📌 Bandura’s early social learning theory included enactive learning through reinforcement and punishment of one’s own behavior and observational learning through modeling and observing others.
In 1986, Bandura renamed his perspective social cognitive theory as his explanations increasingly included cognitive factors alongside social influences.
Personal influences include:
Environmental influences include:
Behavioral influences include:
Teacher feedback can alter students’ confidence or discouragement, which can then lead them to adjust their goals.
Picture person, behavior, and environment as three arrows continually influencing one another.
★ Must-know
Observational learning is influenced by:
Bandura identified four essential elements of observational learning: paying attention, retaining information or impressions, producing behaviors, and being motivated to repeat the behaviors.
📌 Observational learning distinguishes acquisition from performance: a person may acquire a behavior by watching a model but not perform it until motivated or incentivized.
Further detail
Attention → retention → production → motivation.
★ Must-know
Social cognitive theory treats people as capable of influencing their behavior and environment, whereas behaviorism focuses on how environmental reinforcement or punishment predicts behavior.
Self-efficacy concerns judgments of capabilities for a particular task, whereas self-concept is a more global evaluation of the self in comparison with others.
Self-efficacy concerns judgments of personal capabilities, whereas self-esteem concerns judgments of self-worth.
The four sources of self-efficacy are:
Greater self-efficacy can lead to greater effort, persistence through setbacks, higher goals, and new strategies when old ones fail; low self-efficacy can lead people to avoid a task or give up easily when problems arise.
Further detail
📌 Self-efficacy concerns whether a person believes they can perform an action, whereas outcome expectations concern what they believe will happen as a result of that action.
Students with high self-efficacy exert more effort, persistence, and resilience on challenging tasks and experience less task-related stress and anxiety. - Klassen & Usher, 2010
Students with stronger beliefs that they can control academic outcomes have been found to show greater confidence in their academic abilities, earn higher grades, engage more, and be more likely to graduate. - Anderson et al., 2019
Teachers with high self-efficacy believe they can reach even difficult students to help them learn, work harder, persist longer, and are less likely to experience burnout.
Teachers’ self-efficacy is higher in schools where colleagues and administrators have high expectations for students and principals help teachers solve instructional and management problems.
Teachers’ self-efficacy grows from real success with students, and a lower sense of efficacy may sometimes encourage professional development and improvement.
Agency means intentional influence; behaviorism centers environmental reinforcement and punishment.
★ Must-know
📌 Self-concept is a more global self-perception based on internal and external comparisons, whereas self-efficacy judges capability to accomplish a particular task.
Further detail
Self-efficacy beliefs are stronger predictors of behavior than self-concept, particularly for performance on a specific task (Anderman & Anderman, 2014; Bandura, 1997).
There is no consistent relationship between self-esteem and self-efficacy, so a person can have high efficacy in one area without high self-esteem, or the reverse (Valentine et al., 2004).
Self-efficacy asks “Can I do this?”; self-esteem asks “How do I value myself?”
★ Must-know
Further detail
📌 A success strengthens self-efficacy most when it is attributed to one’s ability, effort, choices, or strategies rather than to luck or extensive help from others.
Vicarious influence on self-efficacy is stronger when an observer feels similar to the model (Gerber et al., 2018).
The effect of social persuasion depends on the persuader’s credibility, trustworthiness, expertise, or status, and messages emphasizing prior similar successes, short-term goals, or effort are more likely to boost self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997; Usher & Pajares, 2008).
📌 Interpreting arousal as excitement and readiness can increase self-efficacy, whereas interpreting it as anxiety or foreboding can decrease self-efficacy.
★ Must-know
Higher self-efficacy is associated with greater effort, persistence, higher goals, less fear of failure, and greater willingness to try new strategies when existing ones fail (Schunk & DiBenedetto, 2020).
To support student self-efficacy, teachers can set short-term goals, teach specific learning strategies, and make students aware of their achievements as evidence of increasing competence (Pajares, 2006).
