Self-Efficacy In Rain Man

The movie Rain Man (Levinson, 1988) is about two brothers that come to know each other over the course of a week-long road trip from Cincinnati to Los Angeles. Charlie is the younger brother who grew up unaware that he had a brother; while Raymond has been diagnosed with autism and was sent to an institution when he was approximately eighteen. The mother died when Charlie was two and he was raised by his father who Charlie believes he was unable to please. Charlie left home after being arrested for theft of his father's car and cut all contact with his father in the ensuing years. Upon the death of his father, Charlie learns his father has left all his money to an unknown person and after investigation, he meets his brother Raymond. In an attempt to gain his "fair share," Charlie convinces Raymond to come to LA under the guise of seeing a baseball game. During the trip, the two develop a bond and Charlie wants to retain custody of Raymond, but decides to let him go in the end. Both characters grow during the trip. Charlie learns to care about someone other than

himself, while Raymond eventually learns to let Charlie touch him and changes his routine.
Cognition is the ability to think and how one learns not only from memory and experiences, but their perception of the events and how they use the information. Cognitive processes are the thinking processes involved in the acquisition, organization and use of information. These processes include memories, attention and attending, intuition, learning and acquisition, categorizing, discrimination, and perception. Attending is the first necessary trait in the cognition process as in order to learn something, we much first be paying attention. Then we must store that information in the way of memory. When we remember something, it has gone through our sensory memory, short term, and hopefully ends up in long term memory. Categorizing is how we pull information from memory through organization memories in a way that is meaningful.
Although much of one's personality is a result of environmental factors, we are not born clean slates and genetic factors play a role in development; genetics can account for predispositions to react a certain way and what abilities we may have inherently (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). However, personality can change throughout life and can be influenced by both internal genetic factors and external environmental factors. The biological process and genetic factors have an influential role in our preferences, behaviors, emotions, and attitudes (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). The view that biological factors play a role in our social behavior comes from the field of evolutionary psychology. As described by Darwin's theory of evolution, humans have been subject to the process of biological evolution and as a result evolved psychological mechanisms that assist in survival (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). Environmental factors shape our cognitive processes through outside influences having a bearing on what we think and feel. Reinforcement or punishment of behaviors teaches us to perform a certain way, our parents, culture, and upbringing influences the perception of events, how we react. Skinner believed that behaviors were a product of environmental events and could be manipulated through behavior principles (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). Bandura's social learning theory states people learn by watching what other people do and then copy that behavior (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). According to Vygotsky humans develop through learned behavior patterns of the culture of which they are part (Bukatko, 2008). By continually growing based on environmental factors there is no end to development. We are a product of our culture and therefore environmental factors greatly influence who we are and what we will become.
Raymond is developmentally disabled in that he has autism; therefore, his cognitive processes and cognition is impaired. Although he excels at recalling numbers and can recite almost anything he hears, sees and reads; he is unable to successfully solve problems. This manifests itself in his inability to stop the smoke alarm through turning of the toaster oven and his reaction to the running of the water in the tub. Through conditioning he has learned to fear burning the baby with the water, which caused his removal from his family and home and placement in the institution. His heightened ability to recall information is seen throughout the movie and most likely a result of endless hours in front of the TV and reading, however, he may be predisposed to this ability through genetic factors. His father was often cold and aloof and this trait in Raymond, though typical of autism, may be a result of genetics. He has spent the majority of his time in the institution and did not engage with the outside world with the exception of visits from his father. This left him with a deficit in knowing how to solve problems as there was always someone there to ensure he did not have this type of issue and the environment provided in the institution was safe. Raymond relies on specific rituals in order to weave his way through his daily life and uses a phrase to regulate when he is thrown off his normal pattern. Biologically the cause of autism remains unknown and his environment has kept him from developing what would be deemed as typical. Environmentally, he has only developed traits that were culturally acceptable in the institution and has failed to develop individual traits such as understanding feelings, emotions, and the ability to recognize social cues. This is seen in his inability to be close to Charlie, in the scene with the prostitute in which he is unable to answer her questions but focused on her being sparkly, his comment that the kiss was wet, and his misunderstanding of the date.
Parental influence on personality development is apparent in all three theories. As described in Darwin's theory of evolution, through natural selection, beneficial traits the ensure survival are adapted and passed from generation to generation. Evolutionary personality theory applies the theory of evolution and applies it to personality. Parents pass on the necessary adaptive traits and the children learn survival and coping skills and cultural norms that are apparent in their home environment. These traits will be reinforced or reduced as they grow through experience and the newly adapted traits will then be passed on to their own children. The theory of evolution can be seen in the movie in that essentially, Raymond will not be passing his traits on to a child, as seen in the survival of the fittest aspect of the evolution theory; however, his brother Charlie, who has developed in a more typical fashion and possesses the traits necessary to survive, has a better chance of passing those traits to a future generation.
Many biological factors influence a person's emotional and motivational temperament. Each parent contributes half of each of the 23 pairs of chromosomes contained in the human cells (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). These chromosomes contain genes that control the body’s manufacture of proteins. Genes affect development in many ways, including how our brains and bodies grow, and how our hormones and metabolism functions (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). Although, there is no definitive answer as to what causes autism, twin studies suggest that there are genetic factors involved (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), 2014). It has been found that if one identical twin is affected there is a 90% chance that the other will also have the disability. When a family has a child with autism there is a one in twenty chance that they will have another child who also has autism. There is research being done to determine the specific genetic factors that contribute to the disorder. Furthermore, it has been found that in some cases, parents and family members of children with ASD may show milder symptoms of the syndrome (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), 2014). Because there is limited history of Raymond's parents and family in the film, it would be difficult to determine if ASD has a genetic factor in his case.
Behavioral theories focus on externally viewable behaviors and views personality as a learned behavior with genetic factors contributing to our range of response and ability to have behaviors strengthened by our environment (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). Parents influence the child's behavior through reinforcement and punishment. For instance if a child is reinforced for behaviors in the way of attention, escape, or a reinforcing tangible, the child will be more likely to perform the behavior again; whereas if they are punished through the loss of desired objects, attention, or privileges, they will be less like to engage in the behavior. Parents have a direct ability to influence the behaviors their children engage in through positive or negative reinforcement and punishment. In the case of Raymond, his refusing to get on the plane was reinforced by Charlie through Charlie's decision to drive. Future attempts to have Raymond fly may be met with a stronger resistance as the behavior was reinforced in this way. However, the parental influence on Raymond is not apparent in the film short of the punishment (removal of a desired reinforcing agent) for his burning Charlie in the tub and his losing his ability to live at home with his family. This had long term consequences as he remembers it many years later and is afraid when Charlie turns on the water in the tub.
Self-efficacy is how a person views their competence in various arenas.

