CHAPTER 4
Self-Regulation and Learning
Learners’ cognitions can influence the instigation,
direction, and persistence of achievement behaviors
(Bandura, 1997; Schunk, 1995; Zimmerman,
1998).
THEORETICAL FORMULATIONS
Operant Theory
Operant behavior is emitted in the presence of
discriminative stimuli. Behaviors that are
reinforced are more likely to occur, whereas those
punished become less likely. For example, a
teacher might praise a student after the student
studies hard during a class period. The praise may
encourage the student to continue studying hard
Operant theorists have studied how individuals
establish discriminative stimuli and reinforcement
contingencies (Brigham, 1982). Self-regulated
behavior involves choosing among alternative
courses of action (Mace, Belfiore, & Shea,
1989), typically by deferring an immediate
reinforcer in favor of a different and usually greater
future reinforcer (Rachlin, 1991). For example,
assume that Brad is having difficulty studying; he
spends insufficient time studying and is easily
distracted. A key to changing his behavior is to
establish discriminative stimuli (cues) for studying.
From an operant theory perspective, one decides
which behaviors to regulate, establishes
discriminative stimuli for their occurrence,
evaluates performance according to whether it
matches the standard, and administers
reinforcement. The three key subprocesses are self
monitoring, self-instruction, and self reinforcement.
Self-Monitoring
Self-monitoring refers to deliberate attention to
some aspect of one’s behavior, and often is
accompanied by recording its frequency or
intensity (Mace & Kratochwill, 1988).
Behaviors can be assessed on such dimensions as
quality, rate, quantity, and originality.
Often students must be taught self-monitoring
methods (Belfiore & Hornyak, 1998; Lan, 1998;
Ollendick & Hersen, 1984; Shapiro, 1987).
Methods include narrations, frequency counts,
duration measures, time-sampling measures,
behavior ratings, and behavioral traces and archival
records (Mace et al., 1989).
Narrations are written accounts of behavior and
the context in which it occurs. Narrations can range
from very detailed to open-ended (Bell & Low,
1977). Frequency counts are used to self-record
instances of specific behaviors during a given
period (e.g., number of times a student turns around
in his or her seat during a 30-min seatwork
exercise). Duration measures record the amount of
time a behavior occurs during a given period (e.g.,
number of minutes a student studies during 30
min). Time-sampling measures divide a period
into shorter intervals and record how often a
behavior occurs during each interval. A 30-min
study period might be divided into six 5-min
periods; for each 5-min period, students record
whether they studied the entire time. Behavior
ratings require estimates of how often a behavior
occurs during a given time (e.g., always,
sometimes, never). Behavioral traces and archival
records are permanent records that exist
independently of other assessments (e.g., number
of worksheets completed, number of problems
solved correctly).
Two important self-monitoring criteria are
regularity and proximity (Bandura, 1986).
Regularity means observing behavior continually
rather than intermittently, such as by keeping a
daily record rather than recording behavior once a
week. Nonregular observation requires accurate
memory and often yields misleading results.
Proximity means observing behavior close in time
to its occurrence rather than long afterwards. It is
better to write down what we do at the time it
occurs rather than wait until the end of the day to
reconstruct events.
Self-monitoring places responsibility for behavioral
assessment on the person doing the monitoring
(Belfiore &
Hornyak, 1998).
Self-Instruction
Self-instruction refers to discriminative stimuli that
set the occasion for self-regulatory response
leading to reinforcement (Mace et al., 1989).
Schunk and Rice (1987) taught remedial readers
the following strategy, and they verbalized the
individual steps prior to applying them to reading
comprehension passages:
• What do I have to do?
• Read the questions.
• Read the passage to find out what it is mostly
about.
• Think about what the details have in common.
• Think about what would make a good title.
• Reread the story if I don’t know the answer to a
question.
monitoring one’s level of learning, deciding when
to take a different task approach, and assessing
readiness for a test. Self-regulatory (metacognitive)
activities are types of control processes under the
learner’s direction.
Learning Strategies
Learning strategies are cognitive plans oriented
toward successful task performance (Pressley et al.,
1990; Weinstein & Mayer, 1986).
One important strategy is rehearsal, which includes
repeating information, underlining, and
summarizing.
Rehearsal can be useful for complex learning, but it
must involve more than merely repeating
information. One useful rehearsal procedure is
underlining (highlighting), which improves
learning if employed judiciously (Snowman, 1986)

Kosiewicz, Hallahan, Lloyd, and Graves (1982) Summarizing is another popular rehearsal
used the following self-instruction procedure to procedure. In summaries (oral or written), students
improve the handwriting of a student with learning put into their own words the main ideas expressed
disabilities: in the text.
• Say aloud the word to be written.
Comprehension monitoring helps learners
• Say the first syllable.
determine whether they are properly applying
• Name each of the letters in that syllable three
declarative and procedural knowledge to material
times.
to be learned, evaluate whether they understand the
• Repeat each letter as it is written down.
material, decide whether their strategy is effective
• Repeat Steps 2 through 4 for each succeeding
or whether a better strategy is needed, and know
syllable
why strategy use will improve learning.
Self-Reinforcement
Self-reinforcement is the process whereby people
provide themselves with reinforcement contingent
on performing a response, and the reinforcement
increases the likelihood of future responding (Mace
et al., 1989).

Self-reinforcement is hypothesized to be an
effective component of self-regulated behavior
(O’Leary & Dubey, 1979), but the reinforcement
may be more important than its agent.

Information Processing Theory

Information processing theories view learning as
the encoding of information in long-term memory
(LTM). From an information processing
perspective, selfregulation is roughly equivalent to
metacognitive awareness (Gitomer & Glaser,
1987). Metacognitive awareness also includes
procedural knowledge or productions that regulate
learning of the material by