Analysis of the Social
Cognitive Theory
Though there are some good
points mentioned about the social cognitive theory, it is still not far from
the traditional behaviorist theories, which, somehow, Bandura is against
to. Even though Bandura included modeling, as one of the determinants of
behavior, it can still be included in the environmental causes of behavior,
simply because it is still an influence outside of a person. The only
difference is that the social cognitive theory recognizes the role of the
cognitive factor in the production of a behavior. Despite this, the
results of the social cognitive theory still depend largely on the
environment. To illustrate, the traditional behaviorist and social
cognitive theories can be compared to a mimosa plant (also called makahiya in Filipino). Assuming the
mentioned theories are absolute truths, whether or not we know that a mimosa
plant has the pulvinus, its part that reacts to touch
(assuming that part is their brain),
or, whether or not we think that mimosa just merely reacts to touch regardless
of its inner system, the causes of the resulting behavior will still be based
on the things happening in their environment. If this situation will just
be the same with human beings, then what is the point of knowing that we use
our brains when, we just solely behave based on our own human nature and the
stimulus from our environment? If we believe both theories completely,
then we are accepting the fact that we mostly learn through our environment;
therefore, it meant that even if we think, learn from other people’s
experiences, find a model, or just plainly react to a stimulus, the behaviors
and actions manifested are just the consequences of our exposure to the given
environment. For example, if a house is on fire, it does not matter if a
person needs to think, find a model, remember an article about fire, or just go
out of the house, because in the end, he will not be able to bear the heat of
fire and will eventually move far from it. If all of the mentioned
illustrations in this paragraph are true, then it makes the social cognitive
theory as hard to swallow as the traditional behaviorist theories, for they
largely, if not wholly, rely on the environment, neglecting a lot of other
factors that cause our behavior, such as our own beliefs and the results of our
reflective thinking.
