You asked us in class how did we learn how to act in class. I swear I would have never been able to answer that question had somebody else not answered that. How interesting to find out at age 25 how I learned how to do everything.
             I often wondered how I learned to be nice. Then I think how it must of come from my mother and father. They are very nice people. Even more interesting is I think of a childhood friend of mine who I occasionally talk to. Her parents were evil people. They were always saying mean things and giving dirty looks. This childhood friend of mine has always been and is still an unpleasant person. After reading Bandura’s theory, it becomes very clear (attention -- the individual notices something in the environment, retention -- the individual remembers what was noticed, reproduction -- the individual produces an action that is a copy of what was noticed, motivation -- the environment delivers a consequence that changes the probability the behavior will be emitted again (reinforcement and punishment).
             I do not really understand the concept of self-efficacy. On one hand, it almost seems to be similar to self-esteem. However, it would seem very reasonable that I would not feel very confident about juggling because I have never learned how to juggle and every time I’ve tried to juggle in the past I could not do it. So one would say that I had low self-efficacy. But is that bad? I think I would venture to say in some cases it might have to do with confidence. For example, the book makes an example of trying out for the lead role in a school play. Now, I know I am not a great actress but I may be more gutsy for something like that. I suppose low self-efficacy would not be that bad depending on the circumstance. Another example the book gave was about people who were not the best at mathematics not taking many math classes. Well, that’s me! But I don’t necessarily see that ...