Media studiesNghiên cứu truyền thông Social cognition

SOCIAL COGNITION
I.

Social cognition

A. Definition
Social cognition refers to the unique processes that enable human beings to interpret social information
and behave appropriately in a social environment (Tal. Shany-Ur, K.P. Rankin, 2014).
Which involves:
●
●
●

Observing other people and how we come to know about people around us.
The mental processes that are involved in perceiving, remembering, thinking about, and attending
to the other people in our social world.
The reasons why we pay attention to certain information about the social world.

B. Why it is the core of social cognitive theory
According to Albert Bandura, “Social cognitive theory explains psychosocial functioning in terms of
triadic reciprocal causation. In this model of reciprocal determinism, behavior; cognitive, biological, and
other personal factors; and environmental events all operate as interacting determinants that influence
each other bidirectionally”
Simplified, social cognitive theory is the way we learn how to behave by observing the behaviour of
others.
With that we can see social cognition provide the foundation for social cognitive theory to properly
function. It is the process of analyzing information whether it is bad or good, or how it comes to relation
with us so we can come up with the most appropriate behaviors.

C. How is it differ from, superior to Operant Learning
Operant Learning: people learn new behaviors when they are presented with stimuli (something in their

environment), make a response to those stimuli, and have those responses reinforced either positively
(rewarded) or negatively (punished).
Social cognition: people learn new behaviors when they observe the operation of that stimulus response
reinforcement chain in a variety of settings (mass-mediated and otherwise).
=> With both theory being compare to each other, we can clearly see that social cognition exceed in
almost everything
Example: According to operant learning theory, each of us, when presented with that stimulus (fire),
would render a chance response (put our hand in it), and be burned. To ensure that we would not be
scorched in the future, we would add avoidance of fire to our behavioral repertoire.
According to Social Cognition , we observe the operation of that stimulus response reinforcement chain in


a variety of settings, and we in turn add avoidance to the store of behaviors that we can use when
confronted in everyday life by the stimulus. In essence, then, we have substituted a representation—a
picture in our head—of an experience for an actual experience.

II.

Mass media in relation with social cognition
A. How it affect the way people act in current time and why it is widely
impactful

Social cognition is pervasively employed in studies examining attitude or behavior changes triggered by
the mass media. As Bandura suggested, people can learn how to perform behaviors through media
modeling.
Social cognitive theory or social cognition suggests heavily repeated images presented in mass media can
be potentially processed and encoded by the viewers (Bandura, 2011).
As we consider the literature on the intersection between media and social cognitive theory, it is evident
that the theory has been used to explain both unintended (and usually negative) as well as intended (and
usually positive) effects of media depictions.

Based Examinations of Unintended Media Effects
Throughout much of the history of media effects research, great attention has been placed on the possible
negative consequences media content might have on audiences’ attitudes and behaviors
For example, Harrison and Cantor (1997) theorized that the positive relationship between exposure to
women’s magazines and women’s drive for thinness is a function of the tendency for women’s magazines
to link thinness to positive consequences, thus engendering extrinsic motivation for dietary behavior.
Social cognitive theory is likely useful in helping to explain the unintended and negative effects of media
consumption on audience behaviors.

Based Examinations of Intended Media Effects
Given the powerful social influence of media models, scholars have not only drawn from social cognitive
theory to explain unintentional effects of the media, but they have also found it useful in their efforts to
design messages to maximize the potential positive impact of media content through entertainmenteducation programming and health campaigns to promote prosocial change.
Research has shown that enhancing self-efficacy beliefs is more likely to result in the improvement of
health habits than the use of fear-based communication. Scholars suggest that media can help audience
members to develop self-efficacy by providing them with behavior models, instruction, encouragement,
and the reduction of negative affect (Bandura, 1982; Flora & Maibach, 1989).
For example, a television show in India was produced to raise women’s status and promote smaller
families by embedding these ideas in the show. The show championed gender equality by including
characters that positively modeled women’s equality. In addition, there were other characters that


modeled subservient women’s roles and some that transitioned between subservience and equality. These
viewers learned that women should have equal rights and should have the freedom to choose how they
live their lives.
Another example is about the smoking cessation movement in the 1970s. The media portrait smoking as
uncool, selfish and highly disapproved of by the majority. With all those things being labeled to them,
smokers starting to give up on smoking, unwanted to come across as a terrible person.

B. The way it operates
There are 3 major components which include observational learning, inhibitory and disinhibitory
effects that contribute to how social cognition works.
According to Bandura (2001), greater perceived similarity is associated with greater identification, which
has been shown to increase the likelihood of observational learning (e.g., Andsager, Bemker, Choi, &
Torwel, 2006; Ito, Kalyanaraman, Brown, & Miller, 2008).
Observational learning: This asserts that people can witness and observe a behavior conducted by
others, and then reproduce those actions. This is often exhibited through "modeling" of behaviors. ("The
Social Cognitive Theory" - Boston University School of Public Health, Wayne W. LaMorte, MD, PhD,
MPH).
Observational learning is governed by the processes of attention, retention, production, and motivation.
●

●

●

●

Attention: Observers selectively give attention to specific social behavior depending on
accessibility, relevance, complexity, functional value of the behavior or some observer's personal
attributes such as cognitive capability, value preference, preconceptions.
Retention: Observe a behavior and subsequent consequences, then convert that observation to a
symbol that can be accessed for future reenactments of the behavior. Note: When a positive
behavior is shown a positive reinforcement should follow, this parallel is similar for negative
behavior.
Production: refers to the symbolic representation of the original behavior being translated into
action through reproduction of the observed behavior in seemingly appropriate contexts. During
reproduction of the behavior, a person receives feedback from others and can adjust their
representation for future references.