According to Bandera (1994), self-efficacy beliefs determine how people feel, think, motivate themselves and behave. Such beliefs produce these diverse effects through four major processes. They include cognitive, motivational, affective, and selection processes (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). Near the end of the movie, Raymond has a difficult time answering questions concerning where he wants to live, which may be due to low self efficacy. By choosing to live with Charlie, he would have to engage in more unfamiliar activities which may lead him to be fearful to choose it; however he has made a connection with Charlie and this connection could strengthen his resolve to maintain it. Should he go back to the institution, he would be returning to the familiar and there would be people to aid him in all aspects of his

life.
Self-efficacy is situational and it influences behavior in both a positive and negative fashion through its impact on goals (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). It can have a bearing on how high people set their goals, the challenges they will take on, and how they respond to failure. Confidence in certain areas will lead to repeated actions in those areas, while failure may cause avoidance. Raymond excels at the use of numbers and random facts and he readily presents both, while his fear is also high. People touching his things leads to a fear of them being out of order which causes him to panic. Raymond has lived a very structured life and he has confidence when in this world, however when that structure is threatened, it leads him to panic and frustration.
Self efficacy is a product of both nature and nurture. How well a child perceives themselves may be in part due to their parent's beliefs and expectations and modeling. Encouragement from the parents may lead to a stronger sense of self, while fault finding could lead to low self esteem and a failure to try because the individual does not believe they can succeed based on their history. Nature influences self efficacy through genetic heritability. The ability to perform tasks which then leads to confidence in one's self to perform. Athletic ability, intelligence, and even health along with many other physiological traits have a bearing on how well one performs and views their performance. Someone who is athletically inclined will have a higher level of self-efficacy in sports than someone who is predisposed to being clumsy. These characteristics have the potential to be passed through the genetic make-up provided by ancestors in accordance with the theory of evolution. Raymond has high self efficacy in the area of numbers, to the point that he lost $3000 on the wheel of fortune game because he was convinced he could not be wrong. He has low self efficacy in the area of change from his routine in that any deviations lead him to fear the change. He is unsure when asked who he wants to live with possibly out of feeling he cannot succeed, doesn't like anything but K-Mart brand clothing, because he knows the brand, etc... His life experiences are limited to the institution and he has not had the opportunity to increase his confidence outside that realm.
Ultimately, Raymond returns to the institution and his brother makes plans to visit. This is most likely in Raymond's best interests as this is where he feels the most comfortable; however, it will not encourage his growth. In order to grow, Raymond would be best suited to engage in new experiences. However, ASD paired with his age and experience, would lead us to believe he is set in his ways and that the task would be too difficult for Charlie. Charlie can continue in his ability to push Raymond out of his box and encourage his growth during their visits which is not optimal, but may prove to be beneficial.