas research suggests that it is inconsistent.
D)both laypeople and professional psychologists see behavior as inconsistent, whereas research suggests that it is consistent.

Question 60

While he was still a graduate student, Mischel was influenced by which two teachers?

A)Rotter and Kelly
B)Bandura and Skinner
C)Klein and Anna Freud
D)Adler and Fromm

Question 61

Which of the following is NOT one of Mischel and Shoda's cognitive-affective units?

A)sense of self-efficacy
B)encoding strategies
C)goals and values
D)competencies and self-regulatory strategies
E)expectancies and beliefs

Question 62

Mischel believes that people regulate their own behavior through

A)external rewards and punishments.
B)an internal locus of control.
C)self-made goals and consequences.
D)a self-created master motive.

Question 63

Mischel believes that perhaps the most stable of all person variables is

A)self-efficacy.
B)interpersonal trust.
C)encoding strategies.
D)cognitive competencies.

Question 64

In their concepts of humanity, both Rotter and Mischel

A)put greater emphasis on determinism rather than free choice.
B)have more teleological than causal explanations of behavior.
C)are highly optimistic in their viewpoints.
D)stress unconscious forces over conscious ones.
E)take a biological view rather than a social view.

Question 65

tested the person-situation interaction by researching the conditional self-evaluation.They found:

A)students who made a trait-like self-evaluation seemed to be immune to extreme emotional reactions.
B)support for traditional views of personality in which people behave in a given way regardless of the context.
C)interactionist or conditional self-evaluations tend to lead to less extreme emotional reactions.
D)all of these.

Question 66

Research by Mischel and Staub found that 8th-grade boys who believed that they had been successful on an earlier task

A)tended to choose immediate, but less valuable rewards.
B)chose immediate, more valuable rewards.
C)were able to wait for more valued, contingent rewards.
D)showed widely varied choices in a delay of gratification task.

Question 67

An important aspect of Rotter's concept of humanity is his belief that people

A)are motivated by the single overriding drive toward self-actualization.
B)are motivated more by their perceptions of events than by the events.
C)can best be understood as extensions of laboratory animals.
D)are driven by their past experiences with reinforcement.

Question 68

According to Mischel, behavior tends to be consistent in different situations to the extent that

A)we subjectively evaluate those situations.
B)we objectively evaluate those situations.
C)our expectancies are flexible.
D)our expectancies are unchanging.

Question 69

found that children who were encouraged to imagine real rewards while viewing pictures of rewards

A)could not wait as long for the rewards as could children who were merely exposed to pictures of the rewards.
B)were able to wait the entire test time for the rewards.
C)were able to wait longer for the rewards than children who were exposed to the actual rewards.
D)could not wait as long for the rewards as could children who were exposed to the actual rewards.

Question 70

Mischel suggests that one reason why our behavior tends to be inconsistent is that we

A)have no unifying master motive.
B)cannot predict others' behavior.
C)lack a consistent philosophy of life.
D)All of these are correct.
E)None of these is correct.