Understanding Observational Learning With Examples
The study of 'learning' has been gaining increasing attention in psychology for the past few years due to its role in the development and evolution of a human being. Observational learning, which is one important aspect of it, has been dealt with in this article. Did You Know?
Up to about the age of 6, a child learns an average of 10 words per day. An adult, on the other hand, can hardly manage 1 or 2. Observational learning occurs when a person learns something as a result of his own observations. Although it has been in practice throughout human existence, this term was specifically put forth and defined by psychologist Albert Bandura. This form of learning is most prominently seen in children who develop particular kinds of behavior by observing social models; parents, siblings, friends, etc. For children, a social model is generally a person of authority or high status. This model acts as the object of observation for the learner. Learning also happens through observations of people (models) getting rewarded or punished. But keep in mind, observational learning is not imitating. It involves interpreting the model's actions and acting accordingly.Albert Bandura's structure of observational learning consists of 4 stages:
Basic Observational Learning With Examples
Observational Learning vs. Imitative Learning: It is essential to understand the difference between these two terminologies, as there is a likeliness of confusion. Imitative learning requires for the learner to duplicate the model behavior, whereas, observational learning provides enough knowledge about the subject matter for the learner to interpret and make a decision on his own. Variations in Observational Learning: The extent of observational learning varies with cultural and social backgrounds of an individual. People belonging to communities with emphasis on reinforced learning may have a lesser degree of observational learning skills than the ones which emphasize on it. An Example of Cultural Influence on Observational Learning
Venturing deeper into the subject, Albert Bandura formulated the Social Learning Theory. It emphasizes that learning is also a cognitive process in addition to behavioral observations. Simply put, learning also depends on one's mental abilities and processes. The key experiment that demonstrates this theory is the Bobo Doll Experiment conducted by him in 1961 and 1963. The experiment consisted of studying the behavioral patterns of children exposed to a premise, wherein a social model deliberately carries a particular behavior towards a Bobo Doll. The Social Learning Theory depends significantly on modeling concepts, and Bandura was deterministically able to draft 3 basic models:
An Example of Influence of the Models
Another important part of Social Learning Theory is a concept called Reciprocal Determinism. According to this, as a person's behavior is affected by his environment, the environment too is affected by his behavior. An Example of Reciprocal Determinism
Observational learning has also been found to be existing among certain animals and birds. Examples in Animals and Birds
There are several instances where we encounter observational learning in everyday living. If you have more worth mentioning, please do share them in the comments section below. |
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来自: Hyksos > 《Psychology》