Self-efficacy is level of confidence in our own abilitiesthe belief that we have power over our livesa state of being in which our thoughts about our real and ideal selves are very similarthe belief that one's environment can determine behavior

One common educational practice is to chart students' progress over time so that students can see their own improvement. these progress charts often lead to higher student achievement in the absence of other observable forms of reinforcement. the effectiveness of such charts in changing behavior illustrates the role of reinforcement as:

Agerman mapmaker named a continent after me

What is the role of institutions in society - do they perform positive functions, or simply work in the interests of the powerful and against the powerless? (a related question here is why do our life chances vary by class, gender and ethnicity)