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Essay on observational learning
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Observational learning is a type of learning that is done by observing the actions of others. It describes the process of learning by watching others, retaining what was learned, and then replicating the behavior that was observed. Observational learning is an important area inthe field of psychology because according to www.ncbi.nlm.nin.gov research in observational learning represents a critical development in the history of psychology. There are many learningtheories such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning which emphasize how direct experiences, reinforcements, and punishment lead to learning, but most learning happens indirectly by watching and imitating others. Observational learning is also referred to as shaping, modeling, …show more content…
There are four steps in the process of modeling for observational learning. They are attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. Attention is when you focus on what the person you are observing is doing. Retention is remembering what you observed. Reproduction is performing the behavior you observed, and motivation is wanting to actually do the behavior.(www.courses.lumenlearning.com) The psychologist that most strongly identifies with observational learning is Albert Bandura. He believed that observational learning was the result of cognitive processes that are, “actively judgemental and constructive,” not merely “mechanical copying.”(Bandura) According to Bandura there are three different models to observational learning. They are live model which is behavior in person, verbal model which is not doing a behavior but explaining or describing it, and symbolic model is when people or fictional characters demonstrating behaviors in books, …show more content…
Most learning we have done has been through observing someone and modeling the actions that we see them do. This type of learning not only teaches us what is right or wrong it can alsobe applied to things such as jobs and education. In the textbook when Bandura explains about the Boo experiment he explained the results as reinforcement is not essential for learning to occur. Rather, the expectation of reinforcement. I agree that you don’t have to get a consequence to learn things.I also agree with the study Rebecca Collins did. The last step in the process of modeling is being motivated to do a behavior. I think that most people will only do behaviors that they think are cool. I notice this with my own children. They will watch certain shows because they hear their friends talk about them or they will do certain dances because they see them on tv or maybe they saw them by someone they thought everyone liked. Learning from observation is one of the most interesting ways to learn and I think it is the best way to learn. This theory definitely applies to all ages and animals have also been shown the ability to learn behaviors by observational learning. What I’ve learned from this theory is we have control over our behavior and just because we see something being done does not mean that we have todo it. Observational learning is part of our everyday lives and it is how we learn
Observational learning involves a live, verbal, and symbolic model, which is influenced by the adapted environment. An individual acting out or demonstrating a behavior is called live model. For example, Desalvo would act out in school at a young age labeling him as a live model. Verbal model involves the description and explanation of behavior. Aker theory of social learning states (1966), “people learn deviant behavior by observing and learning from the social factors in their day-to-day lives”(p.146). Desalvo explanation of why he committed his first crime in stealing money is explained through a learning experience from his father. The symbolic model involves fictional or nonfictional characters displaying behavior through films, books, online media and television programs. Based on Desalvo father attitude we can speculate that himself and Desalvo would watch inappropriate television programs, which can contribute to the fathers’
Of course when dealing with behavioral perspective people automatic suggest behaviorism, which John Watson used when observing events. Radical behaviorism was started by B. F. Skinner , in which Skinner included cognition and emotions to throttle his theory. The belief Skinner had for his behavioral perspective theory is “people 's behaviors are a result of their interaction with their environment” (BCDSC, 2016). Individuals become condition from being involved in their social environment; therefore, resulting to individuals reacting basely on positive and negative reinforcement. Behavioral perspective relies solely on observe events rather than events that occur inside a person 's head, such as thoughts, feelings and beliefs (BCDSC, 2016). Theorist may suggest that learning cannot happen, with the exception of observation that changes an individual
Observational learning is described as learning behaviors through watching others. Turkle shares a story based on this learning style. She says, "A 15-year-old boy told me that someday he wanted to raise a family, not the way his parents are raising him (with phones out during meals...) but the way his parents think they are raising him – with no phones at meals and plentiful family conversation" (Turkle Par. 5). The boy observed his family interactions around their phones and learned how it affected them, so he decided that he did not want to raise his family the same way.