Motivation: reenacts a behavior depending on responses and consequences the observer receives
when reenacting that behavior.

Inhibitory or disinhibitory effect: when a person observes behavior or actions that somehow conflict
with, or contribute to, that person’s values, one of two major effects can be determined.
●

The first is inhibitory effects, meaning that one’s own lessons and experiences have taught them
a certain value. For example, a boy who watched his alcoholic father be abusive may decide to
never drink.

●

The second effect is a disinhibitory effect. A disinhibitory effect occurs when one becomes more
lax in his or her belief systems as a result of observing others. For example, a girl that grows up in
a strict religious household that goes to church every Sunday, then goes away to college and sees
that her roommates do not, may be influenced to decrease her churchgoing.


➔ Social cognition helps psychologists and others understand the media’s effect on people. It also

helps the media produce positive messages. More than anything else, it helps us understand our
own behavior. Understanding social cognitive theory allows us to know which television shows
we should not be viewing, and perhaps, why somebody behaves the way they do after watching a
certain show, commercial. We may have not come to an efficient way to maximize the positive
influences and minimize the negative influences mass media have on people. But through
understanding social cognition, we are provided with knowledge and with it, responsibilities to
make our TV shows, TVCs, films, newspapers,... as viewer friendly as possible.

III.

Most of the times things weren’t so simple
A. Vicarious reinforcement

All of the way social cognition operates above sometimes doesn’t directly affect how the subject actually
acts in certain situations. It relies on how the subjects view that exact behavior and be affected by it which
is called vicarious reinforcement.
Vicarious reinforcement only works when the subject has the idea of whether the reinforcement is good
or bad (reinforcement contingencies) placing it on our behavioral hierarchy affects the likelihood of
which action will be chosen when similar situations arise in the future. (Connie Wong, 2020)
For example, when we see a television character rewarded or punished for some action, it is as if we have
been rewarded or punished. Like Donald Duck constantly being punished for his selfish actions. This
vicarious reinforcement tells us where to place the observationally learned behavior in our behavioral
hierarchy. So next time when we are presented with a similar situation we’re likely to act unselfishly,
learnt from the fictional character.

B. Exceptions
The fact is that vicarious reinforcement isn’t 100% guaranteed to work. As we can observe in real life,
there are times when people just do things against the possible negative consequences. For instance, in
structural fires there are chances that someone is going to run back into the building to save relatives or
valuable belongings fully aware the negative consequences outweigh the positive consequences. In these
scenarios, sufficient incentive is present in the actual environment (saving a child from the flames, for
example) to move that behavior up the hierarchy to a point where we choose it from among many
alternatives.
Bandura calls this social prompting of previously learned behaviors. This effect is “distinguished from
observational learning and disinhibition because no new behavior has been acquired, and disinhibitory
processes are not involved because the elicited behavior is socially acceptable and not encumbered by
restraints”. In short, social prompting is demonstration of previously learned behavior when it is observed
as socially acceptable or without restraint.
Both vicarious reinforcement and its exceptions can be observed in one classic experiment conducted by

Bandura in 1965.


Bandura showed nursery school children a television program in which a character, Rocky, was either
rewarded for aggression (given candy and a soft drink and called a “strong champion”) or punished for
those same behaviors (reprimanded, called a “bully,” and spanked with a rolled-up magazine). Those who
saw aggression rewarded showed more aggressive activity in a “free play” period (disinhibition), and
those who saw it punished displayed less (inhibition). This proves vicarious reinforcement is indeed
correct. But he went one step further to also prove that it isn’t perfect.
He then offered those in the inhibited group “sticker-pictures” for each of Rocky’s aggressive acts they
could demonstrate. The punished one considers the stickers as sufficient rewards for them to turn again
what they observationally learned (social prompting).
=> We can come to the solution that mass media has the ability to guide people to doing good things as it
should be but it can also be used to promote bad deeds. Therefore, we have to be very carefully choosing
what to communicate through mass media. Luckily or unluckily, nothing is permanent. Through social
prompting we have the tools to reverse many terrible prejudices but also create many new ones if not
careful.

IV.

References

Bandura, A., Social foundations of thought and action : a social cognitive theory. 1986, Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Bandura, A. (2008). Social cognitive theory of mass communication. In J. Bryant & M. B. Oliver (Eds.),
Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research (pp. 94-124). New York, NY: Routledge
Connie Wong, Maureen Monaghan, in Diabetes Digital Health, 2020
Tal. Shany-Ur, K.P. Rankin, in Encyclopedia of the Neurological Sciences (Second Edition), 2014
/> />