The social cognitive theory believes in the combination of the environmental,
social, and cognitive factors in the development of the behavior; however, it
is still unclear as to what extent these three influences the behavior of
men. Nevertheless, this theory received both good and bad reactions over
the years, which means that, although imperfect, this theory has its importance.
The social cognitive
theory has its truth; however, accepting it as a whole truth is not possible
because of some reasons. First, Bandura believes that people does not
just respond to the stimulus presented in the environment, but uses their
cognitive skills in reacting to their environment. I agree that people
does not impulsively react to their environment. People think whether
they like it or not. But then again the extent on which people use their
cognitive skills in reacting to their environment has yet to be
clarified. Second, people are different, and as they grow old, their
differences become greater; thus, it becomes harder to generalize the manner of
learning of all people. For instance, Kaye is a child, who came from a
family of painters, raised in a way that she was exposed to the nature of work
of her family members, provided that her family persuaded her to be a painter
all her life. Even though it seems that the circumstances have conspired
to make Kaye the same as her family, it does not follow that Kaye would really
be a painter when she grows up. The reason is just obvious—people
change. Our way of thinking becomes different as we grow old.
Moreover, as we grow old, we tend to think beyond our environmental and social
circumstances. Even if Kaye has been home-schooled and has been taught
only to paint, it is not an assurance that she would copy the behavior of her
family members (e.g. passion for painting), because chances are, she might form
an opinion, a judgment, or a belief of her own, guided by her own reasons,
which are independent of the outside factors, such as her family. Third,
people have their free will. We can choose for ourselves.
Otherwise, if we held our environment and our models solely responsible for our
deeds, then the law would be meaningless. For instance, a man, who beats
his child just because his father also beats him when he was a child, does not
make this man innocent as far as the law is concerned. This is because we
have the power to think and to choose which is good, at least according to
one’s conscience and what is required of us in the law of the country we lived
in.
To summarize, the social
cognitive theory should not be generalized; it is only true in some cases.
Nonetheless, it is still useful to teachers and students. It is just
important to note that more than giving importance on the technical aspect of
the teaching process, the teachers need to make sure that they also teach the
students how to be conscious about their surroundings including the people they
interact with in order to weigh the good and bad sides of the situations around
them and how it affects others. It is also important to emphasize that
regardless of the situation, we can form our own decisions. Bandura was
right in this part. The cognitive factor has a very important role to
play in learning a behavior; therefore, people need to take advantage of
it. At the end of the day, neither Bandura nor his theory would tell us
how we ought to live our lives, it is still up to us through our choices and
decisions on how we will make this world a better place for us and for the
others.