3) I have witnessed observational learning through watching my little cousin imitate what an infant-directed program was doing. He learned through paying attention to the character doing a dance move. He then retained the dance move before using motor reproduction to imitate the move. Afterwards he did get up and recreate the move through his own way, by having the positive and entertaining motivation from the character of the program.
Observation is very important in young children because that is how you get to know a child better. While observing how a child interacts with their peers, adults, and how they behave in different settings, you are getting to know the child without speaking to them.
Behaviourism is a theory of learning which suggests that all behaviours are obtained as a result of conditioning...
In Psychology there are many different learning styles. One of the more famous learning styles is operant conditioning. In operant conditioning there are two major concepts; reinforcement and punishment. By using these two concepts, behaviors can be encouraged or reduce a certain behavior. Next would be the different schedules of reinforcement that effect how often a behavior is likely to continue. Lastly the article goes on to state how behaviors can be shaped using these and other various methods.
Many theories have been thought of over the years to attempt to explain why people behave the way they do. Many questions were brought up when thinking about that and the social learning theory is a popular theory in explaining this. Nobody really thought of the social learning theory too much until Albert Bandura wrote his idea of it. He actually wrote a book called “Social Learning Theory.” In this book, he states that behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning(Saul McLeod).
I believe the main way that we learn is by observing the adults and peers in our lives. I feel that as we observe behaviors of others we figure out which behaviors are acceptable and which behaviors are unacceptable. With that being said, the theory of learning that is closest to my own personal beliefs is the social cognitive view of learning. I am going to be teaching in a special education classroom, and I must model acceptable behaviors for my kids. According to Ormrod (2011) the social cognitive theory “is a perceptive that can help us understand what and how people learn by observing others and how they begin to take control of their own behavior” (p. 323). My kids will be watching everything I do, and by modeling acceptable behaviors I can help them acquire ...
Observational learning- one of my nieces always wanted to learn how to play Candy Land. She observed all the other kids who knew how to play, and eventually she learned how to play the game. However, when my nephew showed her how to play, he taught her how to cheat. He acted as a negative influence and untaught the correct way to play Candy Land.
Most humans learn by simply watching, and then imitating the action rather than trial and error or direct experiences of the consequences of our actions (this is not to say that watching and imitating is the only way of learning). This method of learning is called observational learning. The highly recognized psychologist with observational learning is Albert Bandura. Bandura’s theory states that observational learning is the result of cognitive processes that are actively judgmental and constructive opposed to mechanical copying. Bandura created an experiment to prove his theory. The experiment consisted of three different films, and four year old children that watched them separately. On each of the three films, a female adult aggressively played with a Bobo doll (hit, punch, kick, throw, etc.). The only differences in the three films were the endings. One ending showed the woman being rewarded with soft drinks, candy, and snacks, after playing with the Bobo doll aggressively. The other version of the film portrayed punishment by scolding and spankings by other adults, after performing aggressive behaviors towards the Bobo doll. In the last film the aggre...
The observational method is when researchers use their senses to observe, examine, and record behaviors in a natural setting. This means there is no interruption or manipulation by the researcher. In order to enhance this type of research,
Overall, Behaviorism is an important topic in today’s society. Although the main focus was in the 20th century, Behaviorism is still talked about today by many psychologists. Three important figures like Watson, Pavlov and Skinner were only a few that came up with their own experiments in order to prove that behaviorism all depends on observable behavior. Hence, Behaviorism is known to be behaviors that are acquired through conditioning in the
Therefore, according to the above a general process learning theory is sustainable even in the presence of biological constraints as behaviour can be reinforced and manipulated in most cases to acquire a desired behaviour.
“Punishment is one of the most used, but least understood and badly administered, aspects of learning” (Luthans, 1977, pp.300). As mentioned earlier, punishment is anything which weakens behaviour and tends to decrease it in subsequent frequency. Positive punishment is the method of administering negative consequences upon the occurrence of an action whereas Negative punishment involves the termination of positive consequences. In order to work, either case must weaken and decrease the behaviour which preceded the application or withdrawal of the stimuli. Skinner (1953) stipulated that we must defy the urge to label a form of stimuli as “desired” or “undesired” as a whole but rather to identify them by their effect on the observed subject.