fei75766_ch18_569-609.indd 605  02/24/20 10:50 AM
Chapter 18     Rotter and Mischel: Cognitive Social Learning Theory605
Inaddition, separate components ofhistheory arelogically compatible. Thebasic 
prediction formula, withitsfourspecific factors, islogically consistent withthe
three broader variables ofthegeneral prediction formula. Mischel, likeBandura (see
Chapter 17),hasevolved atheory from solid empirical research, aprocedure that
greatly facilitates consistency. 
Finally, iscognitive social learning theory parsimonious? Ingeneral, itisrela-
tively simple anddoesnotpurport toofferexplanations forallhuman personality. 
Again, theemphasis onresearch rather thanphilosophical speculation hascontributed 
totheparsimony ofthecognitive social learning theories ofbothRotter andMischel.
 Concept of Humanity
Rotter and Mischel both see people as cognitive animals whose perceptions 
of events are more important than the events themselves. People are capa -
ble of construing events in a variety of ways, and these cognitive percep -
tions are generally more influential than the environment in determining the 
value of the reinforcer. Cognition enables different people to see the same 
situation differently and to place different values on reinforcement that fol -
lows their behavior.
Both Rotter and Mischel see humans as goal-directed animals who do 
not merely react to their environments but who interact with their psycho -
logically meaningful environments. Hence, cognitive social learning theory is 
more teleological,  or future-oriented, than it is causal. People place positive 
value on those events that they perceive as moving them closer to their 
goals, and they place negative value on those events that prevent them from 
reaching their goals. Goals, then, serve as criteria for evaluating events. Peo -
ple are motivated less by past experiences with reinforcement than by their 
expectations of future events.
Cognitive social learning theory holds that people move in the direction of 
goals they have established for themselves. These goals, however, change as 
people’s expectancies for reinforcement and their preference for one reinforce -
ment over another changes. Because people are continually in the process of 
setting goals, they have some choice in directing their lives. Free choice  is not 
unlimited, however, because past experiences and limits to personal competen -
cies partially determine behavior.
Because both Rotter and Mischel are realistic and pragmatic, they are 
difficult to rate on the optimism  versus pessimism  dimension. They believe 
that people can be taught constructive strategies for problem solving and 
that they are capable of learning new behaviors at any point in life. However, 
these theorists do not hold that people have within themselves an inherent 
force that moves them inevitably in the direction of psychological growth.
On the issue of conscious versus unconscious motives,  cognitive social 
learning theory generally leans in the direction of conscious forces. People Final PDF to printer