[children] Receive Direct Instruction From Time To

Behavior Must Also Be Adequately Assessed Under Appropriate Circumstances. Ill-defined Global Measures Of Perceived Self-efficacy Or Defective Assessments Of Performance Will Yield Discordances. Disparities Will Also Arise When Efficacy Is Judged For Performances In Actual Situations But Performance Is Measured In Simulated Situations That Are Easier To Deal With Than The Actualities

Accurate Processing Of Information About Outcomes Is No Simple Task Under The Variable Conditions Of Everyday Life . . . Usually, Many Factors Enter Into Determining What Effects, If Any, Given Actions Will Have, Actions, Therefore, Produce Outcomes Probabilistically Rather Than Certainly. Depending On The Particular Conjunction Of Factors, The Same Course Of Action May Produce Given Outcomes Regularly, Occasionally, Or Only Infrequently

If There Is Any Characteristic That Is Distinctly Human, It Is The Capability For Reflective Self-consciousness.

Learning Would Be Exceedingly Laborious, Not To Mention Hazardous, If People Had To Rely Solely On The Effects Of Their Own Actions To Inform Them What To Do. Fortunately, Most Human Behavior Is Learned Observationally Through Modeling: From Observing Others One Forms An Idea Of How New Behaviors Are Performed, And On Later Occasions This Coded Information Serves As A Guide For Action.

People Who Underestimate Their Capabilities Also Bear Costs, Although, As Already Noted, These Are More Likely To Take Self-limiting Rather Than Aversive Forms. By Failing To Cultivate Personal Potentialities And Constricting Their Activities, Such Persons Cut Themselves Off From Many Rewarding Experiences. Should They Attempt Tasks Having Evaluative Significance, They Create Internal Obstacles To Effective Performance By Approaching Them With Unnerving Self-doubts