fei75766_ch17_534-568.indd 540  02/24/20 10:49 AM
Part VI    Learning-Cognitive Theories540
asking, “AmIdoing thisright?” Thislastquestion isnotalways easytoanswer, espe-
cially ifitpertains toamotor skill,suchasballet dancing orplatform diving, inwhich 
wecannot actually seeourselves. Forthisreason, some athletes usevideo cameras to
helpthem acquire orimprove theirmotor skills.
Motivation  Observational learning ismost effective when learners aremotivated to
perform themodeled behavior. Attention andrepresentation canleadtotheacquisi -
tionoflearning, butperformance isfacilitated bymotivation toenact thatparticular 
behavior. Even though observation ofothers mayteach ushowtodosomething, we
mayhavenodesire toperform thenecessary action. Oneperson canwatch another 
useapower saworrunavacuum cleaner andnotbemotivated totryeither activity. 
Most sidewalk superintendents havenowishtoemulate theobserved construction 
worker.
Enactive Learning
Every response aperson makes isfollowed bysome consequence. Some ofthese 
consequences aresatisfying, some aredissatisfying, andothers aresimply notcog-
nitively attended andhence havelittleeffect. Bandura believes thatcomplex human 
behavior canbelearned when people think about andevaluate theconsequences of
theirbehaviors. 
Theconsequences ofaresponse serve atleastthree functions. First, response 
consequences inform usoftheeffects ofouractions. Wecanretain thisinformation 
anduseitasaguide forfuture actions. Second, theconsequences ofourresponses 
motivate ouranticipatory behavior; thatis,wearecapable ofsymbolically represent -
ingfuture outcomes andacting accordingly. Wenotonlypossess insight butalsoare
capable offoresight. Wedonothavetosuffer thediscomfort ofcoldtemperatures 
before deciding towear acoatwhen going outside infreezing weather. Instead, we
anticipate theeffects ofcold, wetweather anddress accordingly. Third, theconse -
quences ofresponses serve toreinforce behavior, afunction thathasbeen firmly 
documented bySkinner (Chapter 16)andother reinforcement theorists.  Bandura 
(1986), however, contends that,although reinforcement mayattimes beunconscious 
andautomatic, complex behavioral patterns aregreatly facilitated bycognitive inter-
vention. Hemaintained thatlearning occurs much more efficiently when thelearner 
iscognitively involved inthelearning situation andunderstands what behaviors pre-
cedesuccessful responses.
Insummary, Bandura believes thatnewbehaviors areacquired through two
major kinds oflearning: observational learning andenactive learning. Thecoreele-
ment ofobservational learning ismodeling, which isfacilitated byobserving appro -
priate activities, properly coding these events forrepresentation inmemory, actually 
performing thebehavior, andbeing sufficiently motivated. Enactive learning allows 
people toacquire newpatterns ofcomplex behavior through direct experience by
thinking about andevaluating theconsequences oftheirbehaviors. Thelearning pro-
cessallows people tohavesome degree ofcontrol overtheevents thatshape the
course oftheirlives. Control, however, restswithathree-way reciprocal interaction of
person variables, behavior, andenvironment.Final PDF to printer