Social Cognitivism Case Study

1. Which teacher in the scenario demonstrates vicarious reinforcement? Justify your response with definitions and an example from the case study.
Ms. Yamashita and Mr. Kessinger are demonstrating vicarious reinforcement. Vicarious reinforcement is the process of learning by observing the consequences of anothers actions and adjusting behavior accordingly. Ms. Yamashita is using vicarious reinforcement by complementing Robin and encouraging the other students to do what she did because she is receiving positive attention, they are learning from the consequences of Robin's actions. Mr. Kessinger is using vicarious reinforcement in the opposite way. He is disciplining Robin for using a concept map and thus the other students are learning that this in unacceptable in his class so they should not do that.
2. Is Mr. Kessinger considering reciprocal causation in his class? Explain your response, including all aspects of reciprocal causation in your reasoning.
I don't believe that Mr. Kessinger is considering reciprocal causation in his class because he is not paying attention to the students environment, their personal beliefs, or their behavior. He doesn't realize that the students are worried about what their peers think of their and thus their environment is intimidating to them. Mr. Kessinger was not paying attention to Robin's behavior either because clearly she was frustrated after being yelled at and was unable to focus for the rest of the class. He also was not considering her personal beliefs about concept maps being acceptable because he tore her map to shreds.
3. Which self-regulated learning process is Robin engaging in when she creates her concept maps? Explain your reasoning.
When Robin is creating her concept maps she is in the forethought phase. She is analyzing the task that she has in front of her and then coming up with a way to handle it. She knows that she is going to be quizzed on the topics and wants to know the information to avoid embarrassment, so she makes the concept maps to help her retain the information and retrieve it on cue.
4. How do you think Robin's self-efficacy has been affected by this experience. Be specific about which self-efficacies have been affected and justify your response with examples from the case study.
Robin's self-efficacy has definitely been lowered! She no longer has a strong belief in her capability to perform or achieve certain goals. She has been put down by Mr. Kessinger when he embarrassed her in front of her entire class. She feels silly because she was unable to come up with the answer on her own. Even though she went through the effort of making a concept map, she was reprimanded for doing so and will most likely not choose to do that again. She has a lower view of her learning possibilities and isn't putting in as much effort as she was before she was humiliated.