Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Presents a comprehensive theory of human motivation and action from a social-cognitive perspective. This insightful text addresses the prominent roles played by cognitive, vicarious, self-regulatory, and self-reflective processes in psychosocial functioning; emphasizes reciprocal causation through the interplay of cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors; and systematically applies the basic principles of this theory to personal and social change.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• 1 Models of Human Nature and Casualty
• 2 Observational Learning
• 3 Enactive Learning
• 4 Social Diffusion and Innovation
• 5 Predictive Knowledge and Forethought
• 6 Incentive Motivators
• 7 Vicarious Motivators
• 8 Self-Regulatory Mechanisms
• 9 Self-Efficacy
• 10 Cognitive Regulators
• References
• Index

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

In this important book, Bandura, whose name is unfortunately most often associated only with research on observational learning, presents a comprehensive theory of human thought and action. Drawing extensively on his earlier work and an impressive knowledge of research in a number of fields within contemporary psychology, Bandura outlines the principles of ``social cognitive theory''; he also provides convincing evidence for the utility of this activity. In the first chapter Bandura offers a clear description of the general features of the theory, differentiating it from competing models of human behavior. In subsequent chapters Bandura elaborates, applying the theory to a broad range of phenomena, and integrating his work on self-regulation and self-efficacy into the context of the theory. In an era when attempts to construct large-scale theories of human behavior are harder and harder to find, Bandura has made a major contribution to our understanding of the ``big picture.'' Those readers expecting a breezy introduction to Bandura's theory should be forewarned, however. This book is aimed primarily at a professional audience and although scholars will appreciate the extensive documentation and copious examples Bandura provides, other readers may find the going somewhat rough. Appropriate for university collections.-R. Cornelius, Vassar College

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Albert Bandura was born on December 4, 1925, in Mundare, Alberta, Canada. He attended school at an elementary and high school in one and received his bachelor's from the University of British Columbia in 1949. Before he entered college, he spent one summer filling holes on the Alaska Highway in the Yukon. Bandura graduated from the University of Iowa in 1952 with his Ph. D., and after graduating, took a post-doctoral position with the Wichita Guidance Center in Kansas.

In 1953, Bandura accepted a position teaching at Stanford University. There he collaborated with student, Richard Walters on his first book, "Adolescent Aggression" in 1959. He was President of the APA in 1973 and received the APA's Award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution in 1980. In 1999 he received the Thorndike Award for Distinguished Contributions of Psychology to Education from the American Psychological Association, and in 2001, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy.

He is also the recipient of the Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award from the American Psychological Association and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Western Psychological Association, the James McKeen Cattell Award from the American Psychological Society, and the Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Psychological Science from the American Psychological Foundation. In 2008, he received the Grawemeyer Award for contributions to psychology.

His works include Social Learning Theory, Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory, and Self-efficacy : the exercise of control.

(Bowker Author Biography)