Activity 7.3 (Responding to Bandura)

Can we still consider something to be scientific if it doesn’t rule out, but actually takes into account, chance or coincidence? I wonder how many more doors would open in the field of psychology if the experiments and studies looked into, instead of away from, the not statistically significant occurrences. This is an interesting path to explore. In western culture, as well as others, we attach various labels to these outcomes, be it fate, chance, opportunity, luck, higher power, etc…, yet Bandura talks about individuals having more control over these events than originally thought of. He said, “They can make chance happen by pursuing an active life that increases the number and type of fortuitous encounters they will experience” (p. 9). People will often ask me, “Why Owensboro?”, and wonder how I got here. Bandura points at that it’s those individuals who pursue an active lifestyle, take part in various events, and cultivate new endeavors that “enable them to make the most of opportunities that arise unexpectedly” (p. 9). Call it whatever you want, either way it’s comforting to know that I had some part (control) to play in it.

Speaking of cultural differences, while reading Bandura’s thoughts on the global application of his theory I couldn’t help but think of a unique hypothesis in the realm of language and perception. It’s known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and essentially is the notion that language shapes our perceptions, just like modeling shapes behavior. It would be interesting to see if the two interrelate, I would think that they do. I remember discussing this concept once in a theories of interpersonal communication class and being blown away by the idea that if a culture does not have a word associated with an emotion, then this hypothesis posits that individuals who grew up in that culture would not know of or experience (feel) that emotion. Let’s just say, we had a great class discussion!

My favorite passage/quote from this reading; “Modeled new ideas, values, and styles of behavior are now being rapidly spread worldwide in ways that foster a globally distributed consciousness” (p. 4). With all that we discussed in the last two weeks about how technology affects learning, it seemed only fitting that I was drawn to it. Although I do wonder what James would have thought about it? Hmmm……