Further detail
📌 A slight overestimation of self-efficacy can support motivation, but underestimation can reduce effort and persistence, while substantial overestimation can prevent students from noticing and repairing misunderstandings (Bandura, 1997; Pintrich & Zusho, 2002).
Teaching efficacy involves confidence in: designing and delivering lessons, managing classroom flow and student behavior, promoting student engagement, navigating technologies, reaching students with different backgrounds and learning needs
Teachers with higher self-efficacy report greater job satisfaction and commitment and lower burnout, while high emotional exhaustion combined with low efficacy is associated with harsher disciplinary sanctions (Zee & Koomen, 2016; Eddy et al., 2020).
The relationship between teacher efficacy and student learning is reciprocal: greater teacher efficacy can improve teaching and student learning, and greater student learning can strengthen teacher efficacy (Holzberger et al., 2013).
Efficacy supports higher goals and persistence; achievement can strengthen efficacy in return
★ Must-know
🔄 Self-regulated learners:
Three major developmental factors are:
Further detail
Self-regulated learners combine academic skills, self-awareness, self-control, and motivation; they are metacognitive, motivated to learn, and strategic (Perry & Rahim, 2011).
Self-regulated learners need knowledge about:
Metacognitive knowledge includes knowing:
A simple memory task may call for a mnemonic, whereas complex comprehension may call for concept mapping or frequent self-quizzing (Carpenter et al., 2020).
Understand the task, plan, monitor progress, then adjust
★ Must-know
📌 Social cognitive theory treats success as the product of interacting personal, environmental, and behavioral factors, so grit alone cannot explain learner success.
Further detail
Students with greater individual interest tend to regulate their learning better in that activity (Renninger & Hidi, 2016; Thoman et al., 2017).
Volition helps students overcome resistance when two desired outcomes conflict, such as socializing with friends versus completing required reading.
In Mischel’s delay-of-gratification experiment, children who waited to eat a marshmallow until an adult returned after a 15-minute errand later showed higher SAT scores, better stress responses, fewer health problems, and better social skills (Mischel, 2014).
Everyone can learn new self-control strategies, and students with more such strategies perform better in school (Duckworth et al., 2014, 2019).
📌 Critics argue that grit overlaps with established traits such as conscientiousness, willpower, persistence, and resilience, and that measures of grit may not clearly distinguish it from other self-regulation measures (Rimfeld et al., 2016; Ponnock et al., 2020; Muenks et al., 2017).
Motivation commits; volition follows through.
★ Must-know
Self-regulation generally improves as neurobiological systems develop, but environmental stressors and social isolation can hinder that development (Blair & Raver, 2015).
During early and middle childhood, learners develop self-regulation by observing and emulating modeled skills, then internalizing strategies as they become competent, and eventually applying self-regulation independently in new situations.
📌 Co-regulation is a transitional process in which learners gradually internalize self-regulated learning skills through modeling, teaching, feedback, and coaching, whereas shared regulation involves students and teachers regulating one another through reminders, prompts, and guidance (Hadwin et al., 2018).
Further detail
Behavioral self-regulation develops rapidly in early childhood and preschool, and earlier development is associated with being a girl, stronger language skills, and a mother’s higher education level (Greene et al., 2010; Montroy et al., 2016).
Adolescents’ executive functioning increases globally and plateaus toward the mid-20s, while late adolescence also brings heightened sensation seeking and risk-taking (Steinberg et al., 2018).
Executive functions are impaired by stress, poor health, or emotional turmoil and enhanced when learners are relaxed, healthy, and connected to others (Diamond & Ling, 2016, 2019).
Mindfulness practices that include movement, such as tai chi, were the most effective interventions reviewed for improving students’ executive functioning (Diamond & Ling, 2016, 2019).
During forethought, learners set clear, reasonable goals and plan strategies, while beliefs about self-efficacy, strategy effectiveness, personal interest, and mastery goals support self-regulated learning.
