Describe social cognitive theory, with reference to one relevant study.

Refer to the paper 1 section A markbands when awarding marks. These can be found under the “Your tests” tab > supplemental materials.

The command term “describe” requires candidates to give a detailed account of social cognitive theory in relation to one relevant study.

The main concepts of social cognitive theory may include, but are not limited to:

• imitation (for example, of role models)
• vicarious learning
• the role of attention, retention, motivation and reproduction
• self-efficacy
• reciprocal determinism.

Relevant studies may include, but are not limited to:

• Bandura et al.’s (1961) study on observational learning and aggression in children
• Joy, Kimball and Zabrack’s (1986) study on the impact of television on children’s aggressive behaviour
• Totten’s (2003) study on modelling of violent behaviour towards girlfriends
• Sprafkin et al.’s (1975) study on children’s prosocial behaviour and television
• Fagot et al.’s (1992) study on parental influences on gender development.

If a candidate refers to more than one study, credit should be given only to the first study.

If a candidate describes social cognitive theory without making reference to a study, up to a maximum of [5] should be awarded.

If a candidate only describes an appropriate study without describing social cognitive theory, up to a maximum of [4] should be awarded.

SL:

Most candidates were able to demonstrate some understanding of social cognitive theory and include a relevant study as support. The stronger candidates were successful in providing a detailed description of all aspects of social cognitive theory that included observational learning, the role of attention, retention, reproduction and motivation, and a few went into greater depth describing self-efficacy, vicarious reinforcement and reciprocal determinism. Most responses applied Bandura and Ross Bobo doll study to this question, with only a minority of learners offering alternatives such as Odden and Rochat (2004) and Fagot (1978) effectively. The most effective answers gave explicit and developed links from the study to the theory.

Several candidates confused social cognitive theory with social identity theory so gained limited marks as they chose irrelevant studies such as Tajfel to support their response. Many responses also focused incorrectly on stereotypes.

Overall the quality of responses was good, most scoring in the upper midband — many responses included a basic overview of social cognitive theory with well described relevant research but lacked well developed links from the findings to the key components of the theory in order to access the top mark band.

HL:

The stronger responses provided a clear, accurate and detailed description of the key features of social cognitive theory and explicitly showed how the findings of the selected piece of research were linked to the theory. The vast majority of responses included Bandura et al.'s (1961) study on observational learning of aggression.

The majority of responses did not reach the requirements of the top mark bands for this question. Several responses included a basic overview of social cognitive theory with well described relevant research but lacked clearly-developed links from the findings to the key components of the theory in order to access the top mark band. The weakest responses to this question were those that confused social cognitive theory with social identity theory and focused on inappropriate studies such as Tajfel's in support of the question.