Psychology 110

Neil Lutsky, Carleton College:
September 27, 2000

I. The cognitive challenge to classic learning theories.

1. Contiguity vs. contingency in classical conditioning.
2. Act-outcome representations in instrumental conditioning.
3. Complex cognition.
   1. Insightful behavior in chimpanzees.
   2. Matching to sample in pigeons.
      
4. And the challenge from evolutionary psychology.
   1. Belongingness: learned taste aversions.
   2. Species-specific behaviors.
   3. Species-specific processes of learning.
      
5. Summary: What's happened to simple models of learning?
   1. The complexity of animal models.
   2. The specificity of animal models.
      

II. Social learning theory: Cognition in human learning.

1. The importance of social learning theory in contemporary psychology.
2. The foundational expectancy value model.

   Act = S (consequences) x (evaluations).

3. Sources of reinforcement knowledge.
   1. Past experience.
   2. Observational knowledge.
   3. Cultural or social knowledge.
      

III. Mischel's cognitive social learning theory.

1. Additions to the expectancy value approach.
2. Basic concepts.
   
   1. Cognitive competencies.
   2. Encoding strategies and personal constructs.
   3. Expectancies: behavior outcomes and stimulus outcomes.
   4. Subjective values.
   5. Self-regulatory skills and plans.
      
3. Self-regulation (self-control) elaborated.
   
   1. Modeling of self-control standards (Bandura & Kupers).
   2. Self-control strategies and cognitive transformations (Mischel, Ebbeson, & Zeiss).
   3. Longitudinal correlates of self-control (Mischel, Shoda, & Peake).
      

IV. Bandura's self-efficacy analysis.

1. Self-efficacy defined.
2. Sources of self-efficacy expectations.
   1. Performance accomplishments.
   2. Vicarious experience.
   3. Verbal persuasion.
   4. Physiological state.