During performance, learners use self-control and learning strategies, monitor their progress, and may record study time or completed work to identify when to adjust their approach.
During reflection, learners evaluate their performance; attributing success to effort and effective strategies can strengthen self-efficacy for similar future tasks (Panadero et al., 2017).
📌 Learners’ self-regulation depends largely on self-set or internalized standards; without adequate self-standards, people exercise little self-directedness (Bandura, 1986, p. 363).
Forethought → performance → reflection.
★ Must-know
Further detail
Scaffolds, prompts, and learning supports can enhance self-regulation and reduce cognitive burden in online learning, especially when concepts are challenging (Azevedo et al., 2018; Moos, 2018).
Students who took notes on laptops wrote more but performed worse on a subsequent exam than students who took notes by hand (Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014).
Students who answered phone text messages while taking class notes performed worse than students who did not multitask with messages (Flanigan & Titsworth, 2020).
★ Must-know
School-based programs that develop emotion regulation, prosocial behavior, and social competence are associated with better mental health, social adjustment, and academic achievement in both the short and long term (Domitrovich et al., 2017; Jones et al., 2019).
Teachers’ stress can spread to students, so teacher training in emotional and social regulation can support students’ learning and social environments (Schonert-Reichl, 2017; Valiente et al., 2020).
Teachers can foster emotional self-regulation by building classroom trust, helping students recognize and express feelings, developing empathy for others, teaching coping strategies, and addressing cultural differences in emotional expression.
Teachers who handle classroom stressors effectively demonstrate both high teaching self-efficacy and positive emotional self-regulation. - Kim et al., 2019
📌 Teachers who feel supported and have autonomy report greater emotional buoyancy, whereas teachers who feel controlled or pressured report emotional exhaustion. - Collie, 2021
Further detail
In a study following almost 300 students through kindergarten, anger, sadness, and shyness were negatively related to achievement, while self-control was positively related to achievement, especially among students with lower negative emotions (Valiente et al., 2010).
Anxiety, shame, and guilt can undermine adolescents’ attention and motivation, while rumination over negative experiences consumes cognitive and emotional energy that could support academic learning (Ben-Eliyahu, 2019).
RULER stands for: (Jones et al., 2017):
Fifth- and sixth-grade teachers using the RULER approach showed greater connection and warmth with students and greater support for student autonomy (Rivers et al., 2013).
Trusting, respectful relationships and culturally supportive communities can help students experience safety and well-being, while culturally inclusive teaching can broaden empathy and understanding.
Common sources of teacher stress include: (Cano-Garcia et al., 2005):
Classroom trust can be encouraged by: avoiding student tattling, applying fair consequences, avoiding unnecessary comparisons, giving students opportunities to improve their work
Teachers can help students identify and express emotions by:
Teachers can help students cope with emotions by practicing perspective-taking, seeking help, leaving a situation, using self-talk, deep breathing or mindful movement, and modeling ways to handle anger, disappointment or anxiety.
Mindfulness training helps teachers attend to the present without judgment, release unnecessary expectations and biases, and develop compassion for themselves and others. - Roeser et al., 2013
Teacher stress spreads to students; teacher modeling can support their emotional regulation.
★ Must-know
Self-regulated learning and learning self-efficacy develop when students engage in complex, meaningful tasks over extended periods and have agency over their learning processes and products.
Teachers can support self-regulated learning by involving students in setting evaluation criteria, enabling them to reflect on progress against those standards, and encouraging peer collaboration and feedback.
📌 Task complexity refers to design features such as multiple goals and meaningful components, not to a high level of difficulty; tasks should challenge students without overwhelming them.
Further detail
📌 Teachers co-regulate learning by providing just enough and just-in-time information and support to help students acquire and apply self-regulated learning. - Perry & Rahim, 2011
Complex tasks extend over time, involve varied cognitive and metacognitive processes, and allow a wide range of products, such as reports, maps, diagrams, skits, models and a museum. - Perry et al., 2002
Successful work on complex tasks develops cognitive and metacognitive strategies, increases self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation, and can help students regulate emotions and adapt to reach goals.
📌 Teachers should offer constrained choices when students lack the skills for independent decisions, while ensuring that students have the knowledge and skills needed to choose well. - Perry & Rahim, 2011
Teachers can scaffold student choice by modeling decision-making, giving feedback, tailoring options to learners, and providing accessible resources or collaboration when needed.
Participatory communities that give learners leadership and voice can support agency, personal and shared responsibility, self-regulation and motivation, especially when projects serve larger social or cultural goals.
Students engaged in tasks with self-transcendent goals show enhanced academic self-regulation and motivation compared with students focused on self-centered goals. - Yeager et al., 2014
★ Must-know
🔄 Meichenbaum’s method proceeds through five stages:
Four self-management skills that can increase learning are (Manning & Payne, 1996):
Self-evaluation that supports self-regulated learning is nonthreatening, embedded in ongoing activities, focused on processes and products, attentive to personal progress, and treats errors as learning opportunities. - Paris & Ayres, 1994
Collaboration can support self- and co-regulation by making students more receptive to challenging assignments and enabling shared problem-solving and mutual support. - Committee on Increasing High School Students' Engagement and Motivation to Learn, 2004
📌 Behavioral theory emphasizes cues, consequences and practice; cognitive theory explains information processing and memory; constructivist theories explain knowledge construction; and social cognitive theory emphasizes modeling, agency and self-regulation.
Further detail
Having students create self-instruction prompts can increase their awareness and sense of control over learning, and teachers can model self-directed talk by thinking aloud during instruction. - White, 2017
The program develops skills including (Lochman & Wells, 2003):
Tools for Getting Along and the Coping Power Program have helped early adolescents get along with classmates and teachers, particularly when upset or angry. - Smith et al., 2016
Having students help set evaluation criteria and assess their own work can reduce assessment anxiety and help them adjust learning approaches and behaviors.
Effective collaborative learning requires routines and participation norms, including constructive feedback, turn-taking, task-sharing, and responding to peers’ suggestions.
The four perspectives can be combined to create productive learning environments; no single perspective is presented as the best approach.
★ Must-know
Self-regulated learning combines knowledge, motivation to learn, and volition to support independent and effective learning; knowledge includes understanding the self, subject, task, learning strategies, and contexts for applying them.
Zimmerman’s self-regulated learning cycle proceeds through forethought, performance, and reflection, with reflection leading to renewed forethought and planning.
🔄 Self-regulated learners follow four activities:
Teachers can support self-efficacy and self-regulated learning by involving students in complex, meaningful tasks that extend over long periods and giving them control and choices over learning processes and products.
Teachers can help students manage themselves with cognitive behavior modification and self-talk, involve them in setting evaluation criteria, provide opportunities to judge progress against those standards, and encourage collaboration and peer feedback.
The behavioral, cognitive, constructivist, and social cognitive perspectives are described as four pillars for teaching: students make sense of material, remember it, practice and apply it until skills become more automatic, and take charge of their own learning.
Further detail
Motivation to learn provides commitment through self-beliefs and interest, while volition sustains follow-through despite distraction; grit, conscientiousness, and self-control are also important.
Emotional self-regulation involves recognizing one’s own emotions and others’ feelings, including differences between inner emotions and outward expressions; expressing emotions appropriately for one’s cultural group; empathizing and coping with distress; using problem-solving and coping strategies; and understanding how emotional communication shapes relationships.
Teachers can support students’ social and emotional learning by learning emotion-regulation strategies, including mindfulness-based practices, to mitigate their own stress.
Failing to attend to any part of the learning process—making sense, remembering, practicing and applying, or taking charge—results in lower-quality learning.
Forethought → performance → reflection → renewed forethought
★ Must-know
Further detail
Motivation at a given time usually combines internal factors and external situations, which may be short-lived or more enduring.
Extrinsic motivation has been associated with negative emotions, poor academic achievement, and maladaptive learning strategies, but incentives can also encourage students to try new things, get started, or persist with mundane tasks.
Intrinsic motivation comes from the activity; extrinsic motivation comes from what it gains or avoids
★ Must-know
📌 Motivation ranges along a continuum from externally determined extrinsic motivation to internally self-determined intrinsic motivation.
📌 Lower-level deficiency needs must be fairly well satisfied before higher-level needs become primary motives. - Maslow, 1970
Further detail
A single behavior may be motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors at the same time. - Vansteenkiste & Mouratidis, 2016
Major perspectives emphasize different motivational factors:
Maslow’s hierarchy has been criticized because people may pursue several needs at once, move among different needs, or sacrifice safety or friendship for knowledge or self-esteem, and the theory gives no clear way to assess self-actualization.
Extrinsic motivation is driven from outside; intrinsic motivation is rewarding from within.
★ Must-know
📌 When students feel autonomous, competent, and related at school, their reasons for acting tend to be more intrinsic; when schools or teachers are controlling, unsupportive, or unwelcoming, students become more extrinsically motivated.
📌 A classroom event experienced as controlling pressures students and tends to reduce intrinsic motivation, whereas an appropriately informative, noncoercive event can strengthen perceived competence and intrinsic motivation.
Further detail
Classroom self-determination support is associated with: (Hafen et al., 2012):
In an experiment, students taught by a highly controlling teacher had higher salivary cortisol levels, a marker of stress, than students taught by an autonomy-supportive teacher. - Reeve & Tseng, 2011
Among adolescent girls in Malawi, need satisfaction was positively related to intrinsic motivation, and the relationship was stronger for girls experiencing greater socioeconomic hardship. - van Egmond et al., 2017
🔄 Teachers can support self-determination by: limiting controlling language, highlighting competence gains through persistence and practice, inviting reflection on students’ work
Students who feel connected to teachers, parents, and peers are more emotionally engaged in school and more intrinsically motivated. - Furrer & Skinner, 2003
Teacher support was the strongest factor predicting students’ sense of belonging in a meta-analysis. - Allen et al., 2018
CAR: competence, autonomy, relatedness.
★ Must-know
Locke and Latham identify four ways goal setting improves performance:
Motivating goals tend to be: (Anderman, 2021):
Further detail
Specific, elaborated goals provide clear standards for judging performance and are more effective than “do your best” goals. - Locke & Latham, 2015
Fourth- and sixth-grade students given specific subgoals for persuasive writing produced more persuasive essays than students given only a general goal, whether or not the students had learning disabilities.
First-year college students who wrote about personal goals in an intervention performed better academically than students in a control condition; more specific goal reflection was associated with better performance. - Schippers et al., 2020
📌 Students with higher self-efficacy tend to set higher goals, while setting and accomplishing manageable goals can raise self-efficacy. - Locke & Latham, 2019
Goals direct attention, energize effort, increase persistence, and prompt new strategies.
Co-Regulation and Shared Regulation
| Process | Who regulates | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Co-regulation | Learner supported by others | Skills are modeled, taught, coached, and internalized over time |
| Shared regulation | Students and teachers together | They guide one another through reminders, prompts, and other guidance |
Take a 64-question practice quiz on Self-Regulation and Learning, with every answer explained.
1. A student’s confidence affects how often she practices; practice changes her skill, and her improved skill earns supportive feedback that boosts her confidence. Which framework best describes this pattern?
2. A theory of learning explains how people learn by observing others and also considers how their beliefs, expectations, and self-perceptions shape learning and motivation. Which theory is being described?
Memorize the key concepts of Self-Regulation and Learning with 94 flashcards.
What can modeling change in an observer?
Behavior, thinking, or emotions.
What factors did social cognitive theory add to social learning theory?
Cognitive factors such as beliefs, self-perceptions, and expectations.
How does triadic reciprocal causality explain human functioning?
As dynamic interaction among personal, environmental, and behavioral influences.